sky – Page 15 – BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking

November 6th – I was crushingly tired as I trundled home with a thankfully assisting tailwind. It was wet again when I started out and I was damp and miserable. The traffic was hell, and sweeping off the ring road at Walsall, I looked westwards to an unexpectedly beautiful sky.

Cheered, I pressed on and noticed that at the Black Cock pub, their annual bonfire and fireworks display were starting, with stalls and a merry go round on the front car park. The lights looked so beautiful in the dark.

It’s been a hard few weeks. I’m tired, I’m grey and I need rest. Thank heavens it’s the weekend.

October 22nd – A great dawn in fine weather with a much appreciated tail wind was a real joy to ride in, and a marked difference from the day before when I got soaked in persistent, heavy rain.

At Mill Grren, I stopped to watch the sun rise over Hill Hook and towards Tamworth. A massive, red-smeared sky opened out minute by minute, and was truly captivating.

Mornings like this make me much more comfortable with autumn, for sure.

October 11th – A gentle run along the canal back to Brownhills was in order, and on the way, I noticed a beautiful sky. My grandfather used to call this a ‘Mackerel Sky’ – presumably after the markings of atlantic mackerel.

He used to have a saying ‘Mackerel sky, 24 hours dry’ – and it broadly seems to work, I think. Wonder if there’s a meteorological basis for this or if it’s just an old wive’s tale?

September 29th – But still, there’s colour. There aren’t many places along the canal from Walsall Wood to Brownhills to catch a good sunset; sadly the best spots are obscured by hedges and trees. But as I passed the new pond at Clayhanger, the sun had smeared it’s last rays of the day over the clouds and vapour trails and made the evening precious.

August 24th – A remarkable sunset struck when I was travelling around on errands, and I couldn’t get in a good place to photograph it, so I let the trees in on the glory.

Beautiful. Very little sun in the days, but the sundowns are gorgeous.

August 23rd – On my way to a friend’s house in the evening, I shot through Walsall Wood, and as I came over the canal bridge looking towards Walsall, something about the lights, the sunset sky and that window showroom caught my eye.

An odd splash of colour. It was actually raining lightly as I took these photos.

August 22nd – A day of unexpected jobs and delayed activity, I finally got out at dusk and span on an errand to Burntwood, so naturally, despite the oncoming storm, I headed up through Chasewater.

The skies were dramatic, but I failed to capture them well, and whilst there were flashes of lightning and the odd rumble of thunder, despite riding back in steady, warm, refreshing rain, the foreboding, brooding skies failed to deliver.

But it was actually a lovely ride.

June 19th – Scooting late through Walsall Wood, I caught the sunset.

I haven’t caught a good one for ages – I’m just not usually about when they happen at the moment, which is sad.

I was glad to see this one. I must make more of an effort – some of the recent ones have been spectacular.

May 22nd – I’d been planning a long ride the following day for a good couple of weeks. Up until today, the weather forecast had been excellent. As I returned from Lichfield, I was having doubts. It was warm enough, but the sky was threatening all sorts, and the wind seemed quite bullish.

At the optimistically named Summerhill, found myself praying for a break in the clouds.

April 14th – You think there’s nothing that could match the daffodils. Then you look upward.

My gosh, the cherry blossom was astounding. Pure white and pink against a blue sky – and again, those nascent leaves, bringing warm days and lovely afternoons.

Excellent.