Tag: Springhill

July 12th – Spinning out through Brownhills to Stonnall for tea, I crested Springhill on Barracks Lane on a languid, hot Friday evening. Even at 7pm there was little traffic, and few folk about. I noticed that a week or so of hot summer weather, and the colours of the season had changed. The bright, vivid, verdant greens have faded to more of a faded emerald jacket, and reds, golds and sandy yellows are creeping in to the landscape, colouring the fields shades of ripeness and fulfilment.

At Springhill, a field of gently ripening, plump wheat caught my eye, and at Cartersfield Lane, a healthy field of Barley.

A fine sight, but poignant too, as it indicates the seasons’ progression.

June 14th – Headed out to Lichfield late afternoon, and battled the wind, fully loaded, on the way back. Returning down the Lichfield Road, I noticed the cones were out at Springhill for the construction of a new island junction for Springhill Cemetery, currently under construction to the right of the picture beyond the houses.

This has been delayed quite some time now, and has been locally controversial. it’ll be interesting to see how the development progresses.

March 20th – A day so dull, grey and lifeless that not even it’s mother could love it. As I hurried to work in the morning, it was half drizzle, half very fine snow, and bitterly cold. When I left for home, it was the same. Taking account of the wind, I came back from Shenstone, but even still, the bike felt leaden and I was tired. Things really aren’t letting up at the moment; the weather is awful and work is hard. If only the sun would shine…

Nature is holding it’s breath. The daffodils are ready to go. Nascent crops are greening up the fields. All we need are a couple of days of sun and clear air and nature will explode into action. You can almost hear it, tapping it’s foot impatiently.

I’m waiting with mother nature, too. This winter has to break soon…

August 17th – It was very grey and spotting with rain as the heavy wind blew me back up Shire Oak Hill later in the day. Oddly, the gates to Shire Oak Landfill – the former quarry at Sandhills – had been left open, and I took the opportunity to have a play with the zoom mode on the camera. The view from this spot is always great, although hard to capture in photos, but despite the grey murk of the day, the images weren’t too bad. Springhill, Hammerwich, Wall and Lichfield were all clearly visible. 

August 15th – Meanwhile, back at Springhill, near Stonnall, the harvest continues apace. Two days ago, this field behind the pumping station was a ripe crop of wheat. Now, all traces of grain have been stripped by the remarkable efficiency of modern grain harvesting machines. All that remains are the neat rows of straw, waiting for baling.
Straw in this state is described as being ‘in swath’ and is often auctioned for the buyer to come and bale it themselves. Straw has near zero nutritional content, and is mainly used as bedding, and therefore carries a low commercial value.

July 30th – The weather was bright and fine on the way home, but a petulant headwind made life a little unpleasant. I knew the weather was due to break in less than twelve hours, and I wasn’t wrong. But there’s something about the Springhill barley field, blue sky, white clouds and old hamlet that are just too lovely to feel sad for long. A gorgeous view.

July 2nd – Not far way, at Springhill, between Brownhills And Stonnall, there’s a fine crop of wheat, also doing well. I can’t get used to these modern, dwarf varieties. When I was a lad, the wheat was much taller, but now, the crop has been bred such that maximum growth is put into the grain and less into a tall stem. Although we don’t really accept it, crops like this have been genetically modified for centuries, usually by interbreeding and cross pollination. There’s nothing new under the sun. Or the lack thereof…

June 13th – I’d been in Tyseley for a meeting, then hopped back up the Cross City Line to make an appointment in Lichfield. Cycling back, the weather, which had been pretty agreeable, turned quite grim and it started to rain. The countryside looked so green, and the views were unexpectedly cinematic with a sudden rain-haze softening outlines and changing the sky to darker and darker shades. Luckily, I got home before the heavens really opened. 

Can we please have a bit of summer? Just for a bit? 

May 11th – on the way home, I took the long way and cycled up to Springhill along the quiet, leafy Whitacre Lane. Here viewed from the A461 Lichfield Road, Whitacre Farm nestles on the Stonnall side of the hill.

Sadly, it’s a farm no longer; converted into luxury homes some years ago, I remember the soft fruit farm that existed here in the eighties. The large, imposing, blue-brick barn is now a handsome house, yet as a kid, I parked my bike in there while I picked gooseberries. If I did that now, it would be in somebody’s lounge…

May 6th – conversely, this handsome house has recently been beautifully renovated. Standing at the other end of Springhill, at the very crest itself, The Willows has a surprising and proud history.

This sensitively restored building was once The Red, White and Blue pub, and latterly a plant nursery. It’s a bit sad that the current name doesn’t hint at the extensive history of a lovely building.