Tag: staffordshire

March 31st – The contrasts continued as I got out on the Chase. Even the popular trails were too snowed up to ride, so I hit Birches Valley on the roads, which were clear and easy going. The afternoon warmed a little, and the sun stayed longer, and it was in one such moment of clarity that I took in the view of the Weaver Hills from Lady Hill. Good Friday two years ago, I was cycling over there in shorts and a tee shirt.

Dropping down to Rugeley, the snow was clear from the canals, and only lay in the lee of hedges and walls, but climbing out of the Trent Valley at Breretonhill, there were still large amounts of lying snow.

I think this is the coldest spring I’ve ever known.

March 31st – A day of contrasts. I needed to get to a bike shop, and with Chasewater Cycles gone, I could only think of Swinnertons, up on the Chase. I set off mid-afternoon, and crossed Chasewater, expecting it to be heavy going; but most of the paths and tracks were clear, but wet, and it was full of people taking the air. Intermittently, the sun shone through, but it was still bitterly cold. On the west shore, the wind lapped ice pieces ashore like a jingling, glass tide, but overhead, a kestrel hovered, wheeled and hunted with the joy that only the wild in spring can express. I’ve seen kestrels hunting before from the foot-pegs on that pylon. Must be a regular vantage point for them.

Meanwhile, on the north heath, the heathland management team of nine employees were hard at work, managing the heath in their own, inimitable style. The cows don’t seem to mind the snow, and carried on chewing, munching and defecating to their heart’s content.

February 22nd – One of those days when you get back home thinking you’ve got a camera choc-full of great stuff, then realise you had the camera set badly and all your hard work appears to be fuzz and junk. Luckily, down in Sonnall sorting fish and chips from the best chippy in the area, the camera hadn’t yet been nobbled by my ineptitude.

Stonnall is an odd place – in a way, it’s lost is old villageyness, and is now little more than a commuter resort. Drowning in Metroland-style postwar housing, the history can be hard to find. But at night, a little of the old-world charm returns.

Stonnall is a salutary warning for aspiring village communities everywhere: don’t develop at the expense of the things that make you special…

February 17th – The late afternoon was golden. I didn’t intend to spend 2 hours at Chasewater, but it was so gorgeous, the time just flew. And for every minute that ticked by, the light changed. Families, birders, walkers and photographers were out in this most chilly of golden hours. It was precious. My love for this place – however run-down, dilapidated or neglected, is enduring.

January 13th – It was cold, winter at last. I could smell snow in the air as I left home on a day that was so chilly, it caused my sinuses to and forehead to burn. I pottered up to Chasewater, delighting in riding over the icy puddles, and then over to Hammerwich, which is always nice at dusk. On the way up Meerash Lane, I pulled up short; the ice here – caused by water raining from the still-saturated fields, was thick and treacherous. Staffordshire Council never seem to grit up here, and I advise anyone without ice tyres not to bother. Under a fresh coat of snow, this could be an unpleasant start to the week in the morning for someone…

December 28th – Another grey, wet day. I’ve never known the weather quite so bad. I almost feel cheated out of my holiday – haven’t been on a single long, decent ride yet…

I spent a lot of time at Chasewater this afternoon. The weather was windy and squally, and the water level still increases. The last time I looked – Tuesday, Christmas day, it stood at 8cm on the lower scale. Since then, it’s recede 98cm on the upper scale. That’s a 10cm increase, another four inches. Just to tot that up, that’s 18 inches in 8 days and 24 inches – 2 feet – since december 16th, 12 days ago. That is one huge volume of water pouring into the feeders and watercourses that top up Chasewater. That’s one hell of a lot of rain. I’d say there’s only a couple of feet to go now, maybe less: The main lake is only an inch or so from joining with the Nine-foot through the new bridge.

Sorry to keep harping on, but this is historic stuff. I have never, ever experienced a season this wet.

December 22nd – One of the essentials of the Christmas season is chocolate ginger. I can’t abide the stuff myself, but someone hereabouts is very fond of it indeed. The best chocolate ginger comes from the confectioner in Shenstone, so late afternoon, off in the rain I headed. It was very warm out, and it felt almost spring-like. The wind was heavy and drove the rain hard into my face on the way back. Shenstone always looks Christmassy at dusk. There’s something about the closeness of the houses, and the way the street light falls that make this place redolent of a bucolic Christmas card. I noted the Plough pub still boarded up, but the Railway, opposite, and the Fox and Hounds up the road still seemed to be in rude heath.

November 25th – Chasewater’s water level was higher today than even the night before. Remarkably, the level is now to the bottom of the balancing culvert between the main lake and the Nine Foot pool. A long, careful shot in the dusk showed the scale was at 6cm from top, whereas 3 weeks ago, it was at 54cm from top. That’s a rise of 48cm or 480mm in three weeks, an utterly astounding figure. This means the reservoir isn’t far from full.

Since the water is now lapping at the bottom of the balancing culvert, I’m interested to see what happens. There is a second such culvert at the same level out from the Nine Foot to the spillway, which seems to be sluice controlled. at the moment, that one is empty so any overflow will pass straight through, and the lake will not get higher. I’m wondering if this is the final intended level, or if the second balancing culvert will be shut off and the water level between the Nine-Foot and the main pool be allowed to rise. 

I hope so, otherwise the shoreline will be a shadow of it’s former self. 

At least the sailing club now have enough water. If anyone had told me Chasewater would refill this quickly, I’d have told them they were mad. Remember, back in May we were expecting a drought…

November 4th – With all the rotten tree stumps left in Chasewater’s dam after the felling operation as part of the restoration, there’s now an impressive crop of assorted fungi in evidence. The rusula and glistening ink caps pictured here are amongst several species evidently thriving there. I haven’t seen much fungi about this year, it doesn’t seem to have been a very good season.