BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking

On a bike, riding somewhere. Every day, rain or shine.

Posts tagged ‘Stonnall’

#365daysofbiking Season of the sunset

Sunday 6th February 2022 – Returning from Lichfield on an errand, I caught a good sunset – not a brightly coloured one, although those always occur this time of year sooner or later – but the sort of dramatic, moody, muted skyline that bristles with what Simon Jeffes might have termed surface tension.

The skeletal trees of Home Farm looked stark and beautiful on the skyline of Sandhills, as did the trees meeting the sky in a garden at Lynn.

Winter does have its compensations, but they can be few and far between if I’m honest.

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#365daysofbiking Mothering

Monday March 1st 2021 – Good to see the spring lambs are being born and growing well now – this playful pair of siblings were spotted near Stonnall on the daily working from home exercise ride.

I’m always amazed at the attentiveness of the mother, and their ability to locate their family in a flock.

And of course, they’ve got cute in shedloads.

Such a wonderful, joyous sight at this time of year.

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#365daysofbiking Another grey Sunday

Sunday February 21st 2021 – For some reason we aren’t getting many bright, cold days this winter – but we are getting lots of dull, middling, anonymous, colourless days. Which is a shame, but at least it’s not continually wet like many recent winters have been.

There’s always a reason to be positive, after all…

On a test ride around Stonnall after some bike fettling, I stopped on Cartersfield Lane to make some adjustments and noticed there was a little brightness to the end of the day, albeit colourless: The sun was just retreating behind the woodland and electricity line up towards the quarry further up the hill.

On days like these, you take the beauty where you find it.

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#365daysofbiking That’s more like it

Tuesday December 29th 2020 – The snow again came in in waves. Contrary to my expectation, it had become cold and clear and the previous day’s snow had not melted away. new falls in the morning – quite intense, as it happened – topped it up. It still wasn’t much, but it kept the fun up on the bike and I enjoyed riding in it more than the day before.

I went to Stonnall, once more calling at the church, then around Hilton (avoiding the flood), up to wall and down into Lichfield, returning up Cross o’ th’ Hand Lane which was gorgeous, as were Farewell Church and Stonewall.

It looked like I missed driver of the year at Bulmoor Lane, and one tends to forget the hardiness of sheep. I particularly enjoyed the tree growing from the remains of another in Farewell churchyard and the lovely flowers on Shute Hill.

More, please. I love real winter rides like this.

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#365daysofbiking Snow… And a touch of colour

Monday December 28th 2020 – It had snowed a little, and I headed out before lunch to catch something I thought would be fleeting – I love cycling in snow.

It was very wet, and only an icing sugar dusting on the whole. It was noticeably less over Stonnall and Wall than it was back through Hammerwich, Chasetown and Chasewater, which I found interesting.

Be warned that the road is flooded to some depth at Cranebrook Lane, Hiton, between the Pouk Lane and Boat lane junctions, just before the rise for the motorway flyover. It’s deep. I suspect this may be rated to increased load on Crane Brook with Chasewater in spate.

Splashes of colour caught my eye: The robin in Stonnall Churchyard, and also the old, minimalist gravestone with partially coloured lettering.Wonder whose stone that was?

The snowman and postbox decorations at Hammerwich were lovely.

An interesting change in the weather!

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#365daysofbiking Timeless

May 22nd – It’s been a week of wonderful views, that started very much on a downer, but the restorative power of sunshine and landscape really improved my mental and physical wellbeing.

Riding around Shenstone and Stonnall in a sunny, listless golden hour I crossed Footherly Brook as I have for many years using the hump-back bridge on Gravelly Lane.

Something about the light, atmosphere and my mental state combined, and I stood there transfixed for a good few minutes, just drinking in the atmosphere.

I have seen this view in rain, hail, snow, sunshine, dusk, dawn, noon and the dead of night. It remains, and always will be, utterly timeless to me.

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#365daysofbiking Stonnall rocks

May 12th – While visiting the shops in Stonnall, I spotted this smilestone in one of the planters outside.

Smilestones are a real phenomena – like the previously mentioned chalked games on local paths, they provide a safe, fun activity for kids and families, who decorate randomly selected stones and leave them for others to find.

This brightly coloured one made me smile, and did it’s job. They’re wonderful to find as one wanders about daily life.

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#365daysofbiking A complex question

May 1st – Not far away, just a few tens of yards up the Chester Road, the new nursing home, built on the site of a former quarry and blockworks seems open.

Castlehill Specialist Care Centre seems to cater for people with quite marked dementia and it seems to be intended to serve a growing market – and it’s a very decent looking building, which now appears staffed, and open.

I found myself wondering if they were admitting residents yet, what with coronavirus being so pronounced in such places.

But it’s a fine looking place and I wish all concerned with it – residents and staff – well.

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#365daysofbiking Climbing, slowly

May 1st – A ride down into Stonnall and the lanes. It had been a rollercoaster of a week emotionally, but at least we seem to be getting the virus under control. Things don’t seem as terribly threatening as they did.

Winching my way up Castlehill out of the village onto the Chester Road, the lanes here – severed by the straightening of the Chester Road many decades ago – are leafy and peaceful, and diverge oddly.

But in the quiet of a lockdown spring evening, with birds singing and soft sunlight coming through the leaves, this was close to heaven, and like my body, my mind was climbing, slowly.

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#365daysofbiking These lanes were mine

April 19th – The ride took me down Hobs Hole in Aldridge, over Wood Lane and Lower Stonnall, and around by Stonnall Church. It was a beautiful afternoon, and nature did it’s best to entertain me and lift my mood, which wasn’t all that great with an attack of IBS.

Nature succeeded. And there was barely a soul around.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I hate the lockdown, although I understand how necessary it is. But I’m loving these quiet lanes.

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