July 2nd – despite the abysmal weather, the business of summer continues, somewhat surprisingly. The farmland around Stonnall is host to a variety of crops this year. Oilseed rape, potatoes, beans, barley, wheat are all growing – and ripening – well, despite the lack of sun. This fine crop of barley, maybe destined to make the malt for local breweries – is well on it’s way to harvest. Such uniformity.
June 28th – Travelling home after a day of incredible weather. We had torrential rain, some of the worst I’ve ever seen, thunder and lightning… but within an hour, it was sunny again and the Midlands was left to clean up after flash floods. I had to go to Tyseley that afternoon, and returned to Blake Street, near Sutton. The trains weren’t running any further, due to the line being flooded, and here, at Wood Lane, between Shenstone and Footherley, the lanes were flooded too. Note the lady driver taking no prisoners. I just hope the air intake on her engine isn’t low down…
The music is ‘Born in a Storm’ by Deacon Blue.
June 28th – An odd day with freak weather. I left for work in Darlaston early, and it was warm and quite sunny. At work for a couple of hours, the sky blackened and a real storm developed. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it rain so hard in the UK. Rivers flowed through the streets, causing flooding and chaos. Then, it ended almost as quickly as it started, and we returned to a nice, sunny day. In the afternoon, I had to go to Tyseley, and due to flooding, the trains were seriously disrupted. Arriving on time due to a freak of happenstance, I left late in the afternoon to find serious delays. I rode back to Birmingham through Small Heath, and got a train back to Blake Street. Traversing the back lanes of Stonnall and Little Aston was an interesting and somewhat wet experience.
June 21st – Another very common but sadly overlooked wildflower is cow parsley. Tall, with flat, creamy-white flower heads, it’s a staple of the British hedgerow – which is where I found this specimen near Stonnall. Considered edible, it has a very bitter taste, and is related to the carrot and hogweed families. Cow parsley is often confused for Hogweed, which is very toxic and can cause severe burns, so don’t pick either if you’re unsure. Cow parsley is also colloquially known as Queen Anne’s lace, and you can see why when the delicacy of the flowers are studied closely. An unsung beauty.
June 21st – It was another miserable day, but I had managed to avoid the worst of the rain. I thought I’d continue with my wildflower feature, and after yesterday’s thistles, it made me think which other flower buds were interesting. In Thorneyhurst Lane, near Lynn, I spotted this poppy bud. Poppies seem such fragile flowers, yet the buds seem almost prehistoric in nature. The hedgerow and verges here are peppered with these downy buds, and with other poppies in various stages of the flowering cycle. A beautiful flower.
June 20th – Some plants have interesting buds, as well as the blooms themselves. Amongst this set I’d venture the thistle to be king. Prickly and prolific, they aren’t yet in flower on the verges of Stonnall, but it won’t be long now. This hardly, very British plant, beloved delicacy of donkeys, is changeless and a stalwart of the ecology of our country, yet somehow alien; what other plant maches it in the UK for sheer tactile hostility? Only the stinging nettle, I guess…
June 1st – In total contrast to my dismay at the arboreal destruction in Stonnall, the roadside verges on the Lichfield Road at Sandhills are, like just about everywhere else at the moment, a delight. A riot of colour and wildflowers, just as one species finishes flowering, it passes the colour baton to another in a delightful natural relay. All of these gorgeous examples were spotted in a hundred yard stretch between Lanes Farm and Shire Oak House.
The dead nettles are a particular delight – lovely to pluck a flower or two and suck the sweet nectar from it’s base. Worth checking they’re out of dog pee reach first, though…
June 1st – I see that Wordsley House in Stonnall has now been sold, and this includes the barn and land. The barn is now marked down – like most agricultural buildings in the area have been – for conversion into dwellings. It says much about the economics and demographic of this burgeoning Metroland that all the farming has now gone from the village. The transformation – from comfortable rural village to almost totally soulless commuter resort – has been completed in the 30 years I’ve been riding through here, and I find it desperately sad. The only redeeming feature is the rolling countryside and greenery – although it is under threat too, as the lower image from Google Earth Streetview shows. In danger of losing the remainder of it’s greatest assets to overdevelopment, I fear for Stonnall’s future. Sad, destructive and tragic.
May 30th – There was something of the smug git about me when I arrived home. I sat on the train, watching the rain pound down on north Birmingham and Sutton. Station after station, wet commuters got on or off the train. Resigned to my fate, I hopped off at Shenstone, to find the rain had stopped. The sun was trying to come out. The sky was still threatening, so I sped home, enjoying the sun, and wondering if the spots I felt on my legs were road spray or rain starting again. Completely against the odds I arrived home dry and warm.
Life doesn’t usually reward me like this. Further down the line I’ll pay, I just know it…
May 23rd – You guys are going to get so fed up of my summer pictures, but frankly, I don’t care. It’s gorgeous out there, and despite my hay fever, I’m loving every minute. Returning from Tyseley yesterday evening, the back lanes of Stonnall and little Aston were warm and full of summer. Birds flitted in and out of the hedgerows, rabbits dwelled on verges and in the shade of hedges. Fair weather cyclists were out in force. This is the season I live for, and it’s finally here. Get out and enjoy it, it’s gorgeous out there.
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