November 5th – it seemed quite cold today, although for the time of year, I think it was probably quite mild. The clarity of the day and it’s air made for a gorgeous sunset. It started developing when I was near Stonnall, and just got better and better until darkness fell. I headed at top speed for Wall, where I knew I could get a good aspect. It really was this vivid; I never retouch photos other than the odd bit of cropping or straightening. Theses are straight off the camera.
October 25th – Sunrise near Fighting Cocks, on Catersfield Lane in Stonnall. It was the dry, clear morning after the wet night before; the roads were wet, treacherous and greasy, yet to smell the fresh air, moist earth and autumn on the air was a joy to the heart. This is what riding a bike is all about…
October 19th – Returning home, once again battling a keen wind and what seemed like biting cold – although this will seem mild, soon – I noticed lots of new crops growing in the fields between Shenstone and Sandhills. This one was in Lynn. I don’t know what they are – probably winter wheat of some sort – but they’re providing a welcome, verdant distractions from the autumnal yellows and browns. It’ll be interesting to see how they develop and when they’re harvested.
October 3rd – a few months ago, this was a field of fluorescent yellow oilseed rape bloom – then a field of drying seedpods and vegetation. It was left for a week as stubble, then ploughed, tilled and planted. This field at Stonnall, just off Mill Lane, is now bursting with regimented lines of clean, green shoots. I have no idea what the crop is, probably winter barley or wheat, but the clean, bright green reminds me that even in autumn, the factory floor of the countryside is still in production. No time to waste. I look forward to watching this crop grow.
September 28th – I noticed near Lower Stonnall this huge stack of hay bales being covered for storage. This time of year is all about putting stuff behind for the famers; silage is gently maturing in yards, potatoes lie ready in the earth, their foliage having been removed. Sugarbeet, manglewurzels and turnips are maturing. Huge stacks of bales like this dot the countryside. Last year, there was a shortage of winter food for livestock. I’m sure farmers this year are keen to avoid any repeat.
September 19th – I remember when love was nothing more than a handful of sticky conkers. Come to think of it, it hasn’t changed much… It’s programmed into the DNA of every bloke in the UK not to pass a horse chestnut on the ground without picking it up. In Brownhills as a child, the only conker tree worth a light was by the bus stop at the bottom of the parade; come this time of year the poor thing was battered half to death. Little did we know that a couple of miles away in the lanes of Stonnall and Shenstone, the shiny nuts were so plentiful that they were lying thick on the ground. The Brownhills tree has since been lost to disease, but I always wondered if it recognised the kids torturing it. ‘I remember your dad. He was a lousy shot with a stick, too…’
September 5th – I’ve only just noticed that the former Mango Tree Indian Restaurant, near Stonnall on the Chester Road, has closed. It’s clearly been shut for quite a while. I’ve never found it anything other than average and nobody ever seemed to rave about it. Once this building was a transport cafe, open 24 hours, then a Little Chef. Nothing ever seems to prosper here. Wonder what will become of it?
August 31st – There has been some discussion in the Stonnall History Group on Facebook about the old garage that used to be on the corner of Main Street and Cartersfield Lane. It was an old fashioned affair, and I don’t think it was self service but relied on an attendant to fill your car for you. It lasted until the late eighties or early nineties I think, and I can remember buying sweets there when out riding as a kid – it was the only such place open on a Sunday afternoon in those days. Jayne Preston remembered her relatives, the Lawless family owning it back then. the main building is the cream house with the fantastic barley twist chimneys, now fully converted back to a hose. The forecourt was to the left, where there now stands a new house built in the space.
August 31st – Horse chestnuts (conkers) and sweet chestnuts are completely different, but both are growing all around right now. Neither are yet ripe, but there seem to be handsome crops of both. The horse chestnuts here are showing the effect of the leaf miner moth, whose larvae hatch inside the leaf structure and kill it from the inside, turning the leaves patchy brown very early in the summer. The fruit, however, is unaffected and well familiar to blokes everywhere who are genetically programmed to pick up fallen conkers, whatever their age or status. The hard spiky shells are a stark contrast to the ferocious-looking sweet chestnuts, which are actually relatively soft. The Sweet chestnuts have leathery, shiny dark green foliage, too, giving them a slightly continental appearance. Both trees were spotted in Stonnall – the sweet chestnut on the verge at the junction of Main Street and Church Lane.
August 30th – Castlefort is a very old hill topped by a recognised ancient hill fort. Forming the south eastern flank of Shire Oak, this green, wooded hillside has a small, very old hamlet of houses. Occasionally referred to as Upper or Over Stonnall, from old maps it seems to have been called Castle Gate at one point. Prospect House, the White three storey classically Staffordshire cottage at the junction of Castlhill and the Chester Road, is a well known landmark for miles around. Pictured from the fields to the south, I doubt that this view has changed much in a century or so.
BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking 