July 28th – I know I keep returning to this. but it’s rather fantastic. The fields right now are just on the edge of harvest, and are positively glowing with gorgeous colour. Here at Harehurst Hill, near Wall overlooking a wheat field on a fine sunny afternoon, I seem a million miles away from the cold and chills of last winter’s dark commutes. Oh, for an endless summer…
July 23rd – Stonnall’s Grove Hill is accessed down a rough track, either from between houses on Main Street, Stonnall, or from a field gateway at the other end, in Church Road. Thought to be a tumulus, this sharply defined mound is visible and distinctive for miles around due to it’s single, windswept tree at the summit. It offers fine views all around from the summit, and I often come here for peace and quiet. It’s a fine place to sit and survey the area on a late, quiet, sunny Saturday afternoon.
July 13th – As Summer’s clock mechanism whirs away, inexorably ticking the days away until autumn, little markers fall in place like the escapement of a precision mechanism. Flowers bloom and fade, trees blossom and fruit, animals breed and fledge. Today’s marker is this very nearly ripe field of wheat at Harehurst Hill, between Wall and Lichfield. Almost overnight it has transformed from a fresh green to a warm gold. Soon, it will be harvested, another marker in time’s passage.
June 26th – After the Canal Festival at Brownhills I took a lazy, hot ride up over Longdon Edge. Climbing Shute Hill near Burntwood is always a challenge, but is rewarded by excellent views and the most wonderful sequence of tumbling, twisting lanes. From the top of hill, the view northwards over the plains is stunning and green. Is there anywhere finer than Staffordshire on her summer throne?
May 31st – The weather really settled down today, and summer is definitely on the return. The air was chilly at 6:30AM in Four Oaks, but the light was gorgeous and the wind had died right down. I stopped to admire the architecture of this house in Lichfield Road, which I’ve passed many times. Is this stunning, or what?
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