Monday March 22nd 2021 – A surprisingly pleasant day, almost as if spring was finally getting on her throne.
On a verge on Walsall’s dismal new Ring Road, a lone dandelion waved the flag for the season and happiness in general as I stopped to answer a call on my way to work.
Sometimes simple things make your day.
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Friday, October 2nd 2020 – A brief break in the weather as dusk fell had me dashing out for a quick circuit of the town.
Between Anchor Bridge and Catshill Junction, weak, late sun caught the water, and made it precious.
Even the most horrid days can have their beautiful moments.
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May 15th – As I get older and older, I find it much harder to explain to those younger, or newcomers to this town just how much things have improved here since I was a kid.
This is not trivial, or frivolous: The town I grew up in was poor, suffered terrible pollution from industry and and refuse tip at it’s heart, the waterways were rubbish filled ditches and there were very few of the trees here there are today.
I grew up in a smelly, wildlife-free post industrial wasteland.
Now, the waterways are limpid, but full of life; the smells and pollution have all but gone. Everywhere is green with trees and hedgerows. I regularly see deer, foxes and all manner of birds and bugs.
On a sunny, beautiful Friday evening in the golden hour, quiet in lockdown, it was hard to believe what this place once was.
But the memory will never fade.
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May 10th – It’s been a long time since I was out this way, and it was wonderful to be back. From the old bridge at Handsacre to the rugged charm of the church at Hoar Cross, the afternoon and evening were thoroughly gorgeous.
It was lovely to see the wildflowers in that churchyard, with the bugle putting on a particularly fine showing this season. But the view over the valley and the residents keeping careful watch on me were all part of a fantastic, rejuvenating ride.
Most summers, these lanes are usually mine, yet somehow in the chaos, illness and fatigue of recent months, I’ve let them slip from my grasp.
It’s time to rectify that.
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May 9th – A run into Birmingham the day before had me hankering for the Sandwell Valley. I had errands to do, and the park is on the route between West Browmwich and Rushall Junction on the Tame Valley Canal, so what better chance to pay it a visit?
It was on my return I chose to visit the park: With snacks in the saddlebag and a cooling alcohol free G&T I enjoyed a small, private picnic overlooking Swan Pool.
It was busy with walkers, runners, cyclists and promenading families, but everything was well distanced and pleasant.
And while I sat cross legged and munching, the late afternoon sun warmed my soul and the azure blue sky, reflected in the water, was gorgeous.
A very welcome afternoon of clarity and peace.
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May 8th – It’s always nice to welcome seasonal characters back into one’s life and none more so than the local canal’s resident reptile, Mr. Miyagi, the yellow-bellied slider.
Clearly a discarded pet, many canals and pools in the UK are home to these gentle, but surprisingly speedy vegetarians. The will live happily in our climate although being native to the Americas, but will not breed, even if they managed to find a mate. These turtles were popular a while back and sold as small animals, many were set free as they grew.
Mr. Miyagi is the size of a dinner plate, and likes to sun himself on the bank or any suitably buoyant drifting debris he can find on warm days, and his statuesque, head raised posture marks him as a real sun worshipper.
However, get a bit close or make a sudden movement – as I did today by sneezing – and he darts into the water with remarkable acuity.
I thought last year someone may interfere and ‘rescue’ the dear old soul, but he remains, reactions as sharp as ever and it was good to note his presence for another season.
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April 25th – Saturday morning, again shockingly quiet despite protests of ‘too many people ignoring the lockdown’ on social media. Brownhills and the countryside around it simmered gently in the warm sun.
Things are greening over nicely now. The azolla bloom on the canal is gradually decreasing and everything looked magnificent.
I need to record and cherish these times, for they will, I think, get me through future bad ones. These times when you can enjoy the peace of the old cement works bridge or the view over Home Farm and not hear traffic, not see people but just drink in the warmth, the season and the song of birds and the buzz of bees.
Nature is regardless of human woes and that’s a good reason to keep taking the next steps.
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April 21st – The evening exercise rides are getting a bit samey and I think I need to vary my palette a wee bit – but it’s quite hard with beauty like this not five minutes out of town.
I took a spin up to Ogley Junction from Brownhills: Just a short, lazy loop from Silver Street. The canal and fields near home farm looked spendid in the warm, softening evening sun.
Machinery is once more on the half-ploughed field, which is interesting, and the oilseed rape is now in full bloom, too.
I never, ever tire of this place. It’s so gorgeous.
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March 13th – Friday came as a day that was decent to start, and then gifted rain in the afternoon. When I left work, the rain had cleared leaving a bright, sunlit evening on which to admire my beloved Twin Sisters, the two church spires of Church Hill in central Wednesbury.
I love to admire this view from Kings Hill Park. I love the hill, the space, the rooftops before the tree-lined ecclesiastical summit. I love to think of the hundred or more years these lovely buildings have watched over the industrial landscape and it’s changes below.
And I also wonder how many people like me have stood in this place and done exactly the same as me over the years. I love the way it’s all kind of eternally connected.
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These, remarkably enough, are phone photos. How far technology has come…
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