Tag: sun

February 4th – At the other end of the journey, an hour and a half later, I noticed the hazy sun was out, and in it’s own way, Telford looked quite impressive. I’m not fond of the mirror-glass architecture thing myself, but it does look quite monolithic here. The station itself – recently refurbished – looked OK too, although it seems to be just a bit of a superficial tart-up. 

I haven’t been here for a good while. It’s nice to be somewhere different. It’s not like coming home, but I do feel a certain attachment; like meeting an old drinking pal or forgotten workmate.

For all the stick I give it, I’m quietly fond of Telford.

January 15th – It felt like the coldest morning of the winter so far, although I doubt that was the actually the case. Overnight, the drizzle had gone and the skies cleared, and I awoke to a bright, ice-hard morning. The main roads were fine, and the countryside looked beautiful in the traitor cold sunshine. The backlands, however, were untreated and impressively icy. Even with the spiked tyres, these were a challenge for first ice-ride of the year. I loved the commute this morning, it was fantastic. After all that rain, such a joy for the brightness of the january sun, the burning cold in my throat, the steam of my breath and the concentration of riding carefully.
It’s nice to feel alive again. 

October 12th – It was a beautiful sunny, golden autumn day. It wasn’t warm, but the sun shone and made everything precious. I was glad of it – after the soaking of the day before, it was blessed recovery. The day was beautiful both in Acocks Green, which I passed through on my way to Tyseley, and back at Shenstone and Stonnall on my return. A fine day, and we don’t get many of those at the moment. I’ve included some of the best pictures on my main blog.

September 27th – As I returned along the canal, something remarkable happened. A rainbow formed. In the distance over Hammerwich from the canal, the sky went from blue, to dark, to blue again, and then moved to form the most incredibly vivid rainbow. It lasted about ten minutes, long enough for me to wonder if there really was a pot of gold at Meerash Farm, but then, as quickly as it formed, it dissipated. It left one cyclist transfixed. Remarkably, all this occurred with no rain where I was. Sometimes, you’re just in the right place at the right time, and today, this was the case. I was privileged to see this. Nature, reminding us that it holds all the cards and will perform when she’s ready.

Perhaps autumn isn’t so bad after all.

September 14th – Home from work and off to Lichfield to do some shopping on a gorgeous, but windy afternoon. Heading up the canal to Chasetown, the tops of the hedges have been cut and my favourite tree is once again visible at Home Farm. I judge the passing of the seasons by that tree, it’s like a marker to me. Still with leaves, soon, they’ll be gone for another year. Looking over the farm, a buzzard wheeled high on the thermals and the harvested fields caught a patch of light. Not a bad view from Brownhills, is it?

July 12th – Station to station on seemingly different days. I left for work this morning – again, I was in southeast Birmingham – in bright sunshine, with clear blue skies. I took my jumper off, enjoyed the breeze and the traffic. The view of the Bull Ring from Moor Street was particularly wonderful – so many architectural styles in one view. Sadly, on my return at 8:30pm, the day had turned nasty. Short heavy showers, separated by steady drizzle. Shenstone station looked as handsome as ever, but the weather was a real pain. Why do I seem to keep scaring summer off?

July 11th – After days of moaning about the rain, as I commuted home late this afternoon, the sun came out. This was so joyous to me that I cruised around the lanes of Shenstone for a while, dawning in the warmth, taking in the colours of nature around me. It had been an odd morning commute – I set out in purring rain, but got to the station in sunshine. I’ve been very down about the lack of summer in recent days, and the relentless grind of getting wet nearly every day has taken it’s toll on my mood. This ride, however, was restorative. Blue skies, light fluffy clouds and a gorgeous light. The wheat looked healthy, and the hedgerows and lane margins bristled with life. Excellent. 

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 10th – For the second time in two days, I hit Chasewater. I was going on to ride the Sherbrook Valley on the Chase, but couldn’t resist a spin around the park in the sunshine. The weather was warm and soft, and I was in shorts and shirtsleeves. The boating pool was, as usual, a cloudy soup of mallards, canada geese, swans and coots, mingling with bird waste and discarded bread, but the waterfowl seem happy enough. Unusually, a mallard had her ducklings on the lake, including this rather fetching yellow one. A lovely thing indeed.