Tag: trent

August 10th – Himalayan Balsam is a pain. Lovely to look at, its highly aromatic, metallic-smelling flowers line wetlands, riverbanks and marshes at this time of year. Growing to a couple of meters, it chokes native plants and is considered an invasive species. Sadly, it’s so prolific – this clump was on the banks of the Trent at Shugborough – I don’t think we’ll ever be rid of it.

May 27th – Today was spent cycling up to Cannock Chase via Chasewater, then over Shugborough and back down the canal to Tuppenhurst and back home over Longdon edge. The wind on my return was horrendous, and very hard work, but the sunlight and greenery of the rest of the day more than compensated for it. From atop the old pit mound at Chasewater, the view is stunning, and very hard to capture in a single image. The Chase has a lovely emerald jacket on, and the dandelion meadow at Shugborough was lush and gorgeous. 

I was relieved to note at Hanch that the wild garlic, which seems to have had a fairly bad year, seems very prolific at the roadside. It’s the only spot this year that seems up to usual standards.

January 19th – Fearing getting stuck and feeling a bit cold (not enough layers!), I took a train back from Rugeley Trent Valley Station to Walsall. The service was running well, and was fast, warm and comfortable. I wasn’t, however, overly enamoured with the station.

With four platforms and totally unmanned, the station could do with some attention.  The footbridge and platforms were lethal as they hadn’t been de-iced. Must say, it’s quite lonely up there at night, too. Sill, the passenger information was good, and I didn’t have to wait long.

December 26th – The dirty old river Tame that gives it’s name to Tamworth and doubles the Trent by draining Birmingham, was in impressive form yesterday. I’m interested in the flood pattern of this river, which runs in a natural channel from Minworth to Cat Holme, near the National Memorial Arboretum. heading out when the sun was shining, I looped through Lichfield and Whittington as the rains came. At Elford, I surveyed the path of the recent flood, and the houses on The Beck – which are so attractive in summer -looked vulnerable. The old Elford bridge, however, looked as steadfast as ever. Following the river down through Tamhorn, I viewed it again from Hopwas, where it’s natural flood channel can be seen. That shallow berm is more than enough to protect the houses of the village, as to the eastern side, the plain is wide. It’s interesting to note anti-erosion work going on there. 

The waters look brown, angry and filthy, and they currently are. Undoubtedly contaminated with all manner of pollutants, including possibly sewage, it will take a few dry weeks to settle before returning to it’s  clear, glass-like self. 

There’s no avoiding the spirit of the water.

November 11th – Returning via a rather dark and cold Rugeley bypass, at least I had the wind behind me. I stopped at the Bridge in Rugeley and checked out the view before me. I love Rugeley Power Station by night. This is one of the most advanced coal burning generation facilities in Europe, and the fume scrubbing plant, covered in lights, is futuristic and fascinating at night. Built as one of the postwar River Trent behemoths, most of it’s companion facilities have long since gone, like Drakelow and Willington. A stunning, and dare I say it, beautiful thing.

July 15th – It was, on occasion, a bright sunny day. But it wasn’t warm, and when the sun went in, the chill was evil. I was cycling in the evening, and my journey to Yoxall, Barton and the Trent and Mersey river section at Alrewas was beautiful, but challenging. I was in shorts and cold; my energy low, and I bonked. (That’s where you need food, and you suddenly flatline. Runners call it ‘Hitting the wall’). Still, the countryside was as gorgeous as ever, and it reminds me to keep grazing and stock up with snacks before I leave for a long ride.

July 8th – When the summer floods come, I head for the floodplains of the Tame, Trent and Mease. Around the National Memorial Arboretum and Croxall, the Tame always bursts its banks and spills onto the A513. Between Edingale and Harlaston, the Mease floods. Back at Elford, the Tame reclaims the nearby farmland. 

I love to ride through these floodwaters. Very challenging, it’s a fun, demanding thing to do. On this Sunday evening, in sandals and shorts, the water came above my wheel hubs, but wasn’t as bad as 2007, when almost the entire bike was submerged. An impressive, destructive thing.