July 23rd – in the Goscote Valley on my way to work, as the day started to warm up, I was drawn to a continual crackling sound. This always fascinates me; it’s the sound of gorse pods popping open with a snap, and scattering their seeds.
The action is induced by the warmth of the sun, and makes for an interesting diversion on the way to work. I love how the pods rattle musically when you shake the bushes, too.
It’s the little things that make summer, really.
March 19th – Spring, it seems, has sprung. Not just the daffodils, crocuses and early blossoms, but buds, green shoots and nascent leaves. All taken in one short stretch of the Goscote Valley cycleway on the way to work this morning.
The verdant young leaves of the hawthorn are particularly wonderful to see…
January 17th – I went up onto the Chase. It wasn’t an inspiring afternoon – there was a good sky, but the light was poor and it seemed to be mostly on the point of raining. The forest was stunningly bleak and beautiful as it ever is in it’s winter jacket, but the going was made tough by the sodden ground. The trails and tracks were all muddy soup, and I was covered in it.
All I want is a week or two without rain, with some bright days. I don’t care if it’s warm or cold – but snow would be nice. Just an end to this ceaseless damp.
December 29th – I rode out lunchtime, and just rode. It was a lovely day, with gorgeous light, and a lovely winter sunshine chill. I didn’t take many photos – some days, you just don’t – but it’s a ride that will stay with me for a while. It was peaceful, the roads were quiet, and there was an atmosphere of calm tranquility.
Here at Hints, just outside Tamworth, leaning on a gate at the foot of the ancient Gold’s Clump, overlooking the Black Brook Valley, I watched the sheep grazing an the light fade, content.
This is what I’d been needing since summer ended. I felt alive again.
August 6th – I’d been in Darlaston, and returned home via the cycleway down the Goscote Valley. Despite small areas of tipping and litter, it’s lovely at the moment; the pastures and wastelands are bright with willow herb, wort, convulvulus and budleia, and the Ford Brook has tall swathes of Himalayan balsam growing tall. It’s an unwelcome species, but it is gorgeous to look at.
All the way through Goscote I watched two buzzards wheel and soar on the warm breeze. You wouldn’t think this area could be so peaceful and beautiful.
Walsall still has the capacity to surprise.
July 15th – I snatched a ride out at 3pm, and headed for Hoar Cross. I rocketed through the countryside of Longdon, Handsacre and the Ridwares, only stopping at the old church at Pipe Ridware to take a quick couple of photos. The pretty little building is now a theatre whose latest show was only a few days ago.
I continued to Hoar Cross, and returned via the Needwood Valley,with the countryside looking gorgeous in the hazy, hot summer sun. I was hurrying a 35 mile journey and didn’t stop to take many photos, but it was a lovely, fast ride.
May 15th – Today, I went to Redditch for the first time in more than six months. I really enjoyed the Arrow Valley Cycle route, and have missed it loads. This traffic free, quiet belt of parkland runs along the river arrow right from north to south Redditch, and is a real eye-opener. It’s beautifully tended, litter free and a haven for wildlife. The Arrow was in full flow after the heavy rains of the previous night, and the paths were wet and glistened. Canada Geese loafed as swallows dived over the central lake, and grebes scudded past. Everything was beautifully green, and the lower reaches smelled beautifully of wild garlic, although the crop this year is limited. Where there had been whole glades of this aromatic plant last year, there were only clumps.
I’ve missed this commute. It’s lovely.
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.
August 15th – Last spring, every time I came to Redditch, the state of the River Arrow worried me. It had been such a dry year that I feared for the ecology and hydroecology of this little-noticed waterway. The flow slowed to a lazy trickle, the waterfowl and kingfishers vanished. Conditions were bad.
What a difference a bad summer makes. Now, the Arrow is flowing through it’s valley park beautifully, and the sound of flowing water has returned, as have the kingfishers. A remarkable, and most welcome recovery. If you want to know why I was late, it wasn’t the train. I stood for 5 minutes watching the birds and enjoying the spirit of the water.
July 28th – After going to see some mates in Walsall, I returned down a somewhat breezy Goscote Valley on a sunny afternoon. Joining the cycle route at the Butts, though Mill Lane Nature Reserve, I was immediately struct by the range and beauty of the plants and flowers, which were alive with awakening insects. The elegant, almost Francophile church spire of Rushall was visible above the trees across the valley, and this old railway line just screamed for attention. A wonderful place. Get your arses down there before summer passes.
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