October 26th – I went out in the morning in a heavy wind to run some errands. British Summer Time had ended the night before, and I guess I was avoiding the evening darkness, too.
I passed Jockey Meadows on the Walsall Wood/Shelfield border and noticed the water meadow was still very green. The cows here during the summer have done a great job, and the pasture looks in good condition.
It won’t be long now before even this spot becomes brown with autumn.
October 20th – Oh my goodness this is clever, but I’ve given up trying to think of a way to explain it – it’s just best to take a look yourselves.
The Co-operative store at Streets Corner in Walsall Wood seems very popular, and the new build has been a generally welcome addition to the local amenities. In the same building, there are two other retail units, still to be occupied. They looked blank for a while, then some time ago, so clever person came up with this.
Behind the windows, images of the inside of a store have been arranged at angles and flat on, to look like aisles in a store. Because of the angles, as you move past, they give a remarkable convincing three-dimension effect.
A reader pointed this out to me ages ago and I’ve struggled to find a way to represent it. It’s a really neat optical illusion, and works best at night.
I take my hat off to the designer…
October 20th – I had to pop into Walsall Wood on my way home, so shot up the Lichfield Road. It wasn’t a pleasant evening, and there was a distinct nip in the air.
As I came over Walsall Wood Bridge, I couldn’t resist a dusk shot up the High Street to Shire Oak. This shows that Walsall Wood is still remarkably green, and I love how the vehicle lights look like christmas lights on the tree in the distance.
I hear lots of people talk about Pelsall and Aldridge as ‘villages’, but Walsall Wood is perhaps the one locally that still retains most of the village character. It’s a lovely little place.
October 16th – I’ve come to the conclusion there’s another swan family moved down here, probably from Aldridge. Nipping back into Walsall Wood on an errand, I spotted five cygnets and mum; they don’t seem as advanced in development as the Catshill brood, which are really quite white now, and these seem cheekier, and more unruly.
Looking for food along the embankment at the back of Barrow Close, they were watched by a distinctly unamused bystander, a large, grumpy-looking marmalade cat.
There’s a story there, I’m sure.
October 10th – As I cycled down Green Lane past Jockey Meadows, my sight was snagged by something luminous. I pulled on the anchors and doubled back. An inversion was occurring over the water meadow, and it was beautiful.
An inversion occurs when a layer of colder air in contact with the ground is trapped by warmer air above it, when normally, the reverse occurs. This traps mist in a low blanket in the cooler layer.
A full-on inversion is a sight to behold; mist streams off the surface of any water and clings low to the ground. I’ve not seen a good one for a long while, and this was minor, and seemed localised. But it gave a wonderfully haunting aura to a familiar spot.
Hopefully, we may get more soon, and this is the warmup act…
October 8th – As dusk fell, the sky cleared, and heading into Brownhills on this quiet, damp evening it was actually quite beautiful. It’s been a month or two since I last saw the canal look like this… I also noted that these were probably the last days of my commuting home in the light.
Everything must pass.
October 8th – The weather has really turned this week. From the warm, dry Indian summer it’s changed into a wet, squally October. Very, very heavy periods of rain throughout the day interspersed with sunshine made it a great day for rainbow hunters, but not for drivers, as many local roads were flooded.
Here at Green Lane, on the Walsall Wood – Shelfield border, the usual standing flood near the cottage. It’s not deep, but riding this on a bike needs careful observation not to be passed by a vehicle and splashed or worse.
Coupled with all this it seems very cold (although it isn’t, it’s just a shock).
Oh hello winter. I wondered where you’d got to…
October 7th – Autumn is still merrily and beautifully doing it’s thing, although at somewhat different rates.
In Wednesbury, the gorgeously shimmering red-brown willows I spotted last week have been joined by beautiful ochre-orage beech trees (At least, I think they’re beeches). The contrast and effect are stunning, even on a grey, damp morning.
On my return, Jockey Meadows is still quite green; fitting really, as this was the last place I noticed to green up in spring. The cows have long ago moved on from this water meadow, but they cut back the scrub considerably, and the effect is still lush and verdant, all under a wonderfully dramatic sky.
Beauty, even on dull, miserable days.
September 22nd – Further on from the flytipped mattress, my dark mood was lifted by a splash of colour as I winched myself up the Black Cock Bridge. Remarkably, the honeysuckle thicket growing there is still flowering, and in seeming good health.
Think about that. We’re 8 days off October, and the honeysuckle is still gorgeous.
Looking beyond the railings, I noted the field in from of the old farmhouse had been planted with young, deciduous saplings, which are coming along rather well. An excellent thing, and great colours right now, too.
September 22nd – Cycling down Green Lane between Shelfield and Walsall Wood, I’m greeted by a discarded mattress. Clearly just thrown off the back of a van or truck, there hasn’t even been an attempt to get it to a gateway or lay-by.
Some people aren’t fit to live with pigs. Utter scum.
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