November 22nd – Time for a warning to local cyclists again.
The hedges hat (at last!) been flailed again from Anchor Bridge to Chasewater along the canal. The towpath is littered with sharp hawthorns and will puncture thinner tyres.
Probably a route best avoided for a week or two until the weather washes them away.
4th October – And finally, watch out if you’re riding along the canal between Chasewater and Brownhills. The hedge between Home Farm and the towpath has been flailed, and there are thorns all over it. As it was I passed a couple of people repairing punctures, so if you’ve not got tough tyres, I’d give the route a miss for a week or two.
April 25th – The void in the canal embankment on the bend between Pier Street and Catshill Junction is worsening. It’s been growing for two years as the brickwork collapses, and the Canal & River Trust don’t seem to be in any hurry to fix it. They are undertaking repairs further down to sections of embankment that don’t seem as badly affected. Hopefully, they’re working up in this direction.
To me, this is a serious hazard that could trap a walkers foot or bicycle wheel. Like the cover to the sluice up at Clayhanger Bridge, it seems just like the kind of hazard they should be on top of.
The Canal & River Trust have been informed of both issues repeatedly.
January 23rd – A warning to fellow cyclists and walkers on the canal near Clayhanger Bridge in Brownhills. Some kind of work has been undertaken on the sluice set into the towpath, and the sheet steel covers now are proud with a void around the edges.
It’s a real trip hazard, and I can’t imagine what the people who left it like this were thinking.
Take care.
September 3rd – Arum Maculatum is a common sight in hedgerows and woods at this time of year. Known variously as Wild arum, Lords and Ladies, Devils and Angels, Cows and Bulls, Cuckoo-Pint, Adam and Eve and even Naked Boys, it’s a very unusual plant which sheds it’s foliage before fruiting leaving a 6 to 12 inch high column of bright orange-red berries. These berries are highly poisonous and this is the plant responsible for most hospital admissions due to accidental ingestion in the UK.
The berries contain a toxin which makes the oral tract tingle, and causes sickness and swelling of the throat. Always avoid touching it, although the temptation to do so us great, it has an almost artificial appearance that renders it grimly fascinating.
What always worries me about this plant is that it’s at a perfect height, and so brightly attractive, that young kids may be drawn to it. What yours if you’re out walking.
This example is growing, along with lots of others, on the riverbank near the Arrow Valley cycle path in Redditch.
March 17th – Since I noticed the caution sticker on the back of the truck last Friday, I’ve been studying other such vehicles for similar safety features. Coming home tonight, I was surprised by this one: on the back of a very long, articulated fuel tanker, it warns of the wide turning circle and the danger of being on the left of the lorry as it turns. It also gives the equally sound advice about mirrors. Both these points are excellent.
Interestingly, it appears to be warning car drivers, not specifically cyclists. I find that a bit odd. Like the one on Friday, it’s also a wee bit too small to read from any distance or in a hurry.
Nice to see, though. Well played, ESSO, well played.
February 16th – Spotted at Hints Ford, the Black Brook Valley is a popular site for ramblers. If you go into the countryside, respect it and keep your dog on a lead.
By dealt with, the shepherd means ‘shot’.
The shepherd would be quite within their right, and I would wholly support them.
January 26th – Beware, canal towpath walkers and cyclists. As pointed out by Warren Parry on Facebook a week or so ago, the brickwork on the embankment edge of the Wyrley and Essington Canal between Catshill Junction and the Silver Street Bridge in Brownhills is falling away.
A considerable cavity is opening between the towpath and the edging brickwork, large and deep enough to take a bike wheel or foot. I guess it’s caused by a combination of the weather and general erosion.
I shall contact the Canal & River Trust tomorrow to report the problem. In the meantime, watch where you’re going!
November 5th – In Shenstone, a timely reminder of the season. The roads were thick with leaf pulp, caused by the action of traffic on fallen leaves. It looks muddy, but it’s also soapy and greasy. Hitting this goop on road tyres can be a sobering experience as it’s apt to steal your wheels from under you; the balsam and sap mix to form a lubricant that remains, even after the debris is removed, so take care anywhere where there are overhanging trees – from up on the Chase, to residential suburbia.
July 28th – Cycling after flash rains at the end of a dry spell is dangerous. The torrent washes down sand, stones and detritus that lurk in bends, hollows and adverse cambers waiting to steal your wheels from under you. The stones are the worst – they’re like cycling on black ice.
This patch lies at the junction of Cranebrook Lane and Boat Lane near Hilton, north of Stonnall.
Take care, take it steady, and Look out.
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