August 15th – I spun up The Parade and over to Burntwood on the errand, then returned via Chasewater and the canal. It was a good sunset – there wasn’t enough cloud to be terribly dramatic – and the place was alive with bugs of every description, but the atmosphere and light was wonderful.
One nice thing about this time of year is the sunsets should improve, and I’ll be in with a better chance of catching them.
June 25th – better day, but not for the weather. I was looking forward to a longish ride out, but the ongoing local issues and squally weather meant the ride I’d hoped for wasn’t going to happen. I contented myself with a loop around Brownhills, Chasewater and Walsall Wood.
At Anglesey Wharf, despite the poor day, the wild sweetpeas have clearly survived the scrub clearance last Autumn and are blooming beautifully around the old coal-loading chutes.
They cheered me up immensely, and I still find it remarkable that such lovely flowers sprout from what was once a dirty, grimy place. fantastic to see.
July 8th – At the old Anglesey Wharf, near Chasewater, the wildflowers are currently gorgeous – feral poppies, cornflower and wild sweet peas bring welcome reds and purples to a riot of colours.
Those sweat peas grow every year around the former coal chute. That sole reclamation of industry and pollution by something so beautiful always makes me happy.
April 10th – Nice to see a thriving bunny population around the dam and Anglesey Wharf and basin at Chasewater.
There were a large group cropping the turf at the back of the dam cottage, sadly they were skittish and I scared all but this pair away.
They look healthy though. Good to see them after the myxomatosis outbreak near Newtown ended the warren there.
July 4th – Independence day, but sadly not from work. To my annoyance, called in on a fool’s errand at 12 noon, my plans for R&R were scuppered. However, taking the slow way back to Walsall, my weariness was cleared by the bright sun, azure sky and pleasant atmosphere.
Walsall has many faults and far too many detractors, but it’s not a bad old place.
March 6th – And elsewhere too, on the canal, signs of spring. At Walsall Wood bridge, butties are being loaded from a temporary, rough wharf from a derelict factory yard, ready to supply earth to a worksite near Catshill Junction. Growing from the brickwork canalside nearby, beautiful coltsfoot flowers in abundance, almost hidden from view.
At the new pond in Clayhanger, the scrub and copse still looks barren, but there’s a sense of anticipation, almost as if nature is waiting for the starting gun.
November 22nd – I had to nip to Aldridge in the afternoon, and on autopilot, rode up the canal, to find it still blocked off for works between Northywood Bridge at the back of Brickyard Road and the Wharf Bridge in Aldridge, between Stubbers Green and the town centre.
I had, of course, had warning of this previously from TheMadOldBaggage and Stymaster, and forgot; still, the diversion wasn’t too bad.
The closure looks set to continue for a while as they rebuild embankments. Look out for it if you’re up that way. If you remember…
January 15th – I keep forgetting the Waterfront in Walsall. It’s hardly surprising, really, as blocked off by the New Art Gallery and a large Poundland, you wouldn’t know it was there from Park Street. This evening, I took a quick sweep through, and thought the lights were nice at the Wharf Bar. Still can’t warm to the the boxy, Lubyanka-like hotel, though. It’s bloody hideous.
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