Tag: Yellow

May 24th – One of the more strikingly beautiful wayside flowers that grow pretty much as weeds along the cycleways and towpaths is Hawkweed. Ranging in colour from yellow to crimson, these are gorgeous flowers that some would view as invasive.

I love to see these every summer, and the Goscote valley is lined with them. They are a joy to the heart.

April 27th – Also near Stonnall, a classic spring view: cottages at Mill Lane, Lynn surrounded by an ocean of bright yellow oilseed rape, the cheesy scent of which is filling the air in the backlanes at the moment.

It’s still way too cold, but the countryside is showing itself beautifully.

April 24th – A very cold day once more with periodic rain and sun, so typically April, really; I keep forgetting it’s so early in the year. However, as I passed Clayhanger bridge in the early evening, a patch of cowslips I’m fairly certain are there due to my previous guerrilla seeding forays, and it’s wonderful to see such beautiful delicate softness against the harshness of the traffic barrier.

Mission accomplished, I think.

February 13th – Just as I feared I couldn’t stand the grey anymore, a blessed break in the weather. I have never, ever been so glad to see the light.

One commute on the canal through Walsall to Darlaston – a route I haven’t taken much since Christmas – was all it took. Sunshine, wildlife, glistening water, beautiful mist-suffused urban streets. And in Kings Hill Park beautiful yellow crocuses reminded me of the good that was to come.

I noted that the towpaths from Bentley Mill Way to Bughole Bridge are now being resurfaced, so if you cycle this way, expect to avoid folk in hi-viz marshalling small excavators and other such plant.

Today, my week was saved… by a crocus. I’m just mad about saffron.

February 2nd -Spring is easing inn slowly, and unlike the seasonal transitions from Summer to Autumn and Autumn to Winter, this one makes me very happy indeed. I’ve been finding myself almost in the light commuting to and from work – it won’t be long now until the darkness is pushed back enough to feel truly alive again. And in the meantime, isolated pockets of early flowers, like the cheerful yellow acolytes spotted in Victoria Park in Darlaston.

Won’t be long now. Just have to keep the faith!

January 11th – Another rare daylight commute, so again I took the canal into Darlaston. On my way I became aware of a series of yellow marker paint spots on the towpath, and it took me a little while to work them out.

The canal towpath here is to be resurfaced soon, and disturbed soil in places pointed up the fact that someone had been surveying. Markers near the bridges indicate a gas main runs alongside the canal here, and the spots indicate the position of the pipes. At the old arm crossover near Haniel, the pipes emerge and cross the disused inlet, and one can observe the spots follow it’s course.

This part of the towpath would benefit a little from resurfacing, but it’s nowhere near as bad as the stretches through Aldridge and Pelsall. The resurfacing policy is absolutely baffling.

July 15th – As a good pal said to me a few days ago, some plants would be really cherished if they were harder to grow, and I believe this to be the case with ragwort. Deep yellow and orange, this dweller of scrubs, verges, hedgerows and fallow ground flowers profusely throughout the summer, largely ignored because it’s so common.

Scourge of horse-owners due to the toxic effect on their steeds, it’s not a well liked plant.

Which is a shame, because when you stop to look at it, it’s rather beautiful.