Galleries

August 12th – Escape in the afternoon for a 72 mile ride around the top of Burton and back via Melbourne – a fine ride, but the southwesterly on my return was punishing.

Up through Lichfield and Barton, a great stop for tea and cake, then up through Shobnall to Willington, where I note the disused cooling towers are finally due for demolition. Over the Swarkestone Bridge to Melbourne, then back through Woodvellie and Lullington.

At least I found out what bored farmers do for entertainment…

I really enjoyed the ride, but I do hope the wind clears off soon.

August 11th – I think this is an interesting submission for seven days of wildlife. The teasel currently sprouting from Catshill junction Bridge in Brownhills is flowering, and clearly attracting the bees. 

Anything that helps the fellows in stripy jumpers is great by me – and I’d never studied before how intricate these almost prehistoric-looking blooms are.

An interesting find on an otherwise dull day.

August 10th – So, continuing Susan Forster’s seven day wildlife challenge, no such series would be complete without the swans. Truculent, grumpy, aggressive and temperamental, we all love these large waterfowl. 

I spotted the Bentley Bridge family – still doing well with their single cygnet – at the disused basin in Pleck on my way to work. Just one at first, drifting in classic leg-up rest position, preening with intense concentration. 

Swan feet are fascinating – so leathery and hard-wearing. A triumph of natural engineering.

The other two members of the family were nearby. I notice junior is now, like the Watermead cygnets in Brownhills, developing white back feathers now, and all trace of juvenile grey fluff has gone.

Oh, how these birds enthral me.

August 9th – Bind weed is everywhere at this time of year. With the almost pure white flowers and large leaves, this climbing plant is prodigious and often regarded as a nuisance.

That’s a shame really, as it’s another one of those plants that if it was rarer, it would be cherished. It attracts and feeds lots of bugs and bees, and is particularly beautiful.

I was fascinated in the way the one flower had been so selectively nibbled.

August 9th – Reader Susan Forster has challenged me to take a photo of wildlife every day for seven days.

The opportunities for animals are limited, obviously, but I’ll give it a go and start with the humble urban sparrow, one of my favourite birds. Sociable, gregarious and actually quite lovely if you look closely, these overlooked birds are a large part of our landscape, yet barely acknowledged as they’re so common.

This group were fussing around the steps of Bentley Bridge, preening, pecking for bugs and generally hanging out.

August 8th – I still can’t get my head around the state of the trees currently blocking the new development’s view of Catshill Junction. This is a Walsall Housing Group project consisting of apartments, sold as ‘canalside’ dwellings – but as far as I can ascertain, most of the properties have no view of the canal itself due to the overgrown thicket in-between.

Such dense vegetation must also make those flats terribly dark. Unusually for Walsall Housing Group, they don’t seem to have any plan to deal with this and integrate their development into the immediate environment. I find this surprising and sad.

And still languishing unloved on the bank, the Catshill Junction Sculpture. 

What a mess.

August 7th – There were three in total, but ginger scarpered. Judging by their lanky, adolescent appearances, I think they were siblings, and I spotted them as they dashed over the road near Red Hill. They’d clearly been investigating the horses in the field, and been scared, and now there was this guy on a mechanical contraption pointing something at them.

These cats are clearly characters, and living in the quiet backlanes of Longdon, they have acres and acres of woodland, hedgerow, pasture and ditch to explore. 

What a life they have before them.

April 7th – A surprisingly hard ride up to Pye Green, over the Chase and back over Shugborough. The wind was wolfish, and changed direction mid-ride, attacking on the way, and the return. Hugely enjoyable, though.

It was a ride of oddities and unusual scenes. The ghost doll and Bassett hound weathervane were spotted within meters of each other in Norton, while the rabbits dined happily on the grass of the Shugborough Estate. A young lad fed swans corn from a narrowboat, and the the Chase itself was as cinematic as ever.

I feel autumn at my shoulder already, and the lords and ladies berries are showing well – their vivid colour warning of their strong toxicity.

On the way back, in the evening cool not far from Longdon, I was surprised to come upon a badger, crossing the road; before I could get the camera, it scooted out of sight, and a mate tentatively stuck it’s head of of the hedge. I wanted 15 minutes or more, camera poised and perfectly still for them to re-emerge, then I gave up. Just as I zipped up the camera bag, both animals sauntered back over the road, as cool as you like.

They knew, they obviously knew. Buggers.

August 6th – Today’s ride was, oddly, mostly observed by cats. Dozing cats. Strolling cats. Stalking cats. Cats taking the air, the afternoon off or the initiative. From Brownhills to Croxall and back, it was all about the felines.

I saw all these fine examples on the same rife, and more I didn’t manage to photograph. No idea what drew them all out this afternoon, but I hope it happens again.

August 5th – An early evening drop into Stonnall to call on a mate on the way home from work took place under some remarkably threatening skies. There were a few spots, but rain didn’t catch me however, and I was reminded near Lynn of the spectacular panoramic beauty that occurs unexpectedly in the local countryside.

Harvest seems to have stalled for the moment, and crops still languish in the fields, adding a welcome golden hue to the landscape. Despite the weather, it really is high summer now.