September 22nd – I note from the GPS that the sunset is advancing by a few minutes every day, which has started to place the golden hour squarely over my commute. Yesterday, needing some peace and quiet and separation from a tough day at work, I hit the canals on the way back, and Walsall, Birchills and Goscote rewarded me with tranquility and beautiful light.
For those that do nothing but criticise Walsall, open your eyes: this is on your doorstep.
September 21st – I was being watched from a driveway in Lower Stonnall. An apparently elderly but gorgeous tortoiseshell was regarding me with some disdain, while her mate, a gorgeous and large blue-grey chap was taking care of security.
They didn’t like my sort. I wasn’t welcome. Mr. Grey yowled at me. I bid him good afternoon, and left them in contemplative silence.
September 21st – In the last few days, Autumn has kicked in and the leaves have started to turn. In a short journey through the backlanes of Stonnall, it was evident that the season was now irrefutably on her throne now and had her pot of gold pain at the ready.
Sad, but beautiful. No stopping the season’s wheel from turning, I guess.
September 20th – The conkers have just started to fall, and I found these beauties in Lichfield. Like any British male, I have the conker acquisition instinct, and can’t pass one of these shiny nuts without popping it in my pocket.
This year I’m collecting them not just for guerrilla planting, but for a special cause. They seem in abundant supply, too, with a bumper crop.
They really bring out the kid in me.
September 20th – I was worried for this spiny chap I spotted in Festival Gardens, Lichfield when I rode past on my way to the canal festival at Huddlesford.
He was active, and only froze when I approached, so I think he was OK. He seemed large and generally in good health, so I assumed he’d been disturbed. I checked for him only return a couple of hours later, and he’d gone.
First I’ve seen for a long while. Bless the poor hedgehogs, they are having a hard time in recent years.
September 19th – I darted between villages in the borderlands of the plains of east Staffordshire – Coton, Lullington, Netherseal, Chilcote, No Mans Heath, Syercote, Wigginton. The weather and light were gorgeous. The riding was fast and easy.
Really surprised to see juicy, sweet strawberries still ripening in Chilcote’s polytunnels, and Ladybird Cottage in Netherseal was a gem I’d not spotted before.
Honey Hill, at the furthest eastern outpost of Staffordshire, was as demanding to cycle as ever, but the climb is always rewarded with beautiful views.
A wonderful ride on a fantastic day.
September 19th – I was wrong when I said last week must be summer’s last breath; we’ve been blessed with another fine weekend of warm, sunny weather.
It was an 80 mile loop of east Staffordshire, and on the way I passed again through Coton in the Elms. The small flock of ducks that wander between the village green and Pinfold House are local celebrities, frequently holding up village life, seemingly oblivious to the delay they cause.
That tufted chap is wonderful, but all the others are stars too. The secret of happiness, it seems, lies in being a duck.
September 19th – Although only constructed in the 1950s, Blithfield Reservoir could have been here forever. I arrived following heavy rains which I thankfully missed, and the atmosphere was damp, slightly misty and suffused with beautiful light.
The reservoir itself was millpond still, and the wildlife as beautiful and fascinating as ever.
September 18th – Afternoon escape into Staffordshire, and I piled it in up through Abbots Bromley and Hoar Cross to Newborough to try the cake shop there. From there, I took a bimble over Marchington Cliff to Buttermilk Hill, and back via Blithfield and Rugeley.
The church is at Woodroffes, the isolated, beautiful church I visited earlier in the year.
A pleasant 70 miler. I realised near Marchington Cliff that I was riding the road that was the last place I saw the late, great Maurice Purser.
These lanes were his, and I rode in his shadow today.
September 17th – I can’t decide if this single, gorgeous violet blue plant is a harebell or bellflower. Whatever it is, it’s been delighting me every time I pass by it for over a week now, just on the canal by the Clayhanger Bridge.
Any opinions, folks? It really is a most beautiful bloom, and so unexpected at this time of year.
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