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April 2nd – Slow handclap for the Canal & River Trust, then, who micropiled around this sluice earlier in the week – there’s little evidence of their handiwork and you can barely tell they were there. Excellent.

Except for the existing trip and accident hazard no effort has been made to fix at all. Someone on foot or a bike is going to go flying off that, you muppets.

I’ve reported it several times, but I may as well have been peeing into the wind.

April 2nd – The shoots and leaves are coming now, and it makes me happy. Spotted beside the cycleway in Goscote, and interesting variety of nascent foliage, and once again, the greening commences. 

I adore the promise of this time of year; it may be grey and dull now, but these signs of life promise warm days, sunshine, long rides and open trails.

Bring it on.

April 1st – It doesn’t feel like spring right now – another pair of wind-blasted, periodically damp commutes; but in the hedgerows, verges and field-margins nature is stirring. The pussy willows are flowering well, the blackthorn is smattered with blossom and there are the bright green shoots of a new growing season beginning to show.

I have the feeling that if I hold on, spring will kick in very shortly…

Which is just as well, as today is the 4th birthday of this journal. On April 1st, 2011, fellow cyclist and full time Dutch Cycling Girl Renee Van Baar persuaded me to do #30daysofbiking for the April social media project. The rest is history.

I have ridden a bike without fail every day for four years, all but for two lost days to illness over New Year 2011/12. I have now cycled well over 1,000 days continuously, and logged a picture or short film from every day.

I couldn’t give up now. This is ingrained in me, as part of my daily riding habit. Tens of thousands of miles in everything from bright sunshine to heavy snow, I’ve chronicled my life on two wheels. The drive to keep the journal keeps me connected with my environment and still makes me look at things afresh, and sometimes, gets my arse into gear when I otherwise wouldn’t.

I will continue this as long as I’m able, but if it gets embarrassing or unseemly, just tell me to stop. Relying on you lot there, so I am…

Thanks for riding with me. I’ve had a great time so far, and I’m looking forward to a great summer. You lot up for it?

March 31st – At Clayhanger Bridge on the canal near Brownhills, there’s a sluice that allows the waterway to be drained into local sewers if necessary. I noticed today that it had temporary fencing around it, and that micropiles – stainless steel rods inside sleeve tubes and packed out with expanding foam – had been fitted around the sluice and along the adjoining canal bank.

This is clearly a stabilisation job, and I’m intrigued as there’s not real outward sign of such a thing being necessary – except for the fact that I suspect the bank and culvert may be subject to destructive erosion if used, which these piles may relieve.

The tops currently stood proud will be chopped off at ground level later.

Meanwhile, closer to Catshill Junction, the embankment has been falling away into the canal for over a year, and nothing has been done despite drawing it to the attention of the Canal & River Trust.

Most peculiar.

March 31st – A dreadful day to commute, although you’d never tell from the photos. It was very, very windy all day, with strong gusts that felt very threatening. I cycled to and from work in sun, overcast grey, rain and hail. The weather didn’t stay the same for five minutes. Talk about four seasons in one day.

Still, the young heron by the canal at Clayhanger was an unexpected treat. Hopefully, the wind will die down tomorrow and the weather may settle a little.

March 30th – I keep banging on about this, but it is rather great. On a blowy but beautiful spring morning, I dawdled through Kings Hill Park. With every week of spring it gets that little bit more green, that bit more in bloom.

Today it was gorgeous. Can’t wait until there’s some leaves on those trees. Wherever you are, get into your local parks. Walsall’s people work hard to keep our open spaces looking great. Enjoy them while they’re at their most beautiful.

March 28th – Another type of life entirely, and one for the cat lovers out there. I don’t know who he is, but this large, affectionate and charming ginger lad was sat on a canalside fence near Pelsall Road. He said hello, let me fuss him, and tried to lick the camera.

A gorgeous cat whom I sure someone loves lots. I certainly fell for him!

March 28th – Even on the greyest days, Brownhills has signs of life at this time of year. I set out for a short spin on a grey, showery afternoon, and was rewarded with a herd of red deer at the old clay pit, a nesting swan just by the canoe centre and watered, and a delightful grey wagtail at Anchor Bridge.

It took me a while to work out why the young stag’s coat was grey and oddly textured. He’s been rolling in clay mud. I know deer like to mud bathe, but that seems a little extreme… anyone seen this behaviour before? Is it harmful? 

I noted the deer were in moult, and wondered if the mud-rolling was a way of accelerating the shedding.

March 27th – Sunset over the Tame Valley canal, looking from Rushall Junction at Ray Hall, out to Wednesbury, with the twin spires of Wednesbury clear on the skyline.

People say that pylon ruins this view. On the contrary, I think it makes it. What built the Black Country – canals, power and church. All in one shot.

A great ride and beautiful, but chilly evening.