April 24th – Commuting in spring is a joy. Sod the traffic, taking 10 minutes extra and hopping on the canal, or taking a backway rather than the main road provides all manner of rewards. From the beautiful deep pink blossom in Shelfield, to my first set of mallard ducklings at Bentley Bridge, to the guerrilla seeded cowslips on the bank of Clayhanger Bridge the ride is full of contrasts: colour, life and sound.
Gorgeous.
April 23rd – First time my deer magnet has been switched on for weeks. Just over Jockey Meadows, 200 metres or so from the site of the flytipping in the last post, two red deer hinds. One older than the other, both wathced me nervously from right at the bottom of the field, near the brook. These are very long-range photos, so apologies for the poor quality.
Both ladies were in the moult, so looked a bit threadbare, but otherwise appeared healthy enough. I think they’re part of a larger herd that loafs in the scrub there.
Nice to see them, and a sign as to why we need to look after our vital green spaces like Jockey Meadows and work against the kind of environmental damage caused by the flytipping shown in the previous post.
April 23rd – Spinning home from work, I noticed fresh flytipping in the gateway again at the Shelfield end of Jockey Meadows on Green Lane. A mixture of what looks like building and domestic refuse, it seems to be the usual ‘pull up and shove it off the back of a wagon’ job; unless the culprits have left anything incriminating, or were witnessed, it’s sadly very unlikely they’ll be caught.
People make excuses for this behaviour, saying stuff like ‘If the refuse tips were free for commercial vehicles it wouldn’t happen’ – it would. If you’re prepared to flytip, you aren’t going to go halfway across the borough to an approved tip. The morons who do this do so because it’s easy, relatively risk free, and because, without a doubt, they’re filthy scum with no pride in their environment or concern for others.
It makes me sad and angry.
April 22nd – I rode Telford’s cycleways on my way to work. It was raining. The raindrops and fresh greenery made it simply beautiful.
April 21st – Not a bad bank holiday, all-in-all. It started grey, but by the time I got out at 2pm the weather was brighter and warmer than it had been for days. It was hazy, and the sun was breaking through occasionally. I headed out to Harlaston again – but this time, I went by a direct route, and at Clifton Campville, headed to Lullington and Coton in the Elms. From there to Rosliston, then back along the Trent and Tame to Lichfield and home.
The north-easterly was a grim wind to head out into, and it was quite a battle, but it was nice to have it behind me on my return.
Note that the cherry blossom in Whittington – the top picture – is a good two weeks earlier than a similar picture I have from May 4th, 2010. It certainly has been an early spring this year.
April 20th – For an evening spin, it was pleasant enough; the wind was grim, but at least I’d fixed the problem with my gears. At Chasewater, the sunset was nice, but unremarkable, and I was surprised at how tiny the gull roos was. I could hear an owl calling near the dame, but I couldn’t see it. On the way back home, the sky darkened, and it looked very, very black over Bill’s mother’s.
Luckily, I just got home and got the bike in as the heavens opened… I do hope that nice spell wasn’t summer.
What a stunning day for a ride. Set off this morning, still a little chilly but the outer layers were soon discarded.
I was lucky enough to see three herons this morning along the canal. The one pictured above had just caught its breakfast and wasn’t happy about having an audience to watch it eat.
I saw my first ducklings of the year. This prolific mother had 12 little ones with her.
The rape is now in full flower and looks amazing, bringing brilliance to the landscape.
I love this time of the year.
April 19th – The footpaths around Chasewater’s south shore have recently been resurfaced, and are, on the whole, lovely. Since transferring to the control of Staffordshire County Council on April 1st, certain local councillors have rediscovered the park’s existence and seen keen on turning into some kind of landlocked Prestatyn, and the council itself talks darkly of ‘returns’.
I fear we’re in for interesting times.
The new path around the boating lake shows off the goose and swan poo fantastically well, and I was cheered to note the return of the third white domestic goose, hitherto missing since Christmas.
She looked in good health despite what must be advanced years, and was very white and neat. Not as aggressive as normal, the geese ignored me and one remained resting in statuesque, one-legged repose.
These birds bloody hate me on the whole, but I’m actually rather fond of them. Long my they remain.
April 19th – I was fiddling with a mechanical fault all day. I love my bikes, but the gears can be perplexing when not quite right. I spun out late to Chasewater, and unexpectedly bumped into a good friend while I was there, which brightened me up no end. On the way, I noticed the oilseed rape at Hammerwich was looking gorgeous. Still not quite peaked, it’s a lovely colour nonetheless, and I love how the tractor trails in the crop highlight the landscape contours.
As long as I live I’ll always love this changing, fascinating landscape.
April 18th – Between Harlaston and Clifton Campville, there’s a small, Catholic hamlet called Haunton. There’s a church, a small convent, a huge old folk’s home that used to be a private school and a lot of odd architecture. This is a tiny place, but it has surprising corners.
In the churchyard today, I noticed this railing remnant being consumed by two separate trees engaged in a slow, determined tug of war. I was fascinated in the distortion, and wondered how old the railings were.
I swear that if you put your ear close, you could hear the trees grunting…
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