Galleries

September 1st – A dull, unremarkable autumn day, with a steady, draining wind. I headed out to Middleton and back along the canal through Tamworth to Hopwas. At Camp Road, I spotted a massive bracket polypore fungus growing at the foot of a huge oak tree. This fungi was the biggest I’ve ever seen. It must have been 20 inches wide, and seemed to be supporting a variety of bug life all of it’s own.

Near Bassetts Pole, hops growing wild in the hedgerow.

The view of Middleton over the fields is still gorgeous, and the cat at the lock cottage in Bodymoor Heath was an affectionate, sociable chap.

The day finished with the most remarkable sunset I’ve ever seen. But more of that later…

September 1st – Seasonal warning. Yes, it’s the hedge cutting season again, when our farming brethren flail the hawthorn hedges, in turn leaving the roads stewn with thorns made of some material that just glides into tyres. If you’re not rocking puncture proofs, avoid Gravelly Lane in Stonnall right now. It’s also quite grim up in Footherley too.

I don’t know why they don’t make weapons out of the same stuff hawthorn spines are made of. They’d never go blunt and pierce absolutely anything.

Like the Murphy’s, I’m not bitter…

August 31st – Autumn knocked on my door today, and I reluctantly let her in. I set out lunchtime for a ride over the Chase – after exploring Bevin’s Birches and the old quarries last week, my quest to find the remoter parts of this beautiful place has intensified. The wind – although no terribly bad – felt like it had been wrought on Satan’s back step, after the relatively still summer. It was chilly, too, and I felt the edge of the cold. The bracken is turning, the puffballs are growing well, and there is a hint of autumn everywhere you look, from the heaths of Gentleshaw, to the charm of Birches Valley. 

As fellow cyclist @Accidentobizaro said on Twitter:  ‘I know autumn is fab.I do.Mists, mulberries, colours, walks, scarves, cyclocross. I know. But [weeps inconsolably]’

August 31st – Chasewater Railway is a hidden gem, enjoyed by folk who know Chasewater, but it isn’t widely known outside the area. Running on a short, preserved section of the Norton Line, it goes from the south shore of Chasewater at Brownhills West to Chasetown, near the rugby club. Not a huge distance, but a great ride with lots of interesting trains and rolling stock, all preserved and run by keen amateurs. Today, I raced this fine red locomotive along the causeway. It looked splendid, and was smoking well. 

A fine thing indeed.

August 30th – Out for an afternoon spin, I came through Wall, just south of Lichfield. Just as I was approaching the junction of the old Watling Street and Wall Lane, I noticed that on the side of the old barn at Manor Farm, there was an Ordnance Survey Flush Bracket. This is a type of benchmark that was used for map surveying – in the notches on the plate, surveying equipment could be mounted at a height known to the surveyor, called a Datum, or benchmark. The flat tip of the arrow indicates the precise height  point, and this is benchmark reference S8958. 

I must have passed this wall hundreds of times and have never noticed this feature.

August 29th – The bike parking at New Street Station is still rubbish. Theoretically covered by CCTV, thefts are rife and stripped bike carcasses appear every day. If you need to park bikes in Brum, don’t park here. If you do, learn to lock your bike properly. What’s happening here is that thieves are stealing bikes who have one wheel locked by undoing it, then nicking a compatible wheel from another bike, and riding the composite off into the sunset.

New Street’s bike facilities are a disgrace.

Learn to lock your bike properly.

August 28th – For some reason today, my photos were all really rubbish and these are the best of a rum lot, so my apologies. These yellow flowers are dotting the hedges and canal banks at the moment. Colloquially called ‘butter and egg’ they are common toadflax, often mistaken for snapdragons (which I did, last year). They’re a lovely, dainty little flower and make a change from the predominantly dark tones of most of the flowers around at this time of year.

August 27th – I noted recently that rosebay willow herb is called ‘old man’s beard’ due to the white, fluffy, wind-borne seeds it spawns at this time of year. Another prolific source of the familiar ‘fairies’ that float on the breeze are thistles, also plants of the margins and hinterlands. Gorgeous at the moment in their downy decadence, they are a food source for small birds like finches, and also for any passing donkeys, who love thistles with a passion.

August 27th – Is it late summer or early autumn? My dilemma over the seasons continues. I guess we’re in the interregnum now. Cycling back through the lanes of Stonnall this evening, It was hazy and warm, with a light, barely perceptible mist the sun had been unable to burn off. The fields looked gorgeous, and I was fascinated by the impromptu parliament on the overhead lines.

Who cares what season it is? It’s beautiful.

August 26th – It is time again for the annual warning: there’s a killer in the hedgerows right now. These stalks of bright orange-red berries grow in hedges, woodlands and other scrub, and grow 6-10 inches tall. Very distinctive, Lords and Ladies is very attractive, particularly to kids, but is one of the most toxic plants in the British Isles. These examples were growing in the hedgerows of Hamstall Ridware and Hoar Cross.

The berries of Arum Maculatum, also known as Devils and Angels, Cuckoo Pint or Wild Arum contain a poison that causes swelling of the mouth and throat and sickness. Fatality is rare, as the berries are very acid and consuming enough to kill would be a challenge, but the plant causes most admissions to A&E for plant poisoning in the UK.

It’s a gorgeous thing to look at, just don’t touch it. This one worries me, as it grows at a height such that small kids spot straight away, and the beautiful colour is very attractive to them. Be careful.