Galleries

April 1st – Didn’t get time to go far today. I did get to Chasewater during the dog-end of a gorgeous afternoon, however. There was a stiff breeze, but it was still relatively warm. I noticed along the canal that the hawthorn leaves were coming out, and the gradual greening of fields and woods has started in earnest. I noticed at Ogley Basin in Brownhills that the dredging equipment and silt screens from Anglesey basin were now finished with, and the stricken dredger was still in dry dock. Little dredging actually seems to have been done, so I’ve no idea what actually happened there. At Chasewater itself, access has now been opened up again to foot and bicycle traffic from the canal, and access now seems possible to the park once more. During an enjoyable hour talking to a very knowledgable old hand by the new nine-foot, I learned that the contractors will be offsite by next weekend. I also discovered that the marsh in the spillway isn’t the Sphagnum Lawn, but a different bit of preserved wetland from the old nine-foot. Whoops… must correct that on the main blog. 
The works are looking pretty decent, and all that’s left to do now is a little rain dance and hope the water level rises as quickly as possible. 

March 31st – this chicken shed/barn stands in Raikes Lane, Between Lynn, Shenstone and Chesterfield. I only noticed it recently. Over the road there’s a large, modern chicken farm, and I suspect this to be it’s antecedent. I think it’s one of the oldest such steel sheet structures I’ve ever seen, and wonder how old it actually is. The frame seems to be timber and girder, and I don’t think the roof is original. The bolts holding the sheeting on look very old, as do the window frames. A curiosity buried in the backlanes.

March 31st – Just off Gravelly Lane in Stonnall, an unnamed track runs behind Stonnallhouse Farm to Lower Stonnall. In this lovely, bucolic spot, some scumbag has dumped a couple of of sofas and some unwanted building materials, right beside an anti-flytipping sign. Did you pay some nomark to get rid of your trash? Man with a van a little to cheap and handy? Or did some member of your family not bother with the niceties of the tip?

Whoever it was, they’re scum. I hope their balls drop off.

March 30th – When I have to work in Leicester, I always get off the train if I can at South Wigston. The place I visit is actually closer to Leicester, but the journey from the centre isn’t very nice, to be honest.From South Wigston, on the other hand, it’s a delight. The station – whose desolation I loathe – is tucked away in the backstreets. Hitting the High Street of this suburb, about 200 yards away, it’s a busy, active and buzzing little town. There are some interesting shops, and it hums with activity. I visited a pub here once, a good few years ago now, after my train had been cancelled. It turned out the guy running it was from Brownhills. Odd, really, as at the time The Royal Exchange in Walsall Wood was being run by a couple from South Wigston…

March 29th – I haven’t a clue what’s going on with the old Muckley Corner Hotel anymore. It’s supposed to be under conversion back into dwellings (at least the rear part), yet the saga of painting, woodwork, then ripping the roof and freshly painted render off has been as bizarre as it has been perplexing. I wondered if the old pub part on the corner had a future as a pub or restaurant once more, but the way things are going, I think the building may fall down first. An odd state of affairs.

March 28th – The return journey was also really enjoyable – the Trent Valley Road was quite congested, and I enjoyed zipping uphill past the stationary cars. I chose to return over Aldershawe, and down into Wall. Taking the track beside the church, I popped into the churchyard to enjoy one of my favourite spots – sitting on the terrace wall between the upper and lower churchyard, contemplating the view of the Roman remains. Well worth a look around if you get chance, and it’s a lovely spot on a nice day such as this.

March 28th – Misty mornings are the order of the week, and I’m so glad that I’m cycling to Lichfield throughout this distinctly summery spell. The days are warm, still and glorious, the evenings deceptively chilly. But the mornings? I see the countryside just after sunrise. Shrouded in lazy mist, golden light and curious patches of grey. I wouldn’t have missed the last few morning commutes for anything. Today, I had time to spare and dropped off Pipe Hill down the back lanes, down over the old level crossing to Deans Slade. Captivating. 

March 27th – Lane’s Farm at Sandhills is known by most folk in Brownhills. Actually an arrangement of several houses, Home Farm, Sandhills House and Lime Barn stand on the bend of an old private track that connects the Anchor Bridge and pub with the foot of Shire Oak Hill opposite the old Leopard pub. It’s very sad that this track is a private road, and indeed, no public rights of way that I’m aware of cross this land, an unusual thing. The track neatly skirts Shire Oak Hill, and the ability to traverse it would be a boon on the way home sometimes. From the Sandhills side, the track is a majestic avenue of mature trees, leading to a house with a Victorian, walled kitchen garden. There is a lot of history here.

March 26th – Beauty can be found in very unexpected places. As I got off the train into a sunny South Wigston, in Leicester, these gorgeous grape hyacinths were growing up a piece of grass that’s usually wasteland. Mixed in were  primroses, polyanthus and what seemed to be some kind of violet. This station is is normally just one away from being the rectum of the UK rail system, only beating Lichfield Trent Valley because it has ramp access to bot platforms. Usually it’s desolate, untidy and lonely, often threatening. Today, it was a little oasis of purple and joy…