December 16th – Heading back into Brownhills mid evening, the roads were oddly still busy, the traffic through the High Street heavy and challenging. Emergency vehicles came through, perhaps an accident, or perhaps just the normal buzz of life.
I was tired. It had been a long week. But a pleasant meal and evening with workmates had been enjoyable.
A weekend, and three days to go. I just need to hang in there.
December 16th – On my return from work, I hopped on the canal at Walsall Wood, and enjoyed the peaceful darkness as far as Anchor Bridge, where I switched back onto the High Street.
The canal was peaceful, silent, eerie, with only snatches of light in the darkness, my headlamp scything the night as I rode.
But riding in the dark is mentally hard work, and I hadn’t got it in me. For once, the road felt safer, so I took it.
December 15th – The cotoneaster this year seems to have not been doing so well. These bright red berries, beloved of blackbirds, are normal evident in profusion along urban towpaths, footpaths and cycleways, but for some reason are heavily planted on industrial estates.
This huge bed at Moxley is normally a sea of red-orange at this time of year, with a permanent fluster of wings and beaks. But not this year; I’d say the crop is abut 30 percent of it’s normal size.
Whilst my grandfather used to say ‘it’s always a good year for something’ I guess the reverse is true and this just wasn’t the cotoneaster’s year.I hope it’s not cold otherwise the blackbirds may struggle.
December 12th – On the way back into Brownhills, the air was a little clearer, so I stopped on Anchor Bridge for a classic nighttime Brownhills photo.
As well as playing about with aperture settings of late, I’ve discovered exposure compensation. Must say I think the darker image is the better of the two.
One day I must read up on what all these adjustments actually do…
December 12th – I can’t lie, it was an absolutely foul day for commuting; in the morning the temperature hovered around zero degrees and there was a surprising damp chill to the air. By my return in the evening, the temperature had risen and if felt warm again, but there was a constant foggy, misty drizzle.
It was bad cycling weather. I’d had to nip into Brum as I often do at this time of year to drop a bottle off. The trains were bad on the way back, so I ended up getting a train to Four Oaks and riding back from there.
Only 7 more working days before a holiday. I think they’re going to be long ones. Hope the weather settles in time for Christmas.
December 11th – After a couple of years in limbo, I’m sad to note that after all the fuss and brouhaha, the old boating lake at Chasewater as just been filled in with earth and grassed over.
Staffordshire County Council, the park’s owners, couldn’t be doing with cleaning the water, so in a fit of typical reductive thinking, they drained the pond, left it empty for a couple of year and just filled it with earth that’s now turfed.
With no drainage in the concrete liner it will be interesting to see how this survives. One would hope they drilled the base. But maybe not. They haven’t even kerb edged the grass properly, so it will just die back and recede.
A botched solution to a botched problem that was really quite simple: it just needed good housekeeping.
December 10th – In a bizarre twist of events, in an already hectic, busy day, I had to go to Leicester to collect something from a shop. This pre-christmas errand wouldn’t have been so bad, but I had to pop in to Aldridge on the way, and the weather was awful.
It started to rain before I set out – steady, but light. When I got to Aldridge, the errand I was on there proved to be pointless, so frustrated, I headed for Blake Street to get a train to Birmingham. The train, unusual even for a pre Christmas one, was heaving. I’d tangled with the crowds going to an Aston Villa home game.
Dishevelled and irritated, I hopped on a warm, peaceful train to Leicester, and as I found my way to the mall where the shop in question is, the rain was very nearly stopped. I locked the bike up, and completed my task.
Re-emerging from the electric glare of the Mall it was pouring with rain. I returned through a beautifully glistening city, alive with interesting bikes, shops, lights and a rather wonderful but slightly wonky Christmas tree. I was wet, but Leicester was gorgeous. I love that place, I really do.
Returning from Blake Street was a trial. There was local flooding. The Chester Road and Brownhills High Street were awash with standing water the traffic wasn’t handling well.
But I’d completed what I needed to. I felt better. Mission accomplished.
December 10th – Whilst in Brownhills checking out the Christmas Market event, I popped over to Clayhanger Common to check out the rosy earthstar colony growing there.
These remain the most odd, fascinating fungi I have ever seen, and despite my initial concern, they are showing beautifully this year.
When ripe, the central sphere crumbles and the spores spread on the wind.
So pleased to find what is a relatively rare fungi locally.
December 9th – Near the canal at Moxley, Darlaston, I found these fascinating fungi – I’d stopped to undertake a quick mechanical adjustment, and had I not been crouched fiddling with the bike, I’d never have seen the rosy earthstars and what I assume from guides is some kind of pterula multifida living well in the under hedge leaf litter.
It just goes to show what wonders go unseen in our everyday environment.
December 7th – And when I reached Tipton – busy with rush hour traffic – I found a delight of street, shop, Christmas and traffic lights all blending into one magical, beautiful electric night.
Just when you think you’ve seen it all, the Back Country steals your heart anew.
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