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September 13th – Elderberries seem a bit thin on the ground this year. Along the canal from Walsall Wood to Brownhills, there are usually clumps of the dark fruit hanging heavy on the bushes during autumn. I guess this is another symptom of a poor summer with few insects to pollinate the flowers. Local home-brew specialists may well have to find other wild fruit for their wines this year.

September 13th – On my way home tonight, I popped to Asda in Walsall for a change. On my way out, I noticed that the old Highgate Brewery Stores, on the corner of George Street was still derelict. I find this very sad; it must have been vacant for at least 4 years now. In my youth, I used to attend gigs here and had some great nights; back then, it was called the ‘Punch and Judy’. It’s a crying shame, because with the right ownership, I think it could be special again.

September 12th – A poor day; I left home in the morning during a rain shower, and as I left work that afternoon in Tyseley, the heavens opened. There are few places greyer than Tyseley when it rains.  The showers were very localised, however, and on my return, the sun came out at Duddeston, but it was raining hard at Perry Barr.

Welcome to Britain, and the most fickle weather in the world. Come on you gits, where’s that Indian Summer you owe us?

September 10th – This is really exciting and unexpected. The water level at Chasewater is now no more than a few centimetres from the bottom of the depth gauge on the pier. The scale starts at a height of 148.35m AOD (above sea level), and on the 14th September last year, the water lever stood at 143.7m AOD. Than’s an incredible gain of 4.65m in 12 months. I don’t think any of those observing the situation could ever have dreamed of such a recovery. 
Shame the downside has been an atrocious summer… 

September 9th – I’d attended the Bandstand Marathon event in Walsall Arboretum, and had a great time. What made the occasion wonderful was it’s relaxed nature, with people drifting in and out and from place to place within Walsall Arboretum as the mood took them. Also wonderful was the fact that bikes were allowed. This led to a good bit of bike watching on my part, as I always welcome the chance to eye up another rider’s steed. It was late in the afternoon when I spotted this fine tandem. I didn’t get to see who owned it, but what a fine thing it is… there simply aren’t enough tandems being ridden these days.

September 8th – This is a relic of a different time, and most people never, ever notice it. This barcode sign, fixed to a lamp post on the Chester Road in Brownhills, just down from the Shire Oak, is a remnant of a system devised in the the eighties and implemented in the nineties for automatically assessing road maintenance. Surveying vehicles would drive the roads, checking the surface, just as they do now, but in the absence of cheap, accurate GPS, onboard systems looked for markers like this. Upon registering one, the recorder then reset a distance counter. The marker sign was read automatically, and the location of a defect being recorded by the distance from the last marker seen. Thus repair vehicles could locate faults the same way. Each sign gave a unique number. The whole network was obsolete in less than a decade, but the signs remain, puzzling anyone who notices them. 

September 7th – I catch the train from Nuneaton to Leciester sometimes with a chap called  Igor. Igor is into all kinds of bikes, both bicycles and motorbikes. This madcap Lithuanian likes his steeds rough and ready: he rides a battered, but well-maintained fixed wheel most of the time, but on special occasions, for example Critical Mass rides, he gets out his tall bike. Home made from two frames, this is a classic of the genre, and it is ridable with practice. Tall bikes are great fun, and beloved of urban cyclists who often knock them up for kicks… just another wonderful tribe in the patchwork of the cycling scene. They did once have a practical use: European lamplighters used to make them to make their duties faster and easier. A lovely thing, and a really nice chap, too. Bonkers and wonderful at the same time.

September 5th – the fruiting will soon be upon us. Already, I’m seeing early ripening and falls from wind damage and squirrels. The sycamores growing alongside the road at Sandhills, Shire Oak are heavy with their unique spinning seeds, and the beeches have already shed a few nuts. I’m already collecting these, as I do every autumn, for spreading on wasteland and hedgerows as I cycle. More about my guerilla planting later in the season…