Images

July 26th – I’m really liking this summer malarkey. I think it might catch on. Commuting in just a teeshirt and jeans is so liberating. This morning it was dull, but warm. Whilst changing trains at Nuneaton, I leant my bike up against the glass of the waiting room. As I did so, I noticed this little indicator of the advancing seasons: a moth. I’ve no idea what species it is, but the way it was resting caught my eye. With the warm sun and still conditions, there will be a lot of Lepidoptera emerge over the next few days. There’s been a marked shortage this year. 

Hello, little fella. Welcome to summer!

July 25th – Spotted tacked to a telegraph pole in Stonnall, this looks like it might be a fun thing. This Saturday. Have no knowledge of it other than what’s on the flyer. I assume it’s at the smallholding with the pigs just in Gravelly Lane behind Stonnall Church. Might well take a look at that if the weather is good. 

July 24th – It’s actually quite hard to get a good view from the top of Shire Oak Hill. All the best vistas are occluded, either by trees or houses. This one, however, isn’t too shabby. From the Chester Road entrance of the Shire Oak Quarry/Landfill, one can get respectable zoom shots on a clear day. Clicking on the above image to zoom will show that this was a very clear, haze-free evening, despite the low wind level. In the middleground is Lichfield Cathedral, the Old Lady of the Vale. Beyond and to her left, the huge silo of the Coors (formerly Bass) brewery in Burton can clearly be seen. To the right, the great hill of Swadlincote and Repton, and beyond, the disused cooling towers of Derbyshire’s otherwise demolished Willington Power Station. That’s a fine view.

July 24th – The trains were awful this evening. I left New Street at 5:35pm, and my train limped into Blake Street, where it prematurely terminated – an hour later. Hot and bothered, I welcomed the journey through Little Aston and Mill Green. I noticed how fine Little Aston church looked in the sunlight. It’s and interesting building; sometimes I don’t like it, other times it looks wonderful, depending on the light and the season. I do love how it’s still got the air of a rural parish church, even though it’s surrounded by suburban sprawl. The surrounding meadow just makes it that bit more beautiful.

July 23rd – It’s really nice to have summer on her throne right now. I’ve waited so long for this. The countryside is drying out, and crops that were green and late a few days ago are turning golden in the hot sun. Here at Springhill, near Stonnall, this field of barley was rippling gently in the breeze. Soon, it’ll be time for another of the seasonal markers to tumble into place; it’ll be time to bring the harvest home. Let’s hope for a late scorcher, eh?

July 17th – I’d not really studied thistles closely until I took a picture of some a few weeks ago, but they are actually fascinating, diverse, and very, very beautiful. These were growing by Clayhanger Bridge at the canalside, and each flower seems like precisely engineered perfection to me. I’ve noted that there seem to be a lot of different types, with different physical characteristics. 

They may be prickly customers, but they’re actually really interesting if you look closely. I must read up.

July 15th – Ducks are not fussy. Mallards will mate with anything that cooperates, and quite a lot of things that don’t. Unusual union has clearly resulted in this peculiar fellow, who seems to be, for the most part, mallard, but there seems to be runner duck and tufted in there somewhere. He lives on the boating lake at Chasewater, and I caught him on an evening ride out to Yoxall and Barton. Have to say, the levels are raising impressively now.

Nice barnet…