Images

June 15th – The signal box at Chasewater Heaths, on the preserved coal line around Chasewater, has an interesting provenance. It originally stood at Hademore, near Fisherwick, east of Whittington, Staffordshire, where it controlled the level crossing. Upon expansion of the Trent Valley section of the West Coast Mainline, two more tracks were laid though the site of this box, and the crossing removed. The signal box was shipped, almost intact, to Chasewater Heaths to control the sidings proposed there. I have to say, I preferred it in white, rather than mustard brown… many is the time when I shouted conversation with the signalman as I waited at that crossing. Sadly, it it’s new home, it seems unmanned.

June 15th – Chasewater was deserted as I cruised round in the early evening. I’ve noticed in recent years that the park has a burgeoning rabbit population, and when there’s few folk around, they come out of hiding and take the air. This fellow was on the dam by the Downes house. I hope the engineers are keeping an eye on the rabbits… badgers caused the collapse of a canal in Llangollen a few years ago. Mind you, knowing badgers, they could have used explosives or anything. They’re truculent little buggers…

June 15th – It had been a grim, wet, blustery day. I was travelling far away, and couldn’t use the bike, which made me feel like a cheat. When I finally got home that evening, the weather cleared around 7pm. The wind dropped, and the showers became more sporadic. As a penance, I decided to get the shopping in from Morrisons in Burntwood, which meant a spin up a very wet canal and over Chasewater. The air was clear as I checked out the view to Sandhills and over Home Farm… I love that tree. It’s like my seasonal barometer.

June 14th – Just around the corner from the fascinating building featured in my previous post is this magical, and very Leicester view. Across the playing fields and pitches of the Nuffield Heath and Wellbeing Centre, part of the University, one can see the wonderful rooftops of Clarendon Park and Knighton. I last took in this view last November, and the seasons have changed its character, but not the essential beauty. I rather like this city. 

June 11th – It was spotting with rain as I came back through Walsall Wood. I stopped off to take in Jockey Meadows, between Shelfield and Walsall Wood. These fields, now a notified Site of Special Scientific Interest, are classic, marshy, undisturbed wildflower meadows. It was peaceful, and bullfinches and jays went about their business. I must come back to explore these on a sunnier day. 

June 10th – Grainy, and very long range, this is a red deer hind and her young fawn. The females should at the moment be with young, or preparing to give birth, for which they tend to split from the main herd and search out protective cover. This lone mother was on cuckoo bank in just such conditions, and was very nervous and twitchy for her offspring. A wonderful, summertime sight, with births occurring up until mid-July.

June 10th – For the second time in two days, I hit Chasewater. I was going on to ride the Sherbrook Valley on the Chase, but couldn’t resist a spin around the park in the sunshine. The weather was warm and soft, and I was in shorts and shirtsleeves. The boating pool was, as usual, a cloudy soup of mallards, canada geese, swans and coots, mingling with bird waste and discarded bread, but the waterfowl seem happy enough. Unusually, a mallard had her ducklings on the lake, including this rather fetching yellow one. A lovely thing indeed.

June 9th – Chasewater is rising. In all the rain, the only benefit is that the waterline is slowly, almost imperceptibly enlarging. A landmark occurred this week; the ‘pier pool’ left stranded from the main lake, has rejoined it once more. Curious spits and islands have developed. You can see the ecology shifting day by day. But don’t be fooled. The next meter in depth will increase the surface area of the reservoir hugely, and take a massive amount of water. That, sadly, means a very, very wet summer. A terrible dilemma…

June 7th – Between The Chuckery and Highgate in Walsall, the architecture on the Sutton Road continues to fascinate. On a wet Thursday evening, even in the dark murk of the tail end of a rainstorm, the glistening tiles, Victorian bays and ornate chimney pots still looked precious. A pleasure, whatever the season or weather.

June 6th – The life I mentioned in the last post manifested itself in many ways. Birds sang, flitted and fought in the hedgerows. I saw a fox stalking near Lynn, and there were rabbits and even hares aplenty. After the deluge, nature was busy doing it’s thing. On the footpaths at Sandhills, Shire Oak, there was a profusion of snails, of several different shapes, colours and sizes. It made walking a unexpectedly challenging activity…