Images

September 9th – on a late afternoon visit to Chasewater to check out the dam works, I was greeted by this small but rowdy group of pure white geese. Aggressive in the usual way, the honked and hissed at me for a while before returning to their previous activity of cropping the grass. I’m not sure what kind of geese they are – they look domestic, but are they snow geese perhaps?

September 8th – The main watercourse through Redditch, the River Arrow is highly variable in character, depending on the season and the weather. What can be, at the height of a wet winter, a raging angry torrent, is today little more than a limpid, sleepy brook. this summer has been so dry that even the rains of the last few days haven’t changed it’s state much. I don’t see many kingfishers here at the moment, which is unusual. I don’t think the Arrow is supporting much in the way of fish right now, limiting the feeding potential.
I’m sure the river will have plenty of opportunity to recover over the coming winter months.

September 8th – Arum Maculatum is a common sight in hedgerows and woods at this time of year. Known variously as Wild arum, Lords and Ladies, Devils and Angels, Cows and Bulls, Cuckoo-Pint, Adam and Eve and even Naked Boys, it’s a very unusual plant which sheds it’s foliage before fruiting leaving a 6 to 12 inch high column of bright orange-red berries. These berries are highly poisonous and this is the plant responsible for most hospital admissions due to accidental ingestion in the UK. The berries contain a toxin which makes the oral tract tingle, and causes sickness and swelling of the throat. Always avoid touching it, although the temptation to do so us great, it has an almost artificial appearance that renders it grimly fascinating. This example is growing, along with lots of others, on the riverbank near the Arrow Valley cycle path in Redditch.

September 7th – To the east of Redditch Church, there’s a small, open park-style garden, which is where I assume the name Church Green gets it’s name. It’s a lovely spot; not more than a postage stamp, it contains an intriguingly ornate fountain and a well looked-after bandstand. The green is pleasant, clean and tidy, and in spring, lined with blossom. Now autumn is coming, a host of seasonal hues will compliment it. Why did the town planners destroy what must have been a lovely old town?

September 7th – Redditch gets a lot of stick – not least from me – for it’s awful road system and urban design. There are some very surprising bits, however, like the church in the centre of town. It’s huge, dramatic and beautifully complimented by the surrounding market and gardens. The Church Green are is a reminder of a Redditch long since passed, of the old town before the development and Birmingham overspill. I love this building.

September 6th – I was quite pleased to see the train in when I got to Four Oaks station this morning. The wind was strong, southerly and driving warm but sharp rain against me all the way. Coping with bad weather is an important part of cycle commuting – waterproof clothes, hat and shoes, lights and hi-viz. Drivers seem to be more impatient and less tolerant in bad weather, so heightened senses are also required. Thankfully, I had an hour on the train to eat, relax and dry out before facing the elements again.

September 5th – In contrast to the Mango Tree half a mile away, nothing remains of the former Shire Oak transport cafe, informally known locally as ‘Greasy Lil’s’. Derelict and decaying for 25 years, the shell was finally demolished a couple of years ago. The patch of land it sat on stands now as a sandstone outcrop into a disused quarry, reborn as a nature reserve. Controversy has surrounded the planning history of this site for years, situated on a bad, inclined bend on the Chester Road once known as ‘Death Mile’, it’s a bad spot to pull out onto a fast road. Permission was granted some time ago for a development of flats, but nothing materialised. It seems someone has a new plan, as although there are no new planning applications, from the evidence of fresh, clean red sand, someone has clearly been drilling to test the bedrock. Whatever happens,the new residents need a head for heights. There’s a 30 foot drop the other side of that fence…

September 5th – I’ve only just noticed that the former Mango Tree Indian Restaurant, near Stonnall on the Chester Road, has closed. It’s clearly been shut for quite a while. I’ve never found it anything other than average and nobody ever seemed to rave about it. Once this building was a transport cafe, open 24 hours, then a Little Chef. Nothing ever seems to prosper here. Wonder what will become of it?

Setember 4th – One of the features of autumn I do like is the huge variey of fruits, nuts and seeds that proliferate in hedgerows and woodlands. I noticed on Milford Common that the beech trees near the A51 had a fine crop of nuts ripening. These slightly bitter, tannic-tasting kernels are edible, but don’t taste so good. I’m unaware of any culinary uses, other then giving their name to a type of chewing gum popular when I was a child. Does beech nut gum still exist? Certainly didn’t taste of beech nuts…