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October 12th – I note with interest that the Four Crosses at Sheffield – suddenly closed a while ago and up for sale for a few months – appears to have been sold.

Clearly the sale must have been to a commercial entity rather than the community, as the ACV deadline was January, this suggests that probably no ACV interest was received. Since the pub was priced well above it’s face value due too the vacant land behind, it’ll be interesting to watch what happens next.

People have clearly been in there as the windowsills have been cleared of ornaments left by the precious occupants.

I really hope it opens as a pub again. 

October 11th – A gentle run along the canal back to Brownhills was in order, and on the way, I noticed a beautiful sky. My grandfather used to call this a ‘Mackerel Sky’ – presumably after the markings of atlantic mackerel. 

He used to have a saying ‘Mackerel sky, 24 hours dry’ – and it broadly seems to work, I think. Wonder if there’s a meteorological basis for this or if it’s just an old wive’s tale?

October 6th – Traffic. Tell me when my red light turns green. I cycled home in rain mixed with sunshine, and it wasn’t a bad ride, really, but I’ve noticed in the last few weeks that the traditional winter grump is descending on the traffic, which in autumn always becomes tetchier and more aggressive. 

Very few incidents usually, but in the last week a guy passed so close his wing mirror clipped my arm; I’ve been aggressively cut up; and had abuse shouted three times, including tonight. My cycling hasn’t changed, so it can only be the truculence that seems to come with shorter, darker days.

I hate this time of year on the roads.

October 6th – It’s nice to see a local pub coming back from the brink. It had been a hectic day at work, and two horrible, grey commutes. I had to call in on a mate in Stonnall, and as I returned to Brownhills, I noted the scaffold around the now closed Shire Oak.

This historic pub has had a difficult time for the last few years with a succession of landlords, and it desperately needed renovation. It closed for a refit a couple of weeks ago, and has been gutted. Work continues, and I noted the scaffolding was a new addition as I rode home.

It’s good to see this historic, landmark pub get some love – we’ve lost so many, there must surely be a place for this venerable and noted house.

It’s scheduled to reopen on the 20th November. I wish the new landlords well, and look forward to a pub reborn.

October 1st – Nice to see the cotoneaster going bright orange-red now. This pea-sized berry is unpalatable to humans, but songbirds, particularly blackbirds, love the sugary berries, and having found a bush, the blackbird male will fight off any challengers who would raid his winter larder.

A lovely splash of colour in autumn’s otherwise yellowy palette.

September 29th – But still, there’s colour. There aren’t many places along the canal from Walsall Wood to Brownhills to catch a good sunset; sadly the best spots are obscured by hedges and trees. But as I passed the new pond at Clayhanger, the sun had smeared it’s last rays of the day over the clouds and vapour trails and made the evening precious.

September 29th – Jockey Meadows and the surrounding farmland are shrugging on their Autumn jacket now; the colours are moving from greens and golds to taupe and dark brown. The crops have been harvested, and I expect soon these fields will be ploughed.

This is the sadness of the time of year for me; not yet 7pm, and getting dark; the colours of summer to the colours of cold, and hibernation.

And so the seasons tick on. I can feel the darkness creeping in…