April 14th – You think there’s nothing that could match the daffodils. Then you look upward.
My gosh, the cherry blossom was astounding. Pure white and pink against a blue sky – and again, those nascent leaves, bringing warm days and lovely afternoons.
Excellent.
April 13th – Only mid April, yet the canal at Lindon Road, Brownhills is greening up well. On a cold evening as I headed on an errand up to Ogley Hay it was cold, but there is spring everywhere. I can’t really get over how quickly and seamlessly we seem to have progressed to this. It doesn’t seem five minutes ago it was Christmas.
Who knows where the time goes?
It would be nice if last week’s sun and warmth came back to see us, though…
April 9th – Whoops. The bike I’ve been riding over the past few days has been having an issue with the front brake pats just lightly touching the disc. The noise was irritating me, so before I set out today, I got down to realigning the caliber, and then noticed the pads were a bit worn. Having spares on the bench, I whipped the old ones out.
Oh dear. The bad set, for those not in the know, are on the left, the replacements on the right. The pad on the one side is so worn, it’s to the metal, and the spring is mashed, too.
I also had an issue with the piston sticking. Hopefully that’s sorted.
Hydraulic brakes wear pads quicker. I must remember that.
April 6th – Spotted in Shuttington. Curious.
Do you think there’s a connection?
April 5th – At Chasewater, a sinkhole has opened up in the car park, yards from the M6 Toll. Possibly an old shallow bell pit, it could just the same be an old drain or other cavity.
Site notices say experts from the Coal Authority are looking into it. As they do.
Never, ever trust the ground beneath your feet.
April 3rd – This is a crime warning.
The canal towpaths and waterside footpaths are, as is usual at this time of year, inhabited by attackers, muggers and aggressive beggars. Hormonally aggressive, the Canada geese and swans really aren’t messing around at the moment and will go after anything – walkers, cyclists, dogs.
This pair at Walsall Wood have been hanging about all week, and I now carry tidbits for the male to stop him pecking my ankles as I pass.
I’ll be glad when mating is over and they go back to their usual grumpy but relatively nervous state.
March 29th – It was just an awfully uninspiring day. There were very few people about. The wildlife seemed to be hiding. Everything looked drab. In a vain search for deer I hopped onto clay hanger Common, which was saturated, like a marsh. Even the pigeons were giving it a miss.
It does look wonderfully green, though.
March 29th – The start of British Summertime, and out of the darkness for another year, but it didn’t feel like it. It was very windy and wet for much of the day, and it wasn’t very warm either. Sneaking out in a break in the rain mid afternoon, I was buffeted around Brownhills which was largely grey and uninspiring.
I did notice that the new flats at the former Wessex Close site were now complete, and looking good. I like them – a huge improvement on what was there before. We need more of this.
March 27th – Hands up, who knew there were still the ruins of a windmill on the Caldmore-Highgate border in Walsall?
One of the town’s best-kept secrets. It would be nice to see it preserved, or even restored.
March 26th – I escaped work early, and despite a fearsome wind, headed down to Kings Norton on the train and cycled back up the canal, and through the Sandwell Valley.
At Kings Norton station, this poster and one of the worst photo editing failures I’ve seen in ages.
Just what is going on with the spokes in that wheel, and are images of bicycle wheels so sparse that you have to badly photoshop your own?
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