New Year’s Day, – Leominster – Cloud is breaking up as it speeds north-eastwards across the sky. It is cool but not cold. A Grey Squirrel dashes back up Duke’s Passage towards The Grange. Jackdaws inspect the pavements and road. A Wood Pigeon calls from the rooftop. A cool wind blows from the opposite direction of the cloud movement. Eight Jackdaws congregate at the junction with Pinsley Road.
The grey-green water in the River Lugg has risen a little. Blue Tits search a tall Alder on the riverbank. A dozen Canada Geese fly over. Across Easters Meadow, the Brightwells’ compound is full of military lorries and grit spreaders. A Dipper sings from a submerged rock under a falling branch upstream.
Most of the fallen apples in the Millennium orchard have been reduced to brown mush but this does not seem to deter the Chaffinches and Blackbirds. Hazel catkins are opening, lime green, quivering in the wind. A Song Thrush is in full flow from the edge of a conifer overlooking the Millennium Green. The Minster bells burst into life. The River Kenwater flows swiftly.
Into the churchyard. A flock of twittering Long-tailed Tits fly from tree to tree.
Tuesday – Leominster – Another cold, damp, grey day. Dark clouds move on from the west. Up Ryelands Road and into the site of the old orchards. A Dunnock sings in a hedge. Onto the path that was Cockcroft Lane. A small flock of Goldfinches are in the trees, several singing. Blue Tits hang from twigs, searching for food. The big field is sown with a cereal crop. The wind is much stronger here and it starts to rain. Down beside the field. Laying water can be seen on the Arrow water meadows.
Into Passa Lane. Past empty fields. With availability of open water and fresh green shoots one would expect wildfowl, but there is nothing. The lane ends at the Hereford Road opposite Leominster cemetery. Into Southern Avenue. There have been changes in the businesses here. The Honda mower business had gone, replaced by an auto supplies. A private ambulance service is in another unit. Opposite a publishing company is in a unit attached to the car dealership. Wood Pigeons, Blackbirds and Blue Tits are in the trees between the road and the cemetery. Dozens of Jackdaws are in the cemetery itself. Gleaming new tractors and farm equipment are in the John Deere compound. A footpath leads to the foot of Laundry Lane which in turn leads back to Hereford Road.
Wednesday – Bodenham Lake – Grey clouds, damp but mild are the order of the day. Several Goldfinches with bright, pristine colours are by the car park. A Red Kite glides over. Dunnocks and the Goldfinches sing. Blue Tits tumble in the branches of a Hawthorn. Further on, a Song Thrush is singing. There is still a stiff breeze growling through the trees and a pair of Ravens play on it. Fat Wood Pigeons waddle along the track. The water level in the lake has risen considerably; the islands much reduced in size. A dozen Goosander swim on the southern side. Mallard are scattered around the boating lake. Several Cormorants are flying around. A mewing Common Buzzard soars over Westfield Wood. It rises high up into the sky and drifts away to the west.
A Goosander is sleeping on the tiny part of the scrape that is not submerged. The Great White Egret is on the southern edge of the lake. Mallard and a pair of Canada Geese have gathered on the small section of island still exposed. Two Little Egrets are standing on one of the wooden fences that run into the water in the western end. A pair of Greylags swim into view. Just a couple of Cormorants are in the trees. A Grey Heron and a Mute Swan are by the island near the southern hide. Another Grey Heron had replaced one of the egrets on the fence. A Kingfisher flies into the Willow by the scrape. It has a small fish in its bill which is swallowed immediately. The Great White Egret flies down to the fence and lands almost on top of the Little Egret, giving a fine view of the size difference.
Back through the Alder plantation. Five Magpies are in with the sheep. There are Fieldfares, Redwings, Mistle Thrushes and Blackbirds feeding on the rotting apples in the cider orchard.
Friday – Blackheath – Blackheath was part of the borough of Rowley Regis until 1966, when it became part of the county borough of Warley. Since 1974 it has formed part of the metropolitan borough of Sandwell. Street signs indicate it is still part of Rowley Regis. It is part of the conurbation lying to the west of Birmingham.
A mild, dry day with a gauze of cloud across the sky, more defined clouds moving swiftly eastwards. I park in Vicarage Road, a street of 20th century houses. St Paul’s Parochial Hall of 1951 is now The Halesowen Asian Elderly Association. A former garage is the Bethel church. Down to the main road, Long Lane, through Blackheath. Across from Vicarage Road is St Paul’s church, a tall, red brick building of 1868, designed by William Jeffrey Hopkins (1820–1901). The churchyard contains a number of large Victorian monuments and is very large. Houses alongside the churchyard date from the first decade of the 20th century. The front door of the church has a large padlock on it.
Along Long Lane and over the railway, the former GWR Stourbridge Extension, to a major road junction. A pub stands on one corner with a superstore behind it. Onto the main shopping area. The majority of the shops are budget businesses. On another junction is a former HSBC bank, now a restaurant. An Art Deco store, a former Montague Burtons, is a large charity shop. Two black polished granite pillars remain. At the foot of one is a stone laid by Raymond Montague Burton, on the other, Stanley Montague Burton, both 1939. A very large market is in a barn-like building. Nearby is another large pub, probably early 20th century. On to another junction. A bus driver is combing his luxuriant beard. This junction is surrounded by modern supermarket, large dental practice, a site being developed for housing and the church of St Aubyn, now what seems to be a Caribbean Gospel church. There are extensive church buildings behind the main body of the church.
Back to the previous junction. High Street has shops on a mixture of buildings, some Victorian, one dated 1855, another with a panel just stating “Central”. Into Halesowen Street. Into an area which has been cleared for the large superstore and its car park and another car park. The railway line passes underneath the area through Blackheath Tunnel. Over another roundabout. A Wetherspoons is actually in a building that was already a pub. At the next junction is another pub, this one closed and converted into apartments. Housing is from various periods of the 20th century.
Into Gorsty Hill Road. The road descends along a ridge with the lane falling away on each side. The Bell and Bear pub was Gorsty Hill Farm. Tom Fereday started brewing around 1850 to provide refreshments for the new large tube works on the canal opposite. Bell Cottages next to it are dated 1904. Another possibly closed pub is a fish and chips. Opposite is another, The Lighthouse, still a bar. Into Coombs Road. Opposite, steps leads down to a track beneath a well-made retaining wall which leads to the Dudley Canal No 2 as it emerges from Gorsty Hill Tunnel. It was originally 11 miles long, opening in 1798, and was built to link the Dudley No 1 Canal to the Worcester & Birmingham Canal in Selly Oak. It was designed to act as a faster way of getting coal from the Black Country to London. On the far side is a tall brick wall with arches, one containing a floor with a large circular hole in it. The Coombswood Pipe Works, dating from 1860, stood above these walls. The tow-path is muddy. Walls on either side are cracked and decaying. Large modern industrial units stand above them. Two large metal constructs stand either side of a bricked up entrance to a canal basin. A tunnel is covered by a sign stating “The site of Stewarts and Lloyds 1903-1967”. This was the company running the tube works until it was transferred to British Steel. The whole site closed in 1990 and demolished two years later. A series of bays look like they stored cargo. Onwards. A series of walls of a former brickyard run back into the hillside. Two pole fishermen sit huddled against the cold on the tow-path. A decayed sign states “Private British Steel”. Opposite now is a hillside of small trees and scrub. On this side is an overflow reservoir, only about 50 feet long, which would them overflow into a drain. The canal comes to Bull Fisheries and Coombs Bridge. A brick bridge here took the main route from Halesowen to Birmingham up Mucklow Turnpike, but is was destroyed by the Home Guard in WWII as an anti-invasion measure. A few Mallard and a pair of Canada Geese are on the water.
Over the bridge and up Mucklow Hill. Towards the top of the hill, old trees have been twisted and ravaged by the wind. One has spread along the ground, sending up six trunks. To the south are the conical peaks of the Clent Hills. The path follows a deep holloway, Green Lane, some 1000 years old, a route from Wales to the East Midlands. Layers of sandstone are exposed – Etruria, Pennine Middle Coal measures, Halesowen Formations of the Carboniferous period, 309-308 million years ago. Steps take the path up to Pottery Farm, the last surviving Hill farm in the West Midlands taking its name from the now-defunct Bellevue potteries, which stood nearby. Its barns are thought to be on Saxon foundations which possibly ties in with the dating of Green Lane that passes through the farm. The old farmhouse is a timber-framed building of the late 16th century.
Along a short footpath across the top of Mucklow Hill. Into a street of mid 20th century housing. A terrace of earlier 20th century houses leads to Long Lane. The library is inter-war. Through Shell Corner. An artillery shell was placed here as a First World War memorial but was moved and lost in the 1970s. It was replaced recently by another brightly painted shell. On along Long Lane. The Congregational church is a brick built building of 1905. Behind it is a fine, large Tin Tabernacle, the original church, now the church hall. Route
Sunday – Leominster – Grey clouds drift across the sky, turning pink in the east from where a cold wind blows. Wood Pigeons and Collared Doves call. Further down the street, House Sparrows chirp. A flock of Jackdaws fly off from television aerials. More House Sparrows chatter constantly by the railway station. A Carrion Crow caws harshly. The water level in the River Lugg is higher than it had been for quite some time. The muddy water flows rapidly. Back by the railway bridge, a Blue Tit chirrups loudly.
Back round to Pinsley Mill. A Dunnock sings across the track. A skein of seven Canada Geese fly over. Blackbirds, Chaffinches and a single Redwing feed on the few remaining apples that have not rotted. Another half a dozen Blackbirds are searching the grass. Several Great Tits are in the Blackthorn saplings that are growing out from the railway hedge. A Robin sings in one of the trees above. The River Kenwater rushes by, its level also much higher. Fresh molehills have been thrown up in the churchyard. A Magpie is at the top of one of the conifers. Nearby, a Carrion Crow barks. Others join it was they fly around noisily. Wild Arum leaves are pushing through the leaf litter. Organ music emanates from the church.
Monday – Leominster – A cold morning with high clouds moving east below a blue sky. Through Caswell and Castlefields estates and then along footpaths between the houses and the Earl Mortimer school. A Blackbird watches from a bare apple tree. On to the footpath leading to the industrial estate. The drainage channel is scummy. Through to Southern Avenue and along to Hereford Road.
Down to Broadward Bridge. Fields and woods on either side of the bridge are flooded. The River Arrow is within a couple of inches of the top of the bridge arch. On the western side of the road, a Jay flies through the trees. Long-tailed Tits buzz as they search the bushes. A flock of Redwings fly off. A pair of Mallard are in the flooded Alder plantation. A yaffling Green Woodpecker flies in. To the east of the road, six Shelduck are on the extensively flooded fields.
Back up the Hereford Road. A flock of a couple of hundred winter thrushes, seventy plus Starlings and a similar number of small, unidentified finches flies up and then resettles in the field opposite the cemetery.
Wednesday – Bodenham Lake – The fields south of Leominster are still under several feet of water. There is more flooding from the Lugg at Bodenham. Much of the sky is blue with just a few clouds. There is a blustery wind and more rain is threatened as fronts move in from the Atlantic. The moon is in the west, large and pale. Several Robins are singing around the track. Wood Pigeons fly out of the lakeside trees. The water level in the lake is very high, little of the boating bay islands are above water. The bay is almost empty of bird life, just a pair of Canada Geese.
Into the meadow. Chaffinches and Blackbirds are in the orchard hedgerow. A Song Thrush sings in the trees. A Pheasant coughs in Westfield Wood. The meadow is waterlogged, however moles are still active.
Into the hide. The scrape is completely under water. A Cormorant fishes beside the reed bed from where the Great White Egret flies off to the far side of the lake. A few Mallard, Tufted Duck and Canada Geese are on the water. A Grey Heron flies across. Another eleven Cormorants are in the trees. From the west comes the cackling of Canada Geese but the anticipated skein consists of only four birds. A piping Kingfisher flies across the reed bed. Pairs or small groups of Canada Geese continue to fly in, making a great deal of noise about it! A drake Goldeneye is diving by the west end reed bed. It is the first I have seen here for a while. Larger skeins of Canada Geese are now arriving.By the time I return to the meadow, there are well over one hundred geese present.
There are now just a few winter thrushes in the orchards. A Great Tit calls. The sky has clouded over and there is rain in the air. A Green Woodpecker yaffles from one of the Lombardy Poplars.
Friday – Hereford – The sky is blue and the sun blazes low on the south. The effects of the recent rain are very evident south of Leominster. Flooded fields start with the circus field on the A44-A49 roundabout and continue to Marlbrook. Over Dinmore Hill and the floods are extensive all down the valley.
Into Hereford, to Church Road in Tupsley. The street is lined with 20th century houses. Down a short lane is St Paul’s church. Between it and the road is a large, much modernised Victorian building, the former vicarage. Prior to the 1860s the residents of Tupsley had to attend churches in Hampton Bishop or Hereford, all of them at least two miles away. Funds were raised for the building of a church at Tupsley, with the Lord Bishop of the Diocese granting five acres of land for the church, burial ground, schools and Vicarage. The corner stone was laid in July 1864 with great ceremony. The building, designed by FR Kempson, was completed in 1865. The church is stone built with a brick lining. The tower has a brooch spire, with a weathercock. An ornate wooden rood screen separates the nave from the chancel. Three windows are by Morris and Co, believed but not proved, designed by Burne-Jones.
Into Quarry Road. The houses here are from the second half of the 20th century. Behind the houses is Quarry Park, once the site of the Hampton Park Brick and Tile Works. The local red clay was turned into bricks which built many of the late 18th century houses of Hereford. The works closed in the late 1930s and the site used as an army camp by the American military from 1939 to D-Day. Quarry Road comes to Old Eign Hill. Here the houses range in age from Victorian to modern. The road descends past large early 20th century houses. Behind them is Scots Hole, where it alleged the Scottish forces supporting Parliament hid before assaulting Hereford.
Into Eign Road. Yazor Brook flows under the road and joins the River Wye. On both sides of the road is extensive flooding. Under the railway bridge which takes the Manchester to South Wales line and into Crozen Lane to Park Street. The street is mainly late Victorian and Edwardian terraces. Into Green Street. Bartonsham meadows are under water. The farm and dairy are now owned by a larger enterprise. Back up Green Street. Into Vicarage Road. On the corner is St James’ church and alms houses. Past St James’ school. The former vicarage is a huge house overlooking the River Wye. A path leads down to the riverside path which is deep under water. The water stretches to the far side of King George’s Fields. Only the top eighteen inches of goal posts are visible.
Back to Green Street and along to Nelson Street. Down to Victoria Bridge. Both ends are under water and the river races under, just a couple of feet below the deck. Up the steps to Castle Green. Sightseers crowd in the small area overlooking Victoria Bridge. Down past the Watergate. Along Quay Street and into the cathedral precinct. Through Palace Yard and Gwynne Street to Bridge Street and the Old Bridge. Water rushes and swirls furiously under the bridge. One arch is blocked by a large tree trunk and debris.
Back along Bridge Street and through the city centre. High Town is not particularly busy, it seems there are less and less shops worth visiting here every year. Up Aylstone Hill and Southbank past large Victorian and Edwardian houses with much later 20th century infilling. Into Folly Lane. At the junction with the Ledbury Road is Church Road with a war memorial in the centre of the road. Route
Sunday – Leominster – Grey and pink clouds slide eastwards. A cool breeze ripples the bare trees. Jackdaws search the pavements and road for food. Wood Pigeons call from rooftops. A small flock of Cormorants are silhouetted against the sky as they fly south down the river valley. House Sparrows chatter in the garden behind one of the oldest houses, 17th century, in the street.
Over the railway to Butts Bridge. A Grey Squirrel runs through the trees. The water level in the River Lugg has risen slightly over the week. The edges of clouds begin to glow white as the sun rises. A few gulls head south. Birds are getting more vocal. Blue Tits chirrup in the trees. Robins sing. A Carrion Crow however is silent as it soars overhead.
Through Pinsley Mill. A Dunnock sings and a Magpie flies off towards the river. Into the orchard. Yesterday the annual Wassail was held here. Toast was fixed to the branches of the trees. Today it has all gone. A Great Tit sings his rusty bicycle wheel song. A single Cormorant heads north then turns to fly over the town. A Song Thrush sings in a tree above the railway. The Minster bells toll the hour then ring out the call to worshippers. The River Kenwater flows swiftly and grey green. Rabbits are on the lawn of the house across the water.
Into the churchyard. Four male Blackbirds are contesting dominance in the trees. One chuck chuck chucks an alarm in the hope the others will think there is danger and depart. Beyond the hedge, towards the Youth Hostel is a green where the old sanctuary of the church stood before being destroyed by fire in 1699. The green is covered in black molehills. The bell ringers are warming up.
Wednesday – Leominster – The last couple of days have been cold with heavy frosts. Before it gets light, a Tawny Owl hoots by the Co-op car park. A sprinkling of snow lays on the ground. Later, clouds move eastwards and much of the sky is blue. A crescent moon is high to the south. Bright sunshine begins to melt the rooftop frost.
On to Butts Bridge. The water level in the River Lugg has fallen. A mist swirls faintly over the surface. A pair of Dippers fly up from the bank and onto the fallen branches upstream from the bridge. They then fly rapidly downstream. A Manchester bound train growls out of the station. A Pied Wagtail flies by. Blue Tits squeak.
Back over the railway. A fencing company have moved into the lot by the station. Large logs are stacked waiting to be split into fencing. House Sparrows chatter in the bushes beside it. Into Pinsley Mill. A Great Tit is calling his two-note song across the railway. A South Wales bound train slows for the station. A Magpie chucks.
Into the churchyard where snowdrops are pushing through the leaf litter, green stems with just a tip of white. A Grey Squirrel tumbles like an acrobat through the branches of the trees, stopping for a scratch behind the ear. It comes down to the ground and starts searching the leaf litter along with several Blackbirds. A Long-tailed Tit hangs upside down from the tips of branches. A good number of Blue Tits are moving quickly through the trees. A Robin is on a branch, ticking before breaking into song.
Friday – Hereford – The flooding south of Leominster has receded. Some large areas of icy water remain along with frozen pools. On the bus into Hereford. The windows are so dirty I can see very little out of them. I alight in Holmer.
Along Holmer Road towards the city centre. One side of the road is a large retail park, the other a sports centre, school and petrol station. Behind these is the race course. There is a wide verge between the main road and that of the retail park. On it is a very large rock for no apparent reason. Nearby is a cast iron mile post, Holmer Parish, Hereford 1 mile, Leominster 12 miles. A short row of Victorian villas also contains the former Holmer Methodist chapel, now Christadelphian.
The road divides; west, Grandstand Road to Whitecross, east, Newtown Road, over the former railway, the Hereford, Hay and Brecon Line. Between them is a sports field. The pub that stood here had been completely demolished now. Just before the railway bridge is a car wash with a long queue outside. Above the sky is clear blue with jet vapour trails. There are still tracks below in a deep cutting but it is completely overgrown. To the north, the route is blocked by an industrial building. To the south, the overgrown track divided, the Hay line bending westwards around Widemarsh before disappearing into an industrial site and the southbound line heading for Barton Station and on to Abergavenny. On the other side of the bridge is the remains of the Gloucester and Hereford canal which disappears by the bridge.
Another large, busy roundabout. The Heart of Oak pub has closed and will become apartments. On along Newtown Road past Victorian terraces. Into Widemarsh Street. Through the city centre to the Old Bridge. The water level in the River Wye has dropped considerably since last week, probably over ten feet. It swirls but much more quietly. The west end of the King George V Fields have drained back into the river. Black-headed Gulls patrol the river. A large amount of tree trunks and debris is trapped on the upstream side of the bridge.
Along the riverside track by the King George V Fields. The surface is still covered in a layer of mud. A carved effigy of a bulldog. A Great Spotted Woodpecker drums nearby. A Great Tit calls continuously. The woodpecker is actually on the far side of the river, probably near Castle Green, a testament to how far the sound travels. Much of the park beyond the Victoria Bridge is still flooded. One large pool is frozen over. Over Victoria Bridge. It is still cold, anywhere not receiving the benefit of the bright sunshine remains frosted. Route
Home – Emerald, the hen, has laid her first egg since last summer!
Saturday – Home – Another heavy frost. The hens’ water drinker has to be brought in to run under the hot tap to release the ice. I also bring in a wild bird dish to de-ice and refill. A Wren visits the hanging basket and pots by the back door, pecking at leaves and the fibre lining. The new moon tonight will be at its closest distance to Earth for the last 992 years. The next time the new moon is this close to Earth will be 345 years from now.
Sunday – Leominster – Another sub-zero start to the day. After de-icing the hens’ water and putting hot water into the wild bird bowl, I head off down the street. The clouds in the east turn from pink to gold and then the palest yellow. Jackdaws chack. Behind the White Lion, Wood Pigeons roost in a Silver Birch. Onto the railway bridge. To the south east, the sun is a brilliant golden glare behind layers of cloud. A dozen or more Jackdaws fly around noisily. Onto Butts Bridge. The water level in the River Lugg continues to fall. The water is carrying little mud now and is a grey-green colour. The water ripples, various obstructions causing wavelets that cross forming ever changing interference patterns. A Mistle Thrush rasps.
Into Pinsley Mill. The dead Rosebay Willowherb stalks are white with frost as are the Hawthorns on the rough ground beyond the railway track. The flock of Jackdaws fly into trees by the house known as Pilgrim’s Inn. Hazel catkins have emerged from the little brown husks and hang a dirty yellow now. The nine o’clock bells ring out from the Minster. Robins watch folk passing from the edge of the churchyard. The water level in the River Kenwater has fallen but it still flows swiftly. Rabbits are on the lawn opposite again.
Into the churchyard. Catkins on a Silver Birch remain tightly closed. A discarded Christmas tree lays by the porch wall. A Dunnock sings in the rectory garden. Another pecks at soil by the path. Blue Tits chirrup from the rectory television aerial and a Great Tit makes a tentative attempt at his song. Starlings chatter on the Forbury roof. A white bust stands on a window, Byron perhaps.
Monday – Home – Again the hen’s water needs de-icing. They are in a feisty mood this morning, mainly because their food has run out. The container is refilled and they crowd round, pecking at the layers’ pellets furiously. Pruning continues. A fig is growing away from the wall so all the branches heading across the path are cut back. A gooseberry is pruned quite hard, although we hardly ever got a crop off it; what berries appear are quickly snaffled by the Blackbirds. The Bramley is attacked again. It is difficult because of the rambling rose that is running rampant through it. It may be sensible to cut the rose right back but the display when it flowers is too gorgeous to miss.
Emerald continues to lay every other day and the Warrens just keep producing at a prodigious rate.
Tuesday – Leominster – Another cold, damp and misty morning. Along the ginnel beside the White Lion where the masses of Ivy are drooping in the cold, still heavy with berries. Over the railway as a South Wales bound train emerges from the mist. Over the River Lugg and along Easters Meadow. Tall Cow Parsley seed heads are sparkling white with frost. A screeching squeal comes from the riverbank – a Water Rail. Under the A44 and into Easters Wood. A Goosander is on the river, its dark green head contrasting with its pristine white body. A Cormorant flies north. A pair of Mistle Thrushes fly off and another sings from the woodland. Another Cormorant flaps noisily off the water. The paddocks are covered by ice. Yet another Cormorant takes off from the far bank slapping its feet on the water as it lumbers into the air. A Wren flies out from under my feet and disappears into dead grasses.
Onto Eaton Bridge. The River Lugg flows quietly under. Up Wigeon Meadow where a Robin ticks and Blackbirds mutter. Up past the drovers’ steps. Worryingly, one had been dislodged. Something, probably a Badger, had been digging holes beside the path. Onto the hilltop where I gather some frozen green leaves for the hens. A finch flock is scattered along the hedgerow – Chaffinches, Goldfinches and Reed Buntings. There are very small deer slots in the frozen mud. Down the track to Comfordt House and along the track to the A49. The mist is even thicker here. Cheaton Brook is not deep but is flowing swiftly. Over Ridgemoor Bridge. A Dipper pipes as it flies upstream. Along Paradise Walk, over the River Kenwater and into the town.
Pinsley Road.
swim on the southern side. Mallard are scattered around the boating lake. Several Cormorants are flying around. A mewing Common Buzzard soars over Westfield Wood. It rises high up into the sky and drifts away to the west.
Egrets are standing on one of the wooden fences that run into the water in the western end. A pair of Greylags swim into view. Just a couple of Cormorants are in the trees. A Grey Heron and a Mute Swan are by the island near the southern hide. Another Grey Heron had replaced one of the egrets on the fence. A Kingfisher flies into the Willow by the scrape. It has a small fish in its bill which is swallowed immediately. The Great White Egret flies down to the fence and lands almost on top of the Little Egret, giving a fine view of the size difference.
monuments and is very large. Houses alongside the churchyard date from the first decade of the 20th century. The front door of the church has a large padlock on it.
Over another roundabout. A Wetherspoons is actually in a building that was already a pub. At the next junction is another pub, this one closed and converted into apartments. Housing is from various periods of the 20th century.
containing a floor with a large circular hole in it. The Coombswood Pipe Works, dating from 1860, stood above these walls. The tow-path is muddy. Walls on either side are cracked and decaying. Large modern industrial units stand above them. Two large metal constructs stand either side of a bricked up entrance to a canal basin. A tunnel is covered by a sign stating “The site of Stewarts and Lloyds 1903-1967”. This was the company running the tube works until it was transferred to British Steel. The whole site closed in 1990 and demolished two years later. A series of bays look like they stored cargo. Onwards. 
A series of walls of a former brickyard run back into the hillside. Two pole fishermen sit huddled against the cold on the tow-path. A decayed sign states “Private British Steel”. Opposite now is a hillside of small trees and scrub. On this side is an overflow reservoir, only about 50 feet long, which would them overflow into a drain. The canal comes to Bull Fisheries and Coombs Bridge. A brick bridge here took the main route from Halesowen to Birmingham up Mucklow Turnpike, but is was destroyed by the Home Guard in WWII as an anti-invasion measure. A few Mallard and a pair of Canada Geese are on the water.
One has spread along the ground, sending up six trunks. To the south are the conical peaks of the Clent Hills. The path follows a deep holloway, Green Lane, some 1000 years old, a route from Wales to the East Midlands. Layers of sandstone are exposed – 
Etruria, Pennine Middle Coal measures, Halesowen Formations of the Carboniferous period, 309-308 million years ago. Steps take the path up to Pottery Farm, the last surviving Hill farm in the West Midlands taking its name from the now-defunct Bellevue potteries, which stood nearby. Its barns are thought to be on Saxon foundations which possibly ties in with the dating of Green Lane that passes through the farm. The old farmhouse is a timber-framed building of the late 16th century.
with high clouds moving east below a blue sky. Through Caswell and Castlefields estates and then along footpaths between the houses and the Earl Mortimer school. A Blackbird watches from a bare apple tree. On to the footpath leading to the industrial estate. The drainage channel is scummy. Through to Southern Avenue and along to Hereford Road.
short lane is St Paul’s church. Between it and the road is a large, much modernised Victorian building, the former vicarage. Prior to the 1860s the residents of Tupsley had to attend churches in Hampton Bishop or Hereford, all of them at least two miles away. Funds were raised for the building of a church at Tupsley, with the Lord Bishop of the Diocese granting five acres of land for the church, burial ground, schools and Vicarage. The corner stone was laid in July 1864 with great ceremony. The building, designed by FR Kempson, was completed in 1865. The church is stone built with a brick lining. The tower has a brooch spire, with a weathercock. An ornate wooden rood screen separates the nave from the chancel. Three windows are by Morris and Co, believed but not proved, designed by Burne-Jones.
street is mainly late Victorian and Edwardian terraces. Into Green Street. Bartonsham meadows are under water. The farm and dairy are now owned by a larger enterprise. Back up Green Street. Into Vicarage Road. On the corner is St James’ church and alms houses. Past St James’ school. The former vicarage is a huge house overlooking the River Wye. A path leads down to the riverside path which is deep under water. The water stretches to the far side of King George’s Fields. Only the top eighteen inches of goal posts are visible.
dropped considerably since last week, probably over ten feet. It swirls but much more quietly. The west end of the King George V Fields have drained back into the river. Black-headed Gulls patrol the river. A large amount of tree trunks and debris is trapped on the upstream side of the bridge.
heavy with berries. Over the railway as a South Wales bound train emerges from the mist. Over the River Lugg and along Easters Meadow. Tall Cow Parsley seed heads are sparkling white with frost. A screeching squeal comes from the riverbank – a Water Rail. Under the A44 and into Easters Wood. A Goosander is on the river, its dark green head contrasting with its pristine white body. A Cormorant flies north. A pair of Mistle Thrushes fly off and another sings from the woodland. Another Cormorant flaps noisily off the water. The paddocks are covered by ice. Yet another Cormorant takes off from the far bank slapping its feet on the water as it lumbers into the air. A Wren flies out from under my feet and disappears into dead grasses.