Saturday – Sheerness – Isle of Sheppy – Sheerness – The island is approached by a great modern arching bridge over the River Swale. Beyond are large areas of marshes with Lapwings flying over it. Through industrial and commercial areas into Blue Town. In High Street, Victorian buildings, including several pubs, face a tall yellow brick wall. The Red Lion, is the oldest surviving pub in the town. The area once served the docks but they and most of the shops have gone. The docks and a fort were built in 1665. Around 1700, a group of houses were painted blue with paint allegedly stolen from naval stores. This gave rise to the name Blue Town. The docks closed in the early 1960s resulting in the area effectively dying and many houses demolished. A massive anchor stands in the street. Spaced along the wall are cast iron plates with a hole in them, fire holes, where fire hoses could be passed through in the event of a blaze. Many of the residences were clearly shops at one time. There are also bricked up arches that were sentry boxes for the volunteer militia drawn from local people.
Into a small park. A terrace of three storey houses were built in 1824-7 by George Ledwell Taylor, architect to the Navy Board, and Sir John Rennie Snr, engineer, for senior naval officers and dockyard officials. A church built in 1828 stands at the end. Also built by Taylor and Rennie; rebuilt with the former clock tower after a fire in 1884. It is disused and was used as squash court in the late 20th century. Opposite are the offices of the steelworks which were once the hospital built in 1857. A large lump of stone by the dock road has the date 1829 carved into it. On the docks are several stacks of shipping containers seemingly turned into storage units.
Out of the port and onto the main road. It crosses The Moat via a bridge built in 1991. There area few feral ducks, a Black-headed Gull and a Herring Gull on the water. On the other side is the Ravelin Wall, a long walk with gun ports for muskets built in 1816. This is only a short section of the wall, the rest being demolished. A footpath runs between Buddleia bushes which are in flower but not a single butterfly can be seen. The footpath is between the Moat and the large car park of a supermarket. A duckling on the far side of the moat is piping frantically, seemingly having lost its mother. A pair of Stock Doves are on the bank. Ahead is the sea wall. A pair of Sandwich Terns fly past.
Onto the sea wall. The sea is the estuary of the River Thames. Opposite is Southend-on-Sea. To the west is Garrison Point, where the River Medway joins the Thames. There is Garrison Point Fort built between 1861 and 1872. Nearer is the Central Bastion, early 20th gun ports, a pill box and a fire control building. A container ship, relatively small by today’s standards, is entering the estuary and into the Medway where there is a container port on the Isle of Grain. A Tern and a Cormorant fly by. The sky looks ominous with dark clouds and a rising wind.
I decide to head west towards the fort. Terns fly past regularly, probably mainly Common. Many have food in their bills. A Little Egret flies up from The Moat. The sea wall comes to an end below the fort with no access beyond, which seems a bit daft. There is the remnant of de Gomme’s indented line. In 1666 Sir Bernard de Gomme had been engaged to strengthen the blockhouse on the northern tip of the promontory. So back eastwards. A Common Tern flies past. East, out of the estuary are Red Sands Towers and Shivering Sands Towers, wartime defences and Kent Flats Wind Farm.
An area of shingle contains many oyster shells. Another container ship sails out onto the North Sea. Along to the supermarket. A small promontory on the beach is called Jacob’s Bank. An Oystercatcher is on the shingle. The sports centre is an odd building, some of it a rather plain mid 20th century design with an Art Deco part on one end. Off the sea wall and into Seaview Gardens. A bandstand was built here in 1927 and demolished in 1959.
Along a ginnell that runs behind the swimming pool and comes to the Catholic church of St Elizabeth and St Henry. It is was built in 1863-4 by Edward Welby Pugin of stock brick with black brick bands. The west end has a bellcote. The presbytery and church hall are both in the same materials. Beyond is Marine Town, a large residential area. Back along Broadway into Mile Town. A convenience store has the entrances with mosaic floors marked “Pearl House”, which once housed Madame Knight at Pearl House, a “Noted House for Dress Making and Millinery”. There are old vans dotted around the town advertising various businesses. The Primitive Methodist chapel is now the youth centre. The Working Men’s Club and Institute is dated 1872 on the pediment. It is now apartments. Opposite is the Argosy Cinema which opened on 29th January 1936. It was built for and operated by East Kent Cinemas Ltd. It is now a bingo hall.
The street continues with a number of late Victorian buildings. The Community church is in the Victoria Hall. Either side of the road is terrace of shops dating from 1830. Opposite is the parish church of the Holy Trinity built in 1835-6 by G L Taylor. A bronze plaque on the wall commemorates John Staples, of the Adams Lodge, who died in 1870. A Memorial to Thomas Stuteley is dated 1879, an Ashlar plinth with a stone square base with inscription and Greek key design and broken pillar above with garland. The Royal Hotel and the Conservative Club, the latter dated 1897, are large ornate buildings.
Broadway joins High Street. On the centre of the junction is a clock tower erected in 1902 to commemorate the coronation of King Edward VII. It is built of painted cast iron, an octagonal column with plinth surmounted by clock faces and bell. It was restored in 1977 and again in 2022. The Britannia is now shops. The façade of a former Montagu Burtons is somewhat disfigured. It is now the post office. The High Street had the usual mixture of national chains and small local shops, a lot of charity shops and pawnbrokers.
High Street ends with a large hotel, now offices, once The Railway Hotel. Opposite is the station, a rather ugly, modern affair. Across the road is the War Memorial unveiled 29th April 1922, sculpted by Messrs R L Boulton and Sons. Towards the sea was a recreation ground, almost all lost to the aforementioned supermarket and fast food outlet.
Back to the bridge over the Moat. A female Mallard had three ducklings, whether one of these was the lost one from earlier I know not. The Herring Gull seen here earlier is still here and looking decidedly unwell, sadly a possible victim of bird flu.
Queenborough – A few miles south of Sheerness is the village of Queenborough. Once a small fishing village called Bynne, it became the side of an important castle built from 1361 to 1370 by Edward III as a defence for London. It was not the easiest castle to build as all the materials had to be hauled from the river across the marshes. A town was laid out with the King providing a flour mill, church, quay and some houses. To improve its viability, the King made it a “Wool Staple”, one of only two ports, the other being Sandwich, allowed to export wool. However, with the plague devastating the main it did not thrive and in 1369 the Wool Staple was removed. The name Queenborough was decreed by Edward as a tribute to his Queen, Philippa of Hainault; Sheppy should become Regina Burgus, the Queen’s borough.
The castle was the first concentric castle to be built in England. On 21st April 1450, Queenborough Castle was attacked by a French force in a coastal raid, and in July of the same year, easily repelled an attack by Jack Cade and his rebels, during which Cade himself was wounded. King Henry VIII repaired the castle in 1536 but by 1650 it was declared not fit to be kept and demolished. Nothing remains now but a small park. It may be that it would have been wise for the castle to have been maintained as it may have deterred the Dutch from capturing Sheerness and ravaging the Isle of Sheppey in June 1677. There remains a central mound where the well stood. A Victorian engine house for pumping water stood here, long gone.
The economy of Queenborough was boosted significantly by the establishment of a branch line from Sittingbourne by the Sittingbourne and Sheerness Railway (later part of the London, Chatham & Dover Railway). There is a fine two storey station building of about 1860. Industries started up and the town became a borough in 1885. Beside the park is the former Public Elementary School of 1872, now the library. Nearby a chapel of 1897 is now apartments. Along North Street, past the modern vicarage to the church of the Holy Trinity.
The church has a late 14th century core, associated with Edward III’s foundation of the town. The tower is considered by some to be 12th century although a 14th century date is also possible. All windows were renewed in 1885 which may be the date of a major restoration. The internal fittings are 17th century. The coat of arms is of 1713, the arms of Anne. The ceiling has painted boards although they are very difficult to see as they were damaged in a fire in 1930. The font dates from 1610 and has an octagonal bowl on a thick and elaborately moulded baluster-like stem. The bowl is inscribed with the name of Nicholas Taylor “Jurat of this towne” in the churchyard is a very large stone monument to Thomas Young Greet,Esq (d 1829) and other members of the Greet family surmounted by an obelisk and ball finial and bearing the Coat of Arms of the Greet family. There are a number of barrel graves in the cemetery.
It into High Street where the houses are a mixture of 18th and 19th century buildings. Town Hall or Guildhall is late 18th or early 19th century. The ground floor has 4 free-standing Tuscan columns forming the arcade, an open cupola in the centre with ornamental weathervanes and a projecting clock bracket in the centre. The Wesleyan Methodist chapel is now a residence. The Flying Dutchman pub was previously Originally called the “Ordnance Arms” and the building is late 18th or early 19th century. At the end of the street is the estuary and marina. A large Georgian house, Swale House, stands to the south. Back along High Street and down an alley to South Street and the harbour. The river, simply called The Creek, is a trickle. Along South Street past the closed down “Sheerness Economical Society Ld” store.
Wednesday – Bodenham Lake – Although there is a stiff breeze and some clouds in the sky, the sun is hot on my back. Wood Pigeon, Chiffchaff, Wren and Dunnock are calling. A Gatekeeper butterfly is on Brambles. A Meadow Brown butterfly flits over the browning grass. A few Tufted Duck are on the water. Several Mute Swans are on one of the islands, one, worryingly, looking dead with Lesser Black-backed Gulls nearby.
Into the meadow where there are a fair number of Meadow Browns and Ringlets around the large Bramble thicket.
Into the hide. There are well over 100 Canada Geese on the lake along with a number of Greylags. A flotilla of 19 Cormorants glides across the water. The Great White Egret is at the western end and a Little Egret is on the scrape. Over a dozen Mute Swans, one with cygnets, are scattered around the water along with several Great Crested Grebes, one with two juveniles. There are also several dozen Tufted Duck. Three Oystercatchers are on the spit. Coot are also present, again some with young. Purple Loosestrife is coming into flower on the scrape. The bank below the hide is looking dull, just a few Ragweed bring colour now that the Ox-eye Daisies and Black Knapweed have gone to seed. A Grey Heron lands by the scrape. A Reed Warbler is singing in the right-hand reed bed. A Coot with young tolerates the Little Egret approaching but not the Grey Heron, which flies off. A Sedge Warbler starts singing in the left-hand reed bed. A number of juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gulls fly in.
Back through the plantation. Agrimony, Perforated and Square-Stalked St John’s Wort are in flower. A Speckled Wood butterfly visits some particularly pink Bramble flowers. Nearby, more Bramble flowers are almost pure white. Into the orchards. A Common Buzzard glides overhead. There are good numbers of Ringlets in the grass.
Sunday – Leominster – The sky is cloudy and it is cooler than it has been recently. Swifts still scream across the sky. Down to the railway bridge. House Sparrows chatter in the bushes by the station. A brief burst of song from a Wren is the only sound from the woods. The air, greenery and trees have been freshened by yesterday’s thunderstorms and downpours. Despite the rain, the water level in the River Lugg is very low. Meadow Sweet, Red Campion, Dock, Ragwort and Thistles are in flower in Easters Meadow. The umbellifers have mostly gone to seed. Wet grass hangs over the path and my trousers and shoes as soon saturated. A Cinnabar moth flits through the grass but I have yet to see any of its caterpillars on the ragwort. A Chiffchaff calls but its song is not the clear, crisp song of spring. Yelping gulls flyover harassing a Grey Heron.
The market is busy. A man is explaining to a woman that his rather fetching embroidered felt hat is traditional from the Czech Republic. Pond skaters are on the River Lugg. River Kenwater very low. However it is deep enough by Priory Bridge for a Brown Trout to be in the stream.
Home – Yesterday’s rain actually filled one of the new water butts by the chicken run. The vines along the walls are trimmed back and the leaves fed to the hens. More potatoes are dug. The Pentland Javelin crop is fair, but the Red Duke of York is not great. Of course, the dry weather has not helped. Courgettes are coming on fast now. Yesterday I made five containers worth of tomato and courgette sauce for freezing. The leeks which have been in a trough in the greenhouse are transplanted into the newly freed up row on the potato patch. It is not easy making holes to drop them in as the ground is bone dry and as soon as the dibber is removed, dry soil falls into the hole. Raspberries have been very good this year and Kay is still picking. Gladstone apples are falling but I have yet to check their edibility. Cucumbers are forming on the plants in the greenhouse. Two tiny tomatoes have ripened on the plants in the hanging baskets.
Wednesday – Bodenham Lake – The sky is overcast with some dark clouds. An earlier breeze seems to have dropped and it is warm. Two Red Kites were over Broadward. Wood Pigeons call around the car park and House Sparrows chatter near the barn. Lady’s Mantle is in flower. Along the track, Herb Robert is in flower but the Bramble flowers are now fading and tight bunches of blackberries are appearing. Lilac-pink flowers are appearing on the Teasel heads. Dark Mullein has yellow flowers with purple stamens. Nearby is a very white example of Common Meadow Rue, also known as False Rhubarb. It takes a few moments to realise that a piping call coming from the woods is actually an Oystercatcher on the lake beyond. Haws are beginning to turn red. The boating lake is quiet with just a few Mallard and Mute Swans. It is clear now the Mute Swan I thought was dead last week is very much so. An Oystercatcher is near the corpse.
Into the meadow. A Chiffchaff calls from the top hedge. Another starts to call from the lakeside trees. It starts to rain. Red Bartsia is in flower in its usual patch.
Into the hide. A Little Egret is by the scrape. A Great Crested Grebe is nearby. A Mute Swan and cygnets stands on the southern bank. Another Little Egret flies past. Greylags glide across the water. A juvenile Coot is washing itself by the scrape. Canada Geese are scattered across the lake with a large number congregating at the western end. Ten or more Cormorants are in the trees. A few Tufted Ducks in eclipse are on the southern side. A Grey Heron flies off towards the River Lugg. Most of the Cormorants fly out of the trees and around to the far side of the island. Meadowsweet is in flower along the water’s edge at the foot of the bank. Forty Cormorants form a flotilla at the western end. Another Grey Heron flies in. A brief, intermittent song of a Reed Warbler comes from the reed bed.
Back to the meadow. It looks as if there will be a good hazelnut crop this year. However the Blackthorn looks far less well endowed and along one long stretch I can only see a single sloe. The Chiffchaff is still calling in the hedge, dancing from branch to branch. Overhead a Common Buzzard circles. Tufted Vetch is climbing high up through a Blackthorn. The rain returns. On the journey back to town, a Red Kite is circling St Botolph’s Green.
Wednesday – Bodenham Lake – A cooler morning. The sky is cloudy with blue patches but there are thick clouds to the west. Several Hawthorn and Willow saplings are bent over with the weight of Old Man’s Beard growing up their stems. The boating lake is quiet. The water has a green tinge of algae. Ten Mute Swans, a Little Egret and a flock of Greylags are on the islands. An Oystercatcher is piping. The wheep of warblers comes from the hedges. A Robin stands on the boat sheds, ticking. A Wood Pigeon calls from the trees. Carrion Crows bark as they fly over. A Small White and Meadow Brown butterflies are on Brambles.
Into the meadow. Gatekeeper butterflies are in the grass. A Green Woodpecker yaffles in Westfield Wood. The Great Spotted Woodpecker chips in lakeside trees. Magpies churr around the paddocks. Rain is in the air.
Into the hide. Mute Swans, Canada Geese, Coot, Tufted Duck and Mallard are scattered about the lake. Several Moorhens are in the scrape. A Grey Heron flies off, then returns to join two others on the spit. A Great Crested Grebe had a noisy juvenile with it. A fourth Grey Heron flies across the lake. Butterflies flit across the bank in front of the hide – Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers, a Common Blue, a Red Admiral and Small Whites. Tiny blue needles, Damselflies, hover over the grass. Dragonflies flash past, disappearing in an instance. Three Little Egrets alight on the scrape. They seem to be finding plenty to eat, rushing across the shallows and plunging their bills into the water. Two Oystercatchers are by the southern reed beds.
Back into the plantation. Yellow spikes of Agrimony are still in flower. Great Willowherb is on flower. More Common Blues, Meadow Brown and Gatekeepers are over the grass. Common Centaury flowers. A Field Maple had a heavy crop of winged fruits. Into the dessert apple orchard where there are sheep, Ring-necked Pheasants and a Peacock!
Back to town where a Red Kite is circling closer to the centre than last week.
Friday – Home – Early morning and the skyways are suddenly busy. A dozen Lesser Black-backed Gulls head north in a cacophony of yelping; several Jackdaws follow them and Wood Pigeons head west. Again I give my usual Friday walk a miss as my arthritic hip is aching badly.
The morning is dull and grey with stormy clouds passing over, but no rain falls. In the afternoon the wind rises and blows away much of the cloud letting the sun through. Cornflowers, Field Scabious, an umbellifer, Ox-eye Daisies and Corncockles are still in flower in the meadow and attracting bees and Gatekeeper butterflies. The display of lavatera and sunflowers on the patio are also a magnet for bees, which are also attracted by the climbing beans. Last night I added one of the chillies from the greenhouse to our curry. It nearly blew my head off! Tomatoes are ripening slowly. We are cropping little cucumbers regularly.
Monday – Leominster – Heavy overnight rain means our water butts are now all full. The rain has stopped but the sky is still grey and it is cool. Onto the railway bridge. Below Ragwort, Rosebay Willowherb and Buddleia are in flower. A Wren sings in the woods. Despite the recent rain, the water level in the River Lugg has hardly risen at all and the water remains clear. A flock of Long-tailed Tits with a few Blue Tits are active in the Ash trees beside the river.
Back over the bridge. The Manchester bound train pulls into the station. There are children on the bridge and the train driver gives them a blast on the horn as the train pulls out. Along Pinsley Mill. The trackside has numerous white and purple Buddleia and Rosebay Willowherb flowering either side but there are no signs of any butterflies. Rowan berries are turning orange. Into the orchard. Meadow Cranesbills are in flower. Wayfaring Trees, Spindle, Hawthorns, Bird Cherries, Hazels and Field Maples all have fruits. By the pond, Meadow Sweet is going over but Purple Loosestrife is flowering well. Bright orange berries of Wild Arum shine from the undergrowth. A Chiffchaff calls.
The water level in the River Kenwater is also low and it flows slowly. The plum and greengage trees on Pinsley Mead are heavy with fruit which is some time off of ripeness. Into the churchyard. A Chiffchaff is calling is autumn wheep wheep call. Blue and Coal Tits flit from tree to tree searching out invertebrates. A Spotted Flycatcher stands on a small dead tree branch, watching the air. A family of Grey Squirrels are in a Beech tree, showering the ground below with the wreckage of beech mast.
Wednesday – Bodenham Lake – A sunny morning with wispy high clouds in the sky. Wood Pigeons, a Wren and House Sparrows call. A Robin hops along the track then disappears into the bushes. The air at the edge of the lake is alive with small insects. A couple of Mallard, Canada Geese, a Little Egret and Mute Swans are on the islands. The end island now cannot be seen because of the growth of bushes in the boat compound. A Great Crested Grebe, Grey Heron and five Mute Swans are at the far corner of the meadow bay.
Into the meadow. The large Bramble thicket is covered in rapidly ripening blackberries. Blue Tits flit around a large Elder. A Chiffchaff is in the Willow above. At the end of the meadow Chiffchaff calls and a male Blackcap seeks food in the trees.
Into the hide. A Grey Heron is by the scrape. Another flies across the water and the scrape heron squawks and chases after it. Canada Geese and Greylags are on the south side of the lake. Mute Swans and a Cormorant are around the spit. Coot and Tufted Duck are scattered around the water. A decent number of bees and Gatekeeper butterflies are visiting the Black Knapweed in front of the hide. Two Mute Swan cygnets are asleep on the island in front of the new hide and two more are on the water nearby. Several female Mandarin Duck are gliding around. Common Buzzards are calling loudly. Several more Cormorants have appeared. Suddenly another twenty appear. Small White butterflies are visiting the Black Knapweed and a large Brown Hawker dragonfly speeds past. The Cormorants form a large flotilla splashing and grunting as they dive. Now four Grey Herons fly around and a couple of Little Egrets land in the scrape and the latter start to squabble. With the egrets, herons and Cormorants, it cannot be a great time to be a fish! The sky is clouding over.
Back through the meadow. Common Buzzards are still calling over Westfield Wood. A Green Woodpecker yaffles nearby. Into the orchards. A Spear Thistle hosts a Red-tailed Bumblebee, Bombus lapidarius, a Common Carder Bumblebee, Bombus pascuorum, a Small Skipper and a Meadow Brown. A Common Blue tried to join in but changes its mind. One tree in the dessert orchard has eatable apples.
Friday – Netherton, West Midlands – Netherton is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. Netherton means “lower farm” in Old English, the upper farm may have been Dudley itself. For most of its history, Netherton was a small village centred around the point where a brook crossed the Baptist End Road. It expanded rapidly in the industrial age and the thick seams of coal underlying the region were extensively mined. Blast furnaces were constructed in for iron making, and the area became home to many industries including chain making, anchor making, nail making, brick making, enamelling, and the construction of boilers. Mining and the heavy industries such as iron-making declined and Dudley Council sought to redevelop areas of Netherton for housing, either by demolishing existing older housing and rebuilding, or by reclaiming abandoned industrial areas. Some of the first council houses in Dudley were constructed around Netherton Park in the early 1920s, around the same time as the Yew Tree Hills area, to rehouse families from older and dilapidated houses around the town.
A dull overcast morning with occasional drizzle. Along Marriott Road from Primrose Hill. The area is a mixture of former council houses, old industrial buildings and modern ones. There were collieries either side of the road. Into Walker Street and then into Hockley Lane. A footpath leads onto Yew Tree Hill. The cracked footpath starts to descend; it is lined by a heavy duty tubular metal fence stopping people toppling down a steep slope. Dense vines of Honeysuckle are in flower. The footpath joins Knowle Hill Road and then another footpath which descends to an old clay pit of quite considerable size. It is now mown grass with a leaning, old football goal post. The pitch is still used as evidenced by the marks of football boots in the muddy path.
Up the hill to Highbridge Road. A “rag and bone” van passes with an incomprehensible message on the loudspeaker. Up Netherton Hill. A well worn cast iron access plate in the road is inscribed “Dudley & Dowell Ltd, Cradley Heath, Staffs”. Opposite is the site of the old cricket pitch. Past the modern buildings of the primary school, next to which is the Parish church of St Andrew.
The path up to the church passes large Victorian graves with monuments. One has a cast iron “headstone” on a little gantry across the cast iron railings. Others are brick built tombs, most in matt black brick, one in glazed black brick. The church was built in the Gothic style in 1827-30, by Thomas Lee, for the Church Commissioners. The War Memorial stands at the top of the slope with the church behind it. The church is locked. The graveyard is still in use although many graves are overgrown. There are some deep, unmarked graves here for the victims of cholera outbreaks in 1831 and 1832. A spontaneous fire in a coal outcrop in 1956 threatened the church. A Jay and Green Woodpecker call from surrounding trees.
Into Hill Street. The Packhorse Inn is now dwellings. Other housing is mainly 20th century. Blackbrook Road ran past collieries to the Dudley Canal. Past a modern school, or Academy in the modern parlance. An industrial building, probably early 20th century with a large chimney had been converted into flats. Into Simms Lane. The Crown, a modern pub, is boarded up. Buddleia have rapidly taken over the car park. On past the extensive school buildings, playing fields and modern housing. Simms Lane joins the A459, the Halesowen Road, at Cinder Bank. This is Baptist End. The houses here are a strange mixture. A terrace has the same decoration in brick under the eaves; the first four have ornate raised pediments, another has a timber-framed gable whilst the others have plain roofs. Nearby is Hope Tavern, which looks early 20th century. Opposite is a modern building, apparently still partly under construction, called Champions Church, an evangelical group.
Back along the main road. On one side is the modern Islamic Trust building, on the other a modern industrial unit, closed down. The Christadelphian Hall is boarded up and the site advertised for sale as a car sales pitch. Opposite, in the middle of plain houses is a mock timber-framed building with a shop in the middle. Past a parade of shops, about half are closed down. An odd house, now flats, had an Art Deco look to it. Netherton Arts Centre is a fine red sandstone building, formerly the public hall, free library, police and fire station, erected in 1895. Behind it is Netherton Park. Opposite is an exact replica, made by Forgemasters of Sheffield, of the Titanic’s main anchor. It was installed here in 2010, having been pulled by a team of shire horses and a tractor from Dudley old railway station. The original had been made here by Noah Hingley and Sons Ltd, which went out of business in the 1980s.
On down the Halesowen Road. In St John’s Street is the United Methodist church, two adjoining buildings, the large one on the street seemingly abandoned. Another anchor stands on a road junction. The Old Swan is a brew pub dating from the 1863. The Junction Inn is dated 1905. A short distance down the Cradley Road is the former Noah’s Ark Methodist church of 1896 with numerous foundation stones. It is now apartments. A close of modern housing is on Old Level Way, a reference to the Dudleywood Colliery No 2 Pit that lay beyond across the Halesowen Road. A large trading estate is on the site. Opposite, an industrial estate stands on the site of Saltwells Colliery No 29, already closed at the end of the 19th century. A lengthy, early 20th century building is a steel stockholders. The Primrose Hill Community Church looks unused, although a modern building next to it is still open. A nearby inn marked on the old map has been replaced by a modern retail unit. Halesowen Road comes to Astles Bridge over the Dudley Canal. The original name of the bridge was Primrose Bridge but it was locally known as Astles Bridge, after footballer Jeff Astles, the name having been adopted officially. Exploration of the canal will have to wait for another day.
Back to Marriott Road. The site of Lloyds Proving Hall, where chain was subjected to a variety of tests to show it was of suitable quality, has been acquired and demolished by a large housebuilders. Route late start
Sunday – Leominster – The sun tries to break through grey clouds that bought a modicum of rain overnight. A cool westerly breeze blows. The ground below the railway bridge is pink, yellow and purple with Rosebay Willowherb, Ragwort and Buddleia. Stalks of the vermilion berries of Cuckoo Pints are in the woodland below. The water level in the River Lugg remains low and it runs clear. The large British White cattle are in Lammas Meadow. Himalayan Balsam is in flower on the river bank. A wide strip has been mown in Easters Meadow where the footpath lays but the rest remains unmown. A good number of Gatekeeper butterflies fly past. There is a noticeable absence of bird song. A large flock of Long-tailed and Blue Tits move through the riverside trees. Chuckling Lesser Black-backed Gulls stand on the Brightwells’ compound lights. A Blackbird chucks in the Stinging Nettle and Bramble thickets on the far side of the confluence of the rivers Lugg and Kenwater.
The Sunday market is large and busy. Berries are beginning to appear on the extensive snowberry bushes beside the River Lugg by Kenwater Bridge. Below is a yellow umbellifer, unusual in a river. There are a large number of Pond Skaters on the river to the south of Kenwater Bridge. A tractor crosses the railway pulling a brand new cutting unit for a combine harvester; it is followed by the harvester tractor itself.
Along Paradise Walk past the Kenwater which is flowing low and clear. The Minster bells toll the hour followed by the ringing of the Compline bells. Large, fat blackberries are ripening on the riverbank.
Monday – Bodenham Lake – An overcast morning but overnight rain has ceased. A lively breeze rustles the leaves. Mute Swans, Greylags, Tufted Duck, Mallard and Cormorants are around the islands in the sailing bay. Into the meadow. A Chiffchaff calls weakly.
Into the hide. The lake is quiet. A few Mute Swans are scattered across the water, a Little Egret is on the south side. Two Great Crested Grebes are displaying to each other, rather late in the season. A flock of Cormorants flies around. A Chiffchaff is in the rose bush, calling. Grey Herons fly about. Very young Moorhens are with adults on the scrape. Twenty plus Cormorants are in the trees. Most suddenly fly out and head for the eastern end of the lake. A piping Kingfisher flies into the willow at the foot of the bank. It flies across to the willow on the scrape, then plunges into the shallows and emerges with a tiny fish. It lands on the mud, shakes the fish and swallows it then returns to the willow. An Oystercatcher is washing itself beside the spit.
Back to the meadow. Tweets and murmurs come from the hedges. The few sloes that are on the Blackthorn are turning purple. Into the orchard. One tree has small but sweet apples, the others are still unripe.
bushes which are in flower but not a single butterfly can be seen. The footpath is between the Moat and the large car park of a supermarket. A duckling on the far side of the moat is piping frantically, seemingly having lost its mother. A pair of Stock Doves are on the bank. Ahead is the sea wall. A pair of Sandwich Terns fly past.
large residential area. Back along Broadway into Mile Town. A convenience store has the entrances with mosaic floors marked “Pearl House”, which once housed Madame Knight at Pearl House, a “Noted House for Dress Making and Millinery”. There are old vans dotted around the town advertising various businesses. The Primitive Methodist chapel is now the youth centre. The Working Men’s Club and Institute is dated 1872 on the pediment. It is now apartments. Opposite is the Argosy Cinema which opened on 29th January 1936. It was built for and operated by East Kent Cinemas Ltd. It is now a bingo hall.
Sheppey in June 1677. There remains a central mound where the well stood. A Victorian engine house for pumping water stood here, long gone.
of this towne” in the churchyard is a very large stone monument to Thomas Young Greet,Esq (d 1829) and other members of the Greet 
family surmounted by an obelisk and ball finial and bearing the Coat of Arms of the Greet family. There are a number of barrel graves in the cemetery.
dozen Mute Swans, one with cygnets, are scattered around the water along with several Great Crested Grebes, one with two juveniles. There are also several dozen Tufted Duck. Three Oystercatchers are on the spit. Coot are also present, again some with young. Purple Loosestrife is coming into flower on the scrape. The bank below the hide is looking dull, just a few Ragweed bring colour now that the Ox-eye Daisies and Black Knapweed have gone to seed. A Grey Heron lands by the scrape. A Reed Warbler is singing in the right-hand reed bed. A Coot with young tolerates the Little Egret approaching but not the Grey Heron, which flies off. A Sedge Warbler starts singing in the left-hand reed bed. A number of juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gulls fly in.
very white example of Common Meadow Rue, also known as False Rhubarb. It takes a few moments to realise that a piping call coming from the woods is actually an Oystercatcher on the lake beyond. Haws are beginning to turn red. The boating lake is quiet with just a few Mallard and Mute Swans. It is clear now the Mute Swan I thought was dead last week is very much so. An Oystercatcher is near the corpse.
in the scrape. A Grey Heron flies off, then returns to join two others on the spit. A Great Crested Grebe had a noisy juvenile with it. A fourth Grey Heron flies across the lake. Butterflies flit across the bank in front of the hide – Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers, a Common Blue, a Red Admiral and Small Whites. Tiny blue needles, Damselflies, hover over the grass. Dragonflies flash past, disappearing in an instance. Three Little Egrets alight on the scrape. They seem to be finding plenty to eat, rushing across the shallows and plunging their bills into the water. Two Oystercatchers are by the southern reed beds.
large Brown Hawker dragonfly speeds past. The Cormorants form a large flotilla splashing and grunting as they dive. Now four Grey Herons fly around and a couple of Little Egrets land in the scrape and the latter start to squabble. With the egrets, herons and Cormorants, it cannot be a great time to be a fish! The sky is clouding over.
buildings of the primary school, next to which is the Parish church of St Andrew.
industrial building, probably early 20th century with a large chimney had been converted into flats. Into Simms Lane. The Crown, a modern pub, is boarded up. Buddleia have rapidly taken over the car park. On past the extensive school buildings, playing fields and modern housing. Simms Lane joins the A459, the Halesowen Road, at Cinder Bank. This is Baptist End. The houses here are a strange mixture. A terrace has the same decoration in brick under the eaves; the first four have ornate raised pediments, another has a timber-framed gable whilst the others have plain roofs. Nearby is Hope Tavern, which looks early 20th century. Opposite is a modern building, apparently still partly under construction, called Champions Church, an evangelical group.
having been pulled by a team of shire horses and a tractor from Dudley old railway station. The original had been made here by Noah Hingley and Sons Ltd, which went out of business in the 1980s.
Cormorants are around the islands in the sailing bay. Into the meadow. A Chiffchaff calls weakly.