May 5th On the way home I took the canal from Darlaston, in the hope of avoiding the worst of the wind. Nearing the factories near Pratts Mill Bridge, I noticed this swan, ostensibly asleep but clearly monitoring me on the far side of the canal, nurturing it’s clutch of eggs.

March 2nd - As I said yesterday, the season of transition is upon me; and that includes the period of travelling - on good days, at least - in the golden hour.

I often talk about this magical time, when just approaching sunset the light becomes soft, suffused with pink and gold and changes everything it touches to a precious, rare jewel.

There are few better places to catch such a time than Kings Hill Park and the view of the Twin Sisters. Bathed in the evening sun, they looked even more majestic than usual, but so did the park, and the sunset on the way home along the canal wasn’t too shabby, either.

May 5th - One of the reasons I haven’t been this way much in the last few months is that the canal aqueduct over the railway between Leamore and Harden has been closed so the structure can be refurbished, and has only just reopened.

I do hope that this loose, non-compacted shale isn’t the final preparation for the towpath surface - it’s uncomfortable to walk on, dangerous to ride on and just a plain shoddy job.

November 1st - After Thursday's blurry rat backside photo, I received a complaint from a reader who's rat phobic. Sorry, Linda, but I quite like them, and they are a part of our wildlife. I'll try not to spring rattus norvegicus on you again without warning. 

I have suitably cautioned Linda about this post....

Rats and humans have a symbiotic relationship - they are intelligent, quick and scarily versatile adaptors, which has ensured their proliferation and survival, and despite their carrying of disease and filth, it is without doubt that without these guys cleaning up after us the human race would probably have died out by now.

Today I was riding back from the supermarket, and this healthy specimen was just on the towpath near Pratts Mill Bridge in Leamore. Braver than most, it hung around as I took its photo, before it darted for safety into the reeds next to me.