Happy New 2024

It’s holiday time!

Our usual January jaunt to Rutland was cancelled due to severe flooding that made access impossible (after one of the wettest years ever, the first month of the new year seems to be forging ahead with similar ambitions).

An alternative trip up to St Aidan’s in Yorkshire proved to be a great alternative with some top-notch birds to be celebrated.

St Aidan’s is a nearly 400 hectares of nature park plonked down between Leeds and Castleford in West Yorkshire. The land was formerly an opencast coal mining area that was flooded in 1988 after the riverbank collapsed.

Always difficult to ignore is Oddball, the giant and unique “walking” dragline mining transformer that dominates the site. There are a pair of Little Owls that have taken a liking to Oddball and hang around the machinery, and we were lucky enough to get good views of one of them at the close of day.

The Little Owl looked remarkably grumpy.

Oddball by Chris Allen CC BY-SA 2.0

The bird attracting most attention on the reserve was a Glossy Ibis, a rare and slender visitor to these shores although somewhat upping its game of late with many appearances and stopovers. The St Aidan’s Glossy has been around a while and seems at home in the North Ings area of the reserve.

The Ibis never let up for a minute in its dedicated probing around the coarse tussocky grassland with the nearby Moorhens and Lapwings not giving a fig about this exotic visitor.

Next up on the brilliant birds list was a brilliant Brambling. This plucky little finch was mixing with a bunch of Chaffinches alongside a teasel-thronged field filled with Goldfinches.

The brilliant Brambling

Little Grebes, Great-crested Grebes, Teal, Widgeon and Pochard, Mallard and Tufted all occupied the various lakes in varying degrees of numbers. A not-so-common Common Gull was spotted amongst the Black-headed Gulls. Above the wooded hillside, a Red Kite wheeled around, and a few Kestrels winged about but the top view was reserved for the male Sparrowhawk that imperiously perched above the reedbeds and, no doubt, kept the elusive Bearded Tits bedded down deep within the rushes. The even more elusive Cetti’s Warbler crept low along the reeds, and Stonechats and Meadow Pipits clacked and piped in the meadows.

Dusk at St Aidan’s…

A Great White Egret, something of a head-turner in its day but now firmly entrenched in the UK’s breeding population, stalked the far shore of one of the lakes.

Dusk at Tenerife…

So, it was the usual relaxing and recreating for our annual January break – repeated as necessary:

This post can’t be let go without an ornithological nod to this fabulous bird, the Hoopoe, which was frequently seen around the hotel and thereabouts. Several make it over to the UK so hopefully we’ll have them fully settled here before too long…

Happy New 2023

It’s been a few years since we last made Rutland Water, due in part to various pandemics and trips to Tenerife. By ingeniously staggering our sneaky week in the Canary Islands, the first West Midland Bird Club’s field trip of the year could be safely accommodated.

Some decent stuff was on show, not least a Great Northern Diver that bobbed up and down by the dam, showing scant regard for how unusual it was.

Being something of a watery environment, Rutland’s most notable sightings occurred on the water. Apart from hosting just about every British duck going – including impressive numbers of Goldeneye – there were very good views of a Velvet Scoter and a dainty female Smew. Less confiding was the distant Scaup dodging about with a raft of Tufted Ducks.

It is not appropriate to refer to the remaining wildlife as a supporting cast as there were several headliners amongst them: Great White Egret, Marsh Harrier, Red Kite, Pintail, Kingfisher, Fieldfare, Redwing and Bullfinch.

Not to mention a couple of Otters enjoying a brief morning dip that spooked a Bittern in the reeds! With similar sightings recently in Norfolk, that’s five otters in total seen in three months on English waterways – a great sign!

There was even time to squeeze in a bit of a walk before the Tenerife jolly – a wander in the countryside around Bewdley, as organised by Paul H.

OS Explorer map 218 Start: Habberley Valley GR 802776

A fairly gentle stroll, with a couple of climbs early on, but mainly easy going.

From the car park we walk north through the Habberley Valley with its red sandstone outcrops. Up Jacob’s Ladder, then along bridle paths and footpaths to Trimpley. The highpoint of the day with good views. Then south via footpaths and a short lane to Bewdley for lunch at the Cock and Magpie.

It was a bit floody in Bewdley…

From Bewdley we head south alongside the river to Blackstone, before heading east into the nature reserve at the Devil’s Spittleful and north through Rhydd Covert. We then (unfortunately) have to walk for a little while on pavements alongside two roads to return to the Habberley Valley.

…and now for some sunny shots from the annual soiree to Tenerife – no words really needed!

…and somehow, I landed the Honeymoon Suite….

Too smug to send on WhatsApp even…

January 2020!!!

New Year in Tenerife with self-explanatory photos and high jinks – two weeks of lovely sun…!

Plus a couple of tasty birds – Grey Wagtail and Kestrel…

With another sunset to finish…

 

The Ancient High House in Stafford is well worth a whirl if a timber-framed Elizabethan town house is something you find yourself yearning for. It is, in fact, the largest timber-framed house in England, built in 1595 using local oak from nearby Doxey Wood.

Many of the original timbers bear carpenter’s marks suggesting that the frame was first assembled on the ground before being hoisted into position. With most houses of the era being of wooden construction, it was not unusual for houses to be dismantled and reconfigured in a different location – hence the expression to ‘up-sticks’ – meaning to move house.

Before having it lopped off, King Charles 1 laid his fair head on the plump, fluffy pillows (he wished) of the High House sleeping chambers when making the High House his temporary headquarters in 1643.

The main room of the house is on the first floor, and it was here that guests, including King Charles I and his nephew -Prince Rupert – would have been entertained.

The Ancient High House is now a museum a with period room furnishings and displays from the English Civil War and Victorian eras.

 

Now that we have started a new decade, this month’s Flat Disc Society films looked to the future of mankind and our relationship with little robots with these little offerings:

 

 

Katie Merrimen was perfectly cast as the lead role in The Vicar of Dibley at the Crescent Theatre – a highly entertaining reincarnation of the TV sitcom, which featured the novel appointment (at the time) of a new female Reverend.

Cue a series of battling wills between the new vicar and the head of the parish council, quirkily accompanied by a splendid choral ensemble.

 

January’s Canaries

A cold, dank, dark (absolutely nothing crisp about it) January in England just can’t be done with – so it was off to sunny Tenerife for added winter sunshine.

The Best Jacaranda Hotel on the south coast resort of Costa Adeje was the choice of venue, duly ticking all Rest & Recreation boxes.

Not much more to add but photos of sunny scenes and selfies galore…

The Best Jacaranda Hotel

Some bloke against a blue sky…

Could be the same bloke – this time wearing a Wonder Woman costume

 

Since 2004, 16^th January has been declared as ‘Appreciate a Dragon’ so this month’s Flat Disc Society film night centred around Dragons.

There is, of course, a very important Welsh heraldic Dragon to honour – first up was the complete Ivor the Engine story, which introduced us all to Idris the Dragon.

The main feature was King Hu’s genre-defining Taiwanese Wuxia film Dragon Inn.  Wuxia is a traditional Chinese martial arts fantasy fiction where the heroes typically come from the lower social classes following a code of chivalry and fighting for righteousness, removing oppressors and bringing retribution for past misdeeds.

“Before Kung Fu, there was Wuxia. Before cinema, there was Wuxia.”

Dragon Inn became known as a keystone Wuxia film and has become influential in world cinema with similarities found in such films as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and House of Flying Daggers. Also owing their creative debt to Wuxia are the Kung Fu Panda films – and the Snickers advert featuring Rowan Atkinson.

The University of Birmingham is always worth a visit with its pleasingly green campus and mixed architecture. Plus it also contains the impressive Barber Institute and Lapworth Museum.

The Barber Institute marked the 150th anniversary of the artist Vuillard’s birth. The Vuillard and Madame Vuillard display was the first ever exhibition to explore the relationship between Eddie and his Mom.

Édouard Vuillard painted his mother more than 500 times throughout his career, striving to establish himself among the French avant-garde. He lived and worked in apartments, which he shared with his mother in Paris, daubing away like a man possessed whenever Mommie Dearest reached for the Vim and a duster. His small-scale, domestic portrayals featured heavily throughout the exhibition in a selection of paintings, pastels, prints and photographs.

‘Studies of a European Otter’ by the Dutch School

Another exhibition, Perspectives on the Natural World, showed how much images of animals could reveal about the creatures themselves. The display explored a wide range of representations of animals – drawings and prints – dating from the 16th to the 20th century by artists as diverse as Rubens, Gericault and Delacroix.

“A Study of a Horse” by Eugène Delacroix

The Lapworth Museum, as mentioned in a previous post (Glorious August 2018) is always well worth a visit.

All that culture needed rounding off with pizza, beers and brilliant live music by the Trevorless Burton Band at the Brasshouse in Birmingham…

 

Finally – another old cartoon from the Crow Collection archives…

Welcome to 2016

 

As is so often the case, an early January jaunt took us to Rutland Water for some much needed fresh air and renovation.

It was a raptor paradise before we even made the shores of Rutland with Buzzard, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk and over twenty Red Kites all notched up before we even got off the coach.

We briefly stopped on the shore of Rutland for a chilly scan across the choppy waters but apart from a couple of swans, some grebes and Wigeon, there was little to raise the temperature.

Once on the reserve, we set up the day with excellent views of Great White Egret and Caspian Gull from the Visitor’s Centre. We then hide-hopped along the northern shore, collecting the usual span of water birds, including the ever-appreciable Smew.

The Great White Egret was particularly restless, and turned up at a couple of other locations on the reserve throughout the day. Already with its elegant feet under the table, it won’t be long before this bird becomes a regular Brit like the Little Egret.

A very enjoyable day ensued with a leisurely stroll along the lagoons and water meadows with the low sun smacking us between the eyes. My new Zeiss binoculars made me wonder how I ever saw anything through the previous pair before.

 

The fell-walking has been a bit sketchy of late and this month’s treat took the shape of an Urban Heritage Walk around Wolverhampton.

Here’s Brain Pringle with the trailer:

We’ll spend some time in the City Centre visiting buildings and artifacts, discovering Wolverhampton’s history and characters then head south into Blakenhall for a dose of industrial and engineering heritage, before heading to Chapel Ash for lunch at the Clarendon Hotel adjacent to Banks’s Brewery. In the afternoon we’ll head along Tettenhall Road and then through Western Park to Molineux Stadium before returning to mop up some more history in the City Centre.

Be prepared for some backward and forward time travel, as the sites don’t follow a chronological order. Also be prepared for some stretches of boring grotty inner cityscapes, but at least there are no stiles or climbs!

Brian took us on a great little meander through our neighbouring city, unearthing several little known facts and asides during our wandering.

Here are some of those little known facts about Wolverhampton that may be worth repeating here:

Natives of Wolverhampton are called ‘Wulfrunians’. The city is named after Lady Wulfruna, who founded the town in 985AD and was the granddaughter of Ethelred I. The name ‘Wolverhampton’ derives from ‘Wulfruna’s town on the hill’ (heaneton meaning town on the hill).

Wolverhampton was given city status along with Brighton and Hove, and Preston in December 2000 when the Government declared all three ‘Millennium Cities’.

Wolverhampton was the first town in Britain to introduce automated traffic lights in 1927 in Princes Square at the junction of Lichfield Street and Princess Street.

The Sunbeam motor car, built in Wolverhampton, became the first vehicle to hit 200mph when it broke the land speed record in 1927.

The surrounding area near Wolverhampton became known as ‘the Black Country’ when industrial pollution covered the area in black soot in the late 19th century.

Wolverhampton’s most famous sporting son, footballer Billy Wright, was the first player in the world to earn 100 caps playing for his country. He married one of the Beverley Sisters, and became the Posh ‘n’ Becks of his day.

The gold and black colours of Wolverhampton Wanderers FC originate from the city’s motto ‘Out of darkness cometh light.’

A Polish recluse, Josef Stawinoga, lived in a tent on a city roadside for 30 years prior to his death in 2007.

Old Josef even has his own Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%B3zef_Stawinoga

Not the Polish recluse

 

As usual, There was only one way to finish off the month – our regular week in the sun, courtesy of the Canary Islands. Tenerife beckoned and we answered the call.

As usual, I got sunburnt the first day.

If you multiply Eat, Drink, Play seven times, that just about nails the holiday.

Here’s some photos – the first looking remarkably similar to January’s blog of last year.

Never a bridge too far

La Gomera

Pete absolutely hating the sun

…and a bunch of selfies…

JC’s 2015…Let’s start with January!

Bit late with January’s post but that’s what happens when you toddle off to Tenerife for a mid-winter break.

I didn’t make Weymouth this January, so my first venture of 2015 was the annual jaunt over to Rutland Water with the WMBC.

It was cold and icy, which is always preferable to coldish and muddy and wet (although it did begin to spit at the tail-end of the day).

Saw plenty of Red Kites en route but there was not a huge amount to get excited about once out on the reserve. There was a Smew, which seemed to occupy the exact same place as last year’s little duck – probably the same one – and a fair old smattering of wildfowl on the water. A Green Sandpiper popped up, and there were decent views of a Goldeneye – whenever it wasn’t diving under water to dredge up some duck food.

For those dying to see what a Goldeneye looks like – and I’m sure you do – here’s an illustration from the RSPB website:

I went to see East is East at the Alexandra Theatre with Dave and Annie. The performance was excellent – especially with the brilliant Jane Horrocks doing her stuff, but what really sent us reeling was the price of a plastic bottle of lager:  £5.10!!! That was worth three exclamation marks for sure! (Oops! – there’s another one). Of course, I expect to pay over the odds at some of these things but that’s just taklng the p*ss! These exclamation marks and asterisks are having a right old day out today.

Any way that was the mini-rant out of the way – here’s a review from Paul Marston of the Birmingham Evening Mail plus a photo, which I’m sure they won’t mind me sharing:

Having written this semi-autobiographic play about multi-cultural family issues, Ayub Khan Din might be expected to give a convincing performance in the lead role, and he does just that.

He plays 1970s Salford chip shop owner George Khan, married to his white English wife for 25 years, and struggling to cope with some of the views and attitudes of their six sons and a daughter brought up in this country, starkly contrasting with his own strict Pakistani-Muslim beliefs.

There are times when George – his kids call him Ghenghis when he’s not in earshot – appears tyrannical as he wrestles for control in their back-to-back home, and others when you sympathise with him in a story that mixes raw emotion with sparkling humour.

Nor does he get all his own way with his loyal wife Ella, beautifully played by TV and film actress Jane Horrocks, who can fight her corner even after receiving one painful thump during a row. Although his threats to bring his Pakistani wife over to England if she doesn’t toe the line never seem too genuine.

There’s a touch of Mrs Brown’s Boys about the action at times, with the family never economical with the use of dodgy language, including the F-word, which might surprise a few people. The build-up to the youngest son, Sajit (Michael Karim), needing to be circumcised also has a cringe factor.

But the play is more memorable for its humour, particularly in the second act when a comfortably off Pakistani couple arrive to discuss the proposed arranged marriage of their daughters to two of the Khans’ sons. A piece of art work showing the naked front torso of a woman also turns up to create a bit of mayhem.

Sally Banks adds another dimension to the fun as the children’s white Auntie Annie.

If I may continue with the bone-idle use of other people’s accounts, here’s Paul Hands summation of our monthly fell- walk around Blakedown in Warwickshire. There are continuing conversations about the legality of our title – Birmingham University Fell Walkers – as only Trev works at the Uni now, and its been a long time since any of us did anything remotely fellish…

Anyway, here’s Paul with the gen:

Verge side parking on Sandy Lane, among the trees, south of Hunter`s Lodge.
GR 883774

Map: OS map Explorer 219

Getting there:

From Birmingham follow A456 (Hagley Road). Continue through Hagley and Blakedown. As you leave Blakedown and rise up a slight hill, the road becomes a dual carriageway and you leave the 30mph limit. Look for a small lane on left at the end of a line of trees. Turn left and park soon after the sharp right hand bend.

The Walk:

This walk goes through pleasant undulating north Worcestershire countryside south of the Clent Hills. On a good clear there are some pleasant viewpoints. The lunch stop is at the Robin Hood, Drayton. A pleasant hostelry with a full menu including snacks and several local ales. It has become more of a restaurant in recent times but still retains a separate bar area. However I think it`ll be boots off and they don`t allow dogs in. I can guarantee some mud.

Route:

From start N to Blakedown.  NW past golf course to Waggon Lane. Then via bridle paths N & E to Churchill. Stakenbridge, Harborough Hill, Knoll Hill, Broome. Then S via Egg Lane to Drayton (lunch). From pub we circle via Drayton Pool, Mount Farm & Shutt Hill to Hillpool. NW alongside brook then Barnett Hill and back to cars.

I thought I’d throw in all the ‘getting there’ details in case anyone fancied checking it out. He was right about the mud though.

Mid-week, and the Flat Earth Society’s film night had a sheepish feel to it, tipping a fleecy nod to the Chinese Year of the Sheep and all things ovine.

First up was an episode from Aardman Animation’s Shaun the Sheep. Then a bizarre livestock and agricultural educational documentary all about sheep produced by The Texas Company (TEXACO).  The main feature was an independent American film rarely screened at the time of its release due to copyright issues surrounding its soundtrack: Charles Burnett’s Killer of Sheep.

This film depicts the culture of urban African-Americans in a run down district of Los Angeles. The film’s style is often likened to Italian neorealism, and it remained in obscurity for nearly thirty years, garnering much critical and academic praise and earning a reputation as a lost classic.

The National Society of Film Critics National Society of Film Critics chose the film as one of the 100 Essential Films to see. In 1990, Killer of Sheep was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

I still preferred Shaun the Sheep.

January was running out pretty swiftly so eight of us (a new record for the sneaky winter week club) took off to Tenerife for some R&R – its tough doing stuff…

If you take one excellent hotel – the H10 Gran Tinerife, in Playa de las Americas – add a commendable breakfast and evening buffet, throw in a selection of afternoon beers, stir in a heavier assemblage of evening alcohol, and serve up with lashings of entertainment – admittably mainly dressed up as cheesy tributes to Rod Stewart, the Blues Brothers, Elvis, Freddie Mercury and generic soul singers – then I would say you have the recipe for a memorable holiday – except that I’d be overcooking the dining metaphor somewhat so I’ll just shut up and say we had a grand old time.

Here be photos: