Walsall to Chasewater Reservoir and back
I met with my mate Q yesterday for some cycling around Walsall - I had been planning to go to Chasewater & Hammerwich for a while so I proposed following National Route 5 to the reservoir. I don’t think he expected such a long ride - we ended up doing 40 km in a bit more than 3 hours.
But hey, the sun was shining and everything invited us to go for a ride!
Everything is in bloom now and the canals look amazing - both the industrial and wilder fragments. It was quite muddy on the tow-path alongside Daw End and Rushall Canal. It was quite difficult to cycle on that bit between Aldridge and Rushall when the path is very narrow and can be wet. Still fun, though!
Chasewater itself was a bit of a disappointment - even though I’m not even sure what I expected, a lake, maybe? There wasn’t that much water in it and we learnt that it was due to the two years’ works being done on the dam. They’re supposed to finish by the end of the year, so I am already looking forward to the next!
We saw a lot of ducks and swans with their young, a dead dog lying by the tow path right opposite Brownhills’ Tesco and a crazy heron on Rushall Canal that kept on flying off and landing in the middle of the path in front of us.
Ah, and we had a short stop at Manor Arms pub in Rushall. What a great place for a break on a day out.
It was a delightful day. The National Route was good, so I will be exploring other parts soon - Lichfield, anyone?
