Are you sure it's really still February?

The West Midlands has been blessed with fine weather recently, temperatures so unseasonably mild you'd think it was the middle of May rather than the tail end of February. I was naturally keen to make the most of the sunshine so on Saturday 23rd I set out on my latest towpath trek, covering about five miles of the Shropshire Union Canal from Pendeford to Brewood...

- Autherley Junction -

I'm effectively retracing a walk I first did nearly ten years ago (September 2009) when - if memory serves me correctly - I was also blessed with blue skies. This time around the opening exchanges include the Rakegate estate (peeping through the barbed wire at Renton Road allotments) before I drop in on my old friend Autherley Junction. It's slightly strange to think that one of the country's most significant inland waterways starts right here in suburban Wolverhampton, but the graceful stone arch of Bridge No. 1 does indeed mark the initial stretches of the Shropshire Union on its journey to Chester and Ellesmere Port.

- Lower Hattons Bridge -

Autherley Junction is accompanied by a little lock, a pumping out station and the Napton Narrowboats boat hire base. The canal then flirts with the fringes of Pendeford and Dovecotes, passing beneath Ryhope Walk, The Droveway and Wobaston Road in sedate succession. Staffordshire countryside awaits albeit briefly interrupted by the presence of the M54 motorway; Bridges 5 and 6 at Upper and Lower Hattons stand either side of this tarmac ribbon and are seldom spotted within my photographic archive - it's great to get more pictures of them with a hint of a farmland backdrop. 

- Deans Hall Bridge -

Hunting Bridge (No. 7) indicates I've passed the halfway mark of my walk and has a peaceful setting flanked by fields. The canal next enters a leafy cutting close to the grounds of Chillington Hall, the driveway of which is carried by stately Avenue Bridge (No. 10) complete with rounded corbels and a balustraded parapet. It's not far into Brewood now, and come Deans Hall Bridge (No. 12) there are beguiling views across the paddocks towards St Mary & St Chad's Parish Church. I continue to Bridge 14 at High Green before leaving the towpath and heading into the village centre.

- St Mary & St Chad First School -

My main mission in Brewood is to get pictures of local features both familiar and unfamiliar. St Dominic's Grammar School has photographic previous but I'd never noticed the Methodist Chapel before, nor a vintage Wolverhampton Corporation electricity substation. School Road yields snaps of Brewood Middle School (C of E) and St Mary & St Chad First School while Church Road is home to something called the Artisan Hub, I'm sure a certain Mr D9 would have been delighted with that as a discovery!

- Swan Hotel -

I emerge onto Market Place where the Swan Hotel can be found next to the striking architecture of Speedwell Castle, a townhouse Sir Nikolaus Pevsner once described as a "delectable folly". The Swan itself is also worthy of appreciation as a traditional inn with plenty of character and a longstanding reputation for quality ale. I test these credentials over a pint of Holden's Golden Glow and am suitably impressed while the pub in general is alive with rustic voices, a real melting pot of village life

- Brewood Library -

My photographic duties resume with shots of the local branch library (Newport Street) and the village scout hut (Deansfield Road), plus I seek out a second pint of the day by nipping into the Three Stirrups on Engleton Lane - the resultant Exmoor Gold goes down well listening to a 1980s soundtrack that includes T'Pau, Nena and Mel & Kim. A further stroll around the block still leaves me time to play with so the handsome coaching inn appearance of the Lion Hotel beckons me back to Market Place for a quick Theakston's XB; this is a more upmarket establishment that has a grill restaurant emphasis, popular with diners but not my personal favourite. The 878 bus then pulls in by the post office ready for the homeward journey via Coven and Fordhouses, a relaxing ride on which to finish - what wonderful weather!