Chasewater memories and today

Sunday to Chasewater, well it seemed like a good idea at the time and once we got there it worked. It was the bribery and cajoling that I needed to go through to get two girls from in front of the telly and out into the wide world. so it is Christmas and it is cold outside.

Chasewater is a place I come back to regularly. I lived in Brownhills, just along the Great Wyrley and Essington Canal, until 1970. I remember riding my bike along the canal to Chasewater, I was only five six at the time and there was always that sense of pushing the boundaries. It did not take much at that age. If I think about it, the amount of time we spent playing outside along with the other kids on the road. My children in contrast are "looked after" they are with adults nearly all the time. There are so many things that have changed since my childhood in the late 60's and 70's.

During the early Seventies although we had moved away to Aldridge, I spent spent a lot of time with my Nan who lived in Brownhills and we would walk up the Canal to Chasewater. Ten years further on I got summer job at Chasewater I was the boatman. I did a lot of standing around by the pool I worked there for several summers up until I went to University.

I now take my children for walks, to play on the swings and slides and to start to regale them with tales of when I worked, for some reason they run away at this point. My wife smiles knowingly and I trail off into silence....

The lake has with the power boats at one end and the sailing centre on the far side has not really changed. The development of the small business centre and the revamping of the visitor areas has been done in the last 10 years and is ongoing. I am still to be convinced then again I seem to only turn up when there is a steady north wind blowing and it is cold. Also my rose tinted glasses obscure how rundown the place had become.

So yet again it was cold on our visit today. It has been cold over the last week or so and has in fact warmed up a bit. Not that much, my boating pond had frozen over. As the friendly local Gull was able to demonstrate for me.

There does seem to be another phase of "development" going on especially around the dam and the start of the canal and now I have done a little research I have found out why. The Lichfield council website is very useful.

Looking out on to the lake itself I saw Cormorants and Grebes and several species of Duck including Goldeneye and Tufted Duck. The water levels are coming down and the margins are full of Mallard, Canada Geese Swans and Coots, all supported by the Handouts from the visitors.

It will be interested to see the developments at Chasewater as the Dam is upgraded

That is all for now.