Grey day on the water

The causeway over Blithfield Reservoir is as bleak a place as you'll find on a squally, rainy-damp day like today. Somehow water is the quickest thing to reflect the weather's mood - bright and blue and glinting on a sunny day, but grey, unwelcoming and sombre on a sunless one.

Yet the drive over the causeway is always a thrill (well, a small one!). Like flying... slightly.

Sited near Abbots Bromley, the lake is also a nature reserve.

Sat-nav nightmare

This ford is one of those sat-nav nightmares one reads about.  It's on the most direct road from Great Bridgeford to Seighford, yet I'd be unwilling to drive through along here and through that water.  BUT - a sat-nav is quite likely to take you toward it. 
Even during these very dry days of the moment it is six inches deep; and in winter it can rose to eight inches and more.
I'd be interested to know what local drivers think...

This post was featured on My Town Shoot-Out

Crooked road leads to...

The Crooked House in Himley is one of your more out-of-the-way pubs. It's down a long, abandoned, unlit, narrow lane, and new visitors are never quite sure they're on the right route.

Fortunately, happy lttle signs (such as the one in the photo), advising drivers not to go so fast that they will end up in the river, do remind you that you're on the right road. 

Maybe it's the Black Country sense of humour...(?!!!)

Hanley... improved

Strangely the light fall of snow has stuck, so the white stuff is still with us.

Frankly, the (laughably-named) Gateway To Hanley approach looks considerably improved by the conditions.