Month: May 2011

May 1st – The Tame and Trent through Staffordshire are littered with the remnants of the Second World War, mostly old concrete blockhouses like this one in a field between Tamhorn and Hopwas. It took me a while to work out the logic of the seemingly random placements, but they all cover strategically important bridges. I guess those miltarians who planned gravely for the possible invasion of Britain recognised the value of pinch-points that rbridges formed.

Many of these fascinating structures are now listed, and there’s lots of information including a live gazetteer in Google Earth provided by The Defence of Britain Archive, a project by the University of York.

Thirty days?

1032 miles later…

By any normal yardstick, my 30 days of biking project should end here. I’ve ridden, and posted, something for every day in the month of April. You’ve followed me pottering round the common, off into the Peak District, through the mean streets of Redditch, and on early morning commutes. I’ve been cut up, knackered, amazed and awestruck.

The biking everyday thing will be no surprise to my regular readers at The Brownhills Blog; I cycle virtually everyday anyway. All that really changed was that I documented what I did and saw.

I’ve really enjoyed sharing this stuff with other people. It’s really great to make what is often a very solitary experience a communal thing in a small way. It’s nice to show that cycling isn’t a superhuman effort, and can be a pleasant experience, even for a non-lycra clad, non-helmet wearing middle aged bloke like me.

With all this in mind, I’m going to continue to operate this project, and somewhat ambitiously, rechristen it 365 days of biking. All the same stuff will be here, but I guess we can watch the seasons change together.

As long as folk are interested, I’ll keep going. Last night I took a straw poll on twitter, and the consensus was to continue, so the adventure continues.

Please let me know what you think…

Best wishes

Bob