Month: February 2012

February 28th – Returning very late from work, cresting the Black Cock Bridge (no sniggering at the back) I stopped to take a picture of the night-time view of Camden Street down towards Oak Park. When I turned around to climb back on the bike, I realised the view behind me was far more interesting. This footbridge (actually green in the daylight) was added to the canal bridge in the 1980’s, and is made from tubular steel, which, when lit by my rear light, looks quite stunning… beauty in unexpected places.

February 28th – Unusually, I passed through Aldridge on my way to work today. While popping into the shopping centre, I noticed a Royal Mail bike parked up near Anchor Road. These are a longstanding design, manufactured by Pashley in the UK. They weigh a ton, but have lots of solid, dependable tech – hub brakes and gears by Sturmey Archer, step through frame, Scwalbe marathon plus puncture resistant tyres, and dutch-style wheel lock on the rear, as well as the all important sturdy rack and front tray. Sadly, these bikes could be a passing tradition, as the wonks at the Royal Mail are apparently considering discontinuing the use of bicycles. Idiots.

February 27th – I like bike cargo hacks. This one was locked in the stand at Telford Station, and is rather well executed. A standard plastic crate, of the kind you can buy at hardware stores and DIY chains, with holes drilled in the bottom. Secured with cable ties, the ensemble only loses points for the untrimmed ties. Love the reflector and rear light attached to the box itself. Wonder what the rider carries?

February 27th – Out early to Telford again today – hopefully for the last time in a while. Standing on platform 4c (sort of like New Street’s version of Harry Potter’s platform 9 and three quarters, only less feasible) I looked across the dismal concrete and steel architecture and noticed the steel horse. Life size, jet black and approaching 25 years old, this is part of one of the better public artworks I’ve ever seen. I think there are twelve metallic equine silhouettes in total, at various locations between Birmingham and Wolverhampton, all in animated poses as if racing the train. They are regarded with surprising affection by travellers, and after two and a half decades, they still make me smile.

February 26th – Since we’re on a bit of a refuse theme today, as I trundled up the canal to Aldridge, I stopped to look at the gulls, crows and jackdaws scavenging on the Highfields South Landfill, just behind Barons Court in Walsall Wood. This is the reality of our waste problem, and Walsall Wood and Brownhills have plenty of landfill sites. A hole has been dug – in this case, for brick marl – leaving a large, watertight void. Ideal for dumping our rubbish. Highfields is filling at an alarming rate – what’s under that vehicle looks like a combination of domestic and industrial general waste with what appears to be incinerator ash. Carrion birds are picking over the food waste. It stinks. And we can’t keep doing this. We have to cut the waste we generate. Nobody wants to live near a landfill – and the space within them is reducing, week by week. Yet mention bin regulation or recycling and we’re up in arms. It’s as if we can’t see the connection. I find it utterly depressing.

February 26th – Not far away from the crutch, but hopefully not connected with it, I spotted this on a Brownhills canal bank. Possibly caused by the hedge clipping I posted about yesterday, I hope the owner continued to feel deflated. Some cyclists make me ashamed to be on two wheels – and those who leave litter fit into that category. Drink bottles, energy bar wrappers and detritus like this shame us all – and the inner tube is a particular hazard to waterfowl who get tangled in them. Apart from anything else, it’s a waste. Or at least it would be, but it’s my size, so I took it home, repaired it and popped it in the spares box.

I have a simple message for those cyclists who litter: You brought it with you, take it the hell back. You disgust me.

February 26th – It was a day of discarded objects, but this was odd. A single, high quality aluminium crutch, in the scrub on the inaccessible side of the canal near the aqueduct on the Anglesey Branch in Brownhills. I don’t know how it came to be there, or why. It’s vaguely unsettling. One possible explanation is that a miracle was performed here, whilst the participants were walking on water. Yeah, that’ll be it…

February 25th – Chasetown has always had an odd atmosphere to me. The hillside town – occasionally bustling, but usually giving the impression of any given place at 4pm on a Wednesday – has a really nice High Street, with lots of stable, longstanding traders. The street is on a considerable incline, which gives it atmosphere and character. Sadly, at the moment, the entire road is closed do to gas and sewerage works at the top of the hill by Sankey’s Corner, and at 4:30pm, the place was even more ghostly and deserted than usual.

Perhaps this is the time to stage what I’ve always fancied doing here – a decidedly low rent re-enactment of the stunning car chase from Bullit, on bicycles. In Chasetown High Street. Steve McQueen optional. You know it’d be a blast…

February 25th – Another public service announcement. The hedge clipping season continues – this time, British Waterways have flailed the hawthorn Hedge beside the canal through Catshill in Brownhills, from the Anchor Bridge to Ogley Junction. This hasn’t been done for a while and the towpath is covered with thorns. If you don’t have thornproof tyres, my advice is to avoid that bit of canal if possible for a week or two.