June 3rd – I headed back to Brownhills along the canal, avoiding the rain-maddened traffic. Rounding Catshill Junction, I noticed that the sculpture here ‘Cycle of Life’ by Ron Thompson & Julie Edwards, is again being consumed by the scrub. This sculpture – of which I’m not a fan, to be honest – was unveiled in 2005 as part of the canal refurbishment; the position of the artwork is so far from the towpaths that the detail of it can barely be appreciated, and it’s always felt a bit of an afterthought to me. 

Now, there’s a new development of flats and houses being constructed on the other side of the fence and the sculpture is more isolated than ever. I do hope the plans for the newbuild have taken this into account. 

Ideally, it would be nice it the piece could be moved to somewhere nearby where the public can actually see the detail in the metalwork. A bit of a missed opportunity, really.