November 29th – I returned to Brownhills via the cycleway and old Cement Works Bridge, hoping to see deer. Sadly my deer magnet was resolutely off and I saw nothing; but I did note this venerable mobile phone mast.

The same tower has been in use since the late 80s, when it had an analogue base station fitted. Since then, it’s acquired a curious variety of antenna from normal FM to microwave, and it now serves the local 4G network. A remarkable survivor.

Next to it in the trees is an Airwave Tetra emergency communications network base station – a secure mobile network for police, fire and ambulance. I’m unclear why this spot is so popular with radio infrastructure, but there sure is a lot going on.