Author: BrownhillsBob

I told the truth - but told it bent. Wandering around bemused and ranty since 2007.

#365daysofbiking Grimness:

November 29th – Although we’re approaching the shortest day – when the advance of night is defeated and light gradually seeps back into my life – this next three weeks are the hardest commutes of the year. 

This evening I noted from the bike computer that sunset is now before 4pm for the first time this winter, and it will creep almost ten minutes earlier as the weeks wear on.

The commutes will be heavy with seasonal traffic, there will be grim weather and the trains when used will be a mess.

It’s the same every year and I hate it.

#365daysofbiking Into the madness:

November 28th – Telford, that evening, viewed from the Euston Way.

Telford looks best at night. The station is crowded due to a cancelled train. The train I’m expecting is late. This is not going to be fun.

The lights, the steel and glass, the pretentions to being internationalist, commercial, vital and a centre for financial business work best at night.

In reality, Telford is an industrial and commercial sprawl, but it ain’t all that.

But it could have been a contender.

Oh well, into the madness…

#365daysofbiking Stationary traveller:

November 28th – Birmingham New Street, not long after dawn on a grey, wet, miserable winter morning.

Despite it’s faults, despite it’s awful turd-polishing in the Grand Central fiasco, despite it’s continual propensity to be host to disappointment and frustration, this subterranean station is in my heart and soul, and feels like home.

The lights, the people, even, no – especially the steel horse.

I love this city. I love this place. With all my heart. But often, it feels unrequited.

#365daysofbiking Wet stone:

November 27th – Returning home just as the rain stopped, the streets and buildings of Walsall glistened beautifully in the soft evening light.

Leicester Street always makes for a fine night photo but when wet, even better.

This area is not just the beurocratic heart of Walsall with it’s Town Hall, Council House and Civic Centre, but also the centre of the night-time economy too, with large pubs that seemed quiet tonight. 

And, despite the total absences of any Christmas decorations, it felt rather, dare I say it – Christmassy.

#365daysofbiking Portal:

November 27th – Coming down from Priorslee in Telford along the cycleway to the station past nightfall.

The lighting here is still shrouded by the last remnants of the summer’s greenery and was changed at some point in the year for new LED fittings.

The combination of the much more specifically directional light and the tree overhang was some remarkable tonight that I had to stop and take a picture. 

This image hasn’t been doctored in anyway. 

#365daysofbiking Electric night:

November 26th – A quick shot passing through New Street station in the evening.

The skyline from here, considering how low you are from street level, is remarkable, and I love the way the machinery, lights, signals and surfaces mix.

A real late night feelings shot.

#365daysofbiking You’ve come a long way baby:

November 25th – A late, short, frantic test ride saw me crossing Clayhanger common by the Spot Path and just as I neared the Pier Street Bridge this view pulled me up short.

Just 18 months ago, I’d have been looking at an empty marketplace, forlorn, money, desolate.

Now look at it.

A change for the better that did much to cheer me up.

#365daysofbiking The daily grind:

25th November – A mechanical job that should have been easy was far from it. Replacing brake discs resulted in a struggle with seized fasteners, the failure of a brake calliper and the discovery that the parts I thought I had in the spares box brand new for this eventually were in fact the wrong ones.

The front disc was so badly worn it was starting to warp.

For a job I thought would take 15 minutes and leave me bags of time to get out turned into hours and I was lucky to get time for tea…

Perhaps I shouldn’t leave it so long next time.

#365daysofbiking Fade to grey:

November 24th – A grey , dark day with few redeeming features. A little maintenance on the bikes failed in the face of a more serious issue, and I headed out before nightfall for a breather. A full circuit of Chasewater and Chasetown offered little in the way of photo opportunities, and the images, apart from one, reflected the colour of the day.

The night, some what perversely however, was a bit more dramatic, as I captured at Anchor Bridge.