Author: BrownhillsBob

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

#365daysofbiking Lifted:

November 8th – Heading to work on a damp, drizzly morning, autumn was still doing it’s best to lift me out of my doldrums. Still down, feeling the pressure at work and not over the end of summer, my commute was hard and tiring.

However, Green Lane looked gorgeous and improved my mood no end.

#365daysofbiking Bitter gourds:

November 7th – One of the odder recurring themes of this blog over the years has been the errant, discarded pumpkin. Whether is’s apparently forgotten in inner city Acocks Green,  cruelly cast aside on a country lane or just randomly left on a canal bank, I see more of these forlorn gourds abandoned than any other.

These otherwise untouched, whole specimens – that would have made a decent meal for several people (and it looks like a fox already had tried and got bored with one) were inexplicably lying around in Victoria Park, Darlaston.

#365daysofbiking Here I stand:

November 6th – One thing I forgot in the years I hadn’t been coming to Redditch is a small rule that also applies to fellow new town Telford – never risk an unknown shortcut when in a hurry.

I was dashing for the train. I took what I thought would be a route around by the bus station and under the subway to the station. Instead, I lost all sense of direction totally and ended up on a ringway flyover overlooking it, a good 10 metres above where I needed to be with no easy way back other than to retrace my steps.

Urban design on such an inhuman scale does not make for intuitive routes.

Redditch should come with a decent cheat sheet for those on foot and cycling….

#365daysofbiking Darker now:

November 6th – Today was another day distant, so I felt proportionately better. Still in Redditch, the morning was dull but I headed down through Arrow Valley Park and was rewarded with the most beautiful autumn display; the colours were gorgeous and I was reminded that even when we’re desperately sad, nature is still doing stuff just to try and grab out attention and make us happy.

#365daysofbiking Homeward bound:

November 5th – I’d been in Redditch, a place I used to work lots but in recent years, hardly had been to at all.it’s fair to say that following the events of the weekend, my heart wasn’t in life at all.

I didn’t get the camera out all day, until I returned to Shenstone – and there it was shining in the dark like a beacon.

This station is part of my soul and has been for 40 years. Coming back here after a hard day is reassuring, soulful, welcoming. 

Like Paul Simon, I sat on the railway station and reflected for a while. Then I got on my bike and rode, homeward bound.

#365daysofbiking Where the night is lighter:

November 3rd -Returning to Brownhills, where the night is lighter, a classic shot from Anchor Bridge of the canal and Lindon Road, a night-time vista I’ll always enjoy.

The camera acquainted itself well, and I don’t find the result to be at all bad.

I know I keep saying this, but it’s true: Brownhills can be a remarkably beautiful place. Even at night.

#365daysofbiking Sensations in the dark:

November 3rd – The Saturday closest to November the 5th is usually busier than Bonfire Night itself, and this year was no exception. Coming back from shopping in Lichfield, I was getting used once more to rural cycling darkness, and found Aldershawe Lodge’s lights charming in the darkness.

Further towards Wall though, a huge bonfire in a field, fireworks and the sound of fun, one of several on this windy, cold night ride home.

#365daysofbiking The dark side:

November 2nd – Returning that evening, drained after a heavy, stressful week, I hit the canal.

Riding the canal towpaths after dark requires a couple of things – nerves of steel and a good front light. 

The nerves are necessary to spot the familiar hazards of the towpath in unfamiliar lighting conditions – ducks, geese, foxes, cats etc, as well as deep potholes, bumps, wooden trail edge boards and paver edges. It’s also challenging to predict sudden curves in the path you navigate automatically in daylight.

I can also be a bit… lonely.

But I love the mental challenge and peace of it.

#365daysofbiking Colonial life:

November 2nd – the fungi colonies are still doing well. The earthstars of the Darlaston Trading Estate are still showing beautifully like some petrified, child’s drawing flower, and these little buttons on a stump were fascinating. I’m not sure what they are, and welcome suggestions: Maybe slimy beech caps or roundheads?

Never tire of studying fungus.