June 10th – Returning for a while up the challenging hill from the Tame crossing at Hopwas up the A51 to Packington, I stopped to admire the former Tamworth Waterworks pumping station. Sitting in red-brick splendour in the lee of Hopwas Hays Wood, the former pump house has been converted into attractive dwellings. I love it when old buildings are repurposed in such a sensitive manner.
July 10th – First good run out for a while, and some time since I’d cycled into the Tame floodplains north of Tamworth. Heading through Lichfield and Croxall, I cruised through the delightfull little village of Edingale, on the Stafordshire-Derbyshire border.
Endingale and it’s near neighbours – Harlaston, Lullington, Clifton Campville, Rosliston and Coton in the Elms typify the quiet, rural idyll of the English village. Sleepy main streets, secluded closes of old houses and lovely old churches and pubs. How I adore Staffordshire.
July 9th – after an hour or two of exploring the Black Cock and canal with a good mate, I came back to Brownhills along the canal. I reflected on the changes – how the wildlife had come out of the barren, vile pollution I knew here as a child. I watched dragonflies, admired oak, beech and sycamore saplings, smelled the heavenly scent of a carpet of honeysuckle. Crab apples ripened gently in the sun, a common tern hunted for incautious fish, grey wagtails expertly pecked at insects. I scrambled up on to the bank at Catshill Junction, where in my youth had been a ditch the size of a railway cutting filled with brackish, foul water. I remembered a solitary, 45 degree telegraph pole titling forlornly with it’s wires draped in the soup that would now be 20 metres below my feet.
As I looked from the top, a group of teenagers – who probably weren’t old enough to remember the last century – were lazing on the grass in the centre of Clayhanger Common, basking in a patch of sunlight, completely unaware that had I done this at their age I’d be in the middle of a festering refuse dump.
That’s why I love this place, for all it’s faults.
July 9th – researching the latest post on the Black Cock Bridge subsidence mystery, my path inevitably wandered toward lunch in Pelsall. Coming back through High Heath, I spotted this lovely, ripening field of wheat on the corner of Green Lane and Mob Lane. I reflected as I cycled down Mob Lane that since I was going downhill toward the old Bullings Heath, High Heath was suitable named.
Funny how you only notice these things peripherally – and who would have thought such a beautiful sight were possible in such a post-indurtial place?
July 8th – Cycling after really heavy rain is a life-affirming experience. It was time the bike got a wash, anyway. It was warm and humid, and the roads shone in the welcome sunlight. Greens and sky blues mingled in the reflections on the wet asphalt. I spent an hour or so bombing round the common and canals, just getting wet for the hell of it.
I’m just a big kid at heart.
July 8th – Working from home, I popped out at lunchtime to clear my head and get some supplies in. After a largely dry morning, the heavens opened on me for the second time in two days. I spent 20 minutes watching the storm from the deserted, derelict Ravens Court. Due to the apathy of Tesco, we’re likely to be stuck with this decaying edifice for another 18 months.
July 7th – It’s not just the car park at Waitrose that tends to be full of posh vehicles. This Pashley is one classy bike. Weighing a ton, they tend to glide gracefully rather than race. Fully enclosed drive system and relaxed, classically upright position appeal very much to the more mature lady, which would be an excellent description of the rider who locked it here. A fine steed indeed.
Edited a couple of hours after posting: Thanks to reader Ziksby’s sharp eye, I now know that this isn’t in fact a Pashley but a Raleigh Elegance, a knockoff Pashley copy. I should have spotted the lack of hub brakes. Still an elegant steed, and it does look heavy. Must put the glasses on next time… D’oh!
July 7th – After taking lunch in Pelsall (the principality border guards were napping) I popped into Lichfield to get some shopping. After getting soaked, the sun came out and made for a warm, summery afternoon. Passing the new junction on Pipe Hill, I noticed that Maple Hayes – now a school for children with dyslexia – was beautifully framed by the countryside around it. Maple Hayes was once the source of water for Lichfield, a very early pipe from which appeared in Cathedral Close and gave name to Conduit Street.
Heh, I’m no expert…
I’m unable to find out much about the chemical works. Speculation has included soap and lime products, but there’s no clear record.
I covered the Superalloys site here on my main blog some time ago:
http://brownhillsbob.com/2011/02/05/metal-gurus/
However, again, info is thin. If there’s anything you can add, I’d be happy to share it with readers.
Best wishes
Bob
July 6th – 10 minutes after the storm, I was on my way again. I don’t know what this forlorn, decaying building was, but it looks like a mill of some kind. Like many industrial canal side buildings in Walsall, it’s original purpose seems to be lost. I’d like to see the edifice fixed up and used for something nicer. Buildings are like dogs – they don’t care if their owner is good or bad, just that they care for them.
At least this one hasn’t been burned down yet, the fate of many good building in the town.
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