BrownhillsBob

#365daysofbiking Goosed

March 16th – A genuinely foul day, at least weather-wise. There were very strong, blustery winds and near constant rain, so I was limited to a short journey into Brownhills to get some shopping.

It was wet, cold and muddy, and really not a great day to be out.

In fact, the only souls I actually saw outside at all were the Canada geese. Even the mallards seemed to be in hiding.

Here’s hoping this grim spell passes soon.

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#365daysofbiking Often overlooked

March 15th – One of the nicer, more beautiful and sadly neglected flowers of the spring is the pussy willow. I spotted this one as dusk fell on the Chester Road near Shire Oak.

These complex, pretty catkins start as grey, furry buds and change as they bloom fully to a bright yellow green bay of stamen filaments which are actually fascinating when you look close up.

Sadly, not many folk ever seem to notice…

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#365daysofbiking It must be spring!

March 15th – Heading home from the station after a long afternoon legal meeting in Birmingham, in order to mitigate a rather evil wind, I took to the back lanes.

On my way, I passed this wonderful sight, which catches me by surprise every spring.

They must have been planted by some wonderful individual as they go in colour bands.

A beautiful thing.

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#365daysofbiking Courtesy, the lack thereof

March 14th – At the traffic lights on the junction of Hatherton Street and the New Ring Road, Walsall, lunchtime. Waiting at a red to turn right.

Why is it so often the most uncourteous drivers are those charged with teaching newcomers to the road the tenets of good driving – respect, obeying the law and consideration for others?

I despair sometimes. Not indicating, either.

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#365daysofbiking Windswept

March 13th – I’m trying to not work such long hours, and leave work a little earlier.

This meant a commute home in daylight, and so I took the canal from the Black Cock Bridge to Anchor Bridge, which was remarkably wet and muddy.

Catching the sunset over Catshill Junction though made the journey home battling with hostile crosswinds worthwhile.

Hope the wind abates soon.

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#365daysofbiking Blue wonder

March 13th – A very windy, unpleasant day, but I had to pop to Tipton.

On the way, in Wednesbury’s Brunswick Park, I spotted this patch of grape hyacinths, tiny blue flowers that are one of my favourites in spring. Their composition – of multiple, tiny bell-like flowers is fascinating and one of the joys of the season.

I note also now that the crocuses are finished, a real sign of they year’s progression. Christmas now seems an age ago…

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#365daysofbiking Lip service

March 12th – I noticed a couple of weeks ago there seemed to be new bike parking at WalsalL Station, but only got around to investigating it this evening.

It’s in a curious, newly built compound off platform one, and isn’t like the secure hubs at other stations, which are lockable and really deter the casual thief. This is a decent enough stacking stand, with a tethered tool station nearby which is, I guess, a nice touch.

It clearly isn’t secure though, despite the claims it’s monitored by CCTV. A new looking bike lies in one station, stripped and trashed.

I’d rather leave my bike locked on Park Street – and the disclaimers are very off-putting too.

This is nothing more than lip service by West Midlands Trains, a company I’m rapidly coming to dislike.

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#365daysofbiking Feeling flush

March 11th – I had time to spare so hopped onto the restored canal at Droitwich for a mooch. Just under the railway bridges in the last entry, I noticed this relic of the Ordnance Survey.

Flush Bracket 480 is one of a range of such brackets intended as mapmaker’s datums, the slots in which were for mounting surveying equipment at a known datum – in this case 28.7490m above sea level (the Newlyn Datum).

Now redundant as cartographer’s aids, these are more a historical curiosity than anything else, but I still get a buzz from spotting them in the wild.

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#365daysofbiking Semaphore

March 11th – A trip to Droitwich made a pleasant change.It’s not often I come out here these days – the younger folk in the team generally do it those jobs now, but sometimes I like to pay a call for the adventure of it.

Droitwich Station is interesting – the line here hints at a much busier past, with derelict sidings and a large signal box, but today the line is pretty sleepy and rural.

I’m interested to see that here, old mechanical semaphore signals are still in use, which always seem terrifically heath Robinson to me. They are a masterpiece of rods, wires, rollers and mechanical interlocking and it’s a wonder how they keep working so long.

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#365daysofbiking On the up

March 10th – Despite the generally rather dry winter, Chasewater continues to fill after the rain of the last few weeks, and the slow rise is evident at the Nine-Foot pool.

Elsewhere on the lake, there were no watersports and next to nobody around, and the fierce, indefatigable wind kept all by the hardy away. But for all that the light was beautiful and the air at least made me feel a bit better.

I look forward to calmer, warmer weather.

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