December 5th – A day of high winds and blustery squalls, I left it until late afternoon to get some shopping in. Choosing Aldridge mainly so the wind would blow me home, I rode up the canal, but the towpath were so muddy form recent rains that riding them was a chore; the cloying mud stuck to my tyres and jammed in my mudguards. A real battle.

These hardy canoeists made up for it though. A beautiful scene. 

December 4th – Similarly, when I passed the canal junction at Walsall further on my way to work, I hopped off the ring road and on to the pavement to take this one from the Smiths Flourmill Bridge.

It’s early in the morning, the sun is low, and the two constants of Walsall – the waterway and that huge Victorian chimney stand as markers to the place I love.

A great morning ride.

December 3rd – So enjoying the tailwind, I let it blow me to Walsall Wood, where I noted they have an excellent Christmas tree again this year, which I think is funded by local Tory councillors.

I’m by no means a Conservative, but respect to them for this act of generosity.

When I see the tree at Walsall Wood, I know Christmas is just around the corner.  It’s one of the milestones of the season for me. A lovely thing indeed.

December 3rd – I went to work on a grey, threatening, but mostly dry morning, against a steady, but not harsh headwind. There was heavy rain and a gale forecast – so serious, a public Christmas light turn-on event and market had been cancelled in Walsall.

I missed the worst of the rain, and it merely spotted a bit as the wind blew me home. I averaged 19MPH – only the traffic lights stopped me. A remarkable journey in what is also unusually warm weather.

This year has been a bit strange meteorologically.

December 2nd – I came through Walsall early evening, having resolved to pay more attention to the place after yesterday taking pictures in the Civic Quarter. Tonight, I noted how nice the Christmas lights were this year, and how for once, we had a decent Christmas tree. 

Although we seem to be hurtling towards Christmas at a rate of knots at the moment, I haven’t felt very festive so far – until tonight.

Of course, Christmas means the winter solstice and the end of the darkening days, and the start of another season’s promise.

I’ll have some of that.

December 1st – Coming through Walsall early evening was oddly festive. Although I loathe the striped paving and out of place lighting columns, I love the ‘Civic Quarter’ at night.

Such a combination of architecture, surface, artificial light and mature urbanness. A very photogenic, under appreciated corner of Walsall.

November 30th – Telford, early in the rain. Not quite fully light. The skeletal, brutalist 80s footbridge and covered walkway at the station is like some strange portal. Ghosts of people, further away than you think; exaggerated perspective and peculiarly yellow lighting.

An otherworldly, slightly unsettling place.

November 30th – New Street again, but early morning feelings rather than late night ones. Seven in the morning, steady rain, not yet clear of the night before.

Something about the light, machinery, wet urban surfaces, overhead wires and signals spoke quietly of urban strength, reassurance, safety, control. Alpha Tower in the distance stood as a fixing to location.

My feelings towards this place are ambivalent these days. But this morning, on the darkest and most miserable of days, something beautiful happened and it took my breath away.

It’s what Birmingham does, and I suspect has always done.