November 19th – The Queen herself today travelled to Birmingham (by train, which won’t have been delayed and will have had a working toilet) to open a station that hadn’t closed and has merely been subject to having a retail opportunity badly assembled on top, and is still unfinished.

Brenda won’t have had to walk up a static escalator, or pull a pushchair up the stairs. She won’t have seen the dingy, grim end of platforms where the 1980s access bridge hasn’t even been granted a clean down.

Someone once said that Royalty must think everywhere smells of fresh paint. In Birmingham tonight, on a late journey from home, the overpowering smell was more reminiscent of the farmyard.

Oh, and Phil – we do speak English. Chances are Shakespeare would sound more like our tongue than the fabricated received English of the Windsors (and spousal attachments).

November 18th – A tough journey to work in a gusty headwind the morning after severe gales blew through. My earlier than usual return home, however was again assisted, so much so that I forgot I had to call in to pick something up in Aldridge. As I trundled up a very wet canal towpath on my errand, it was a very atmospheric sunset. That horse weathervane at Bullings Heath fascinates me. 

Also interesting – and now becoming visible due to the leaf-fall – are the industrial yards and excavations near the canal at Stubbers Green, including the brickworks. I still find the scent of firing bricks peculiar. 

Getting used to a new camera, too. Quite impressed with this one. Let’s hope the weather settles for a bit now.

November 17th – Passing through Walsall Wood, the wind was ferocious on the way home – but thankfully, it was behind me. Clocking up a near record commute time of 35 minutes and hardly having to pedal from Walsall, the few hardy souls I saw cycling in the other direction had my utmost sympathy. 

The view in both directions from Walsall Wood Bridge is great at night and I’ll always adore it – but I had to hold the camera really carefully tonight in case the wind snatched it away.

November 17th – This new Hope R2i light I’m testing is rather good. This is on a middle setting on the canal in total darkness near Aldridge (obviously, no camera flash was used). Battery life seems good, and the optics give a decent beam. I’d say this is better than the R4 I was using last season, but actually has two less led elements.

A real discovery. It’s no lightweight, but it’s a very good light.

November 16th – A particularly hard ride home, and I’ve no idea why – I was just tired, I guess. The Black Cock Bridge was a tough too – and taking a breather at the top, I realised that this was the first time this year I’d commuted in both directions in darkness.

Still, it’s little more than a month until the darkness stops closing in and begins to retreat for another year.

Just where has this year gone?

November 15th – I span up the High Street and back down a canal just to stretch my legs and get some air. Not too bad for handheld shots, this one really. Considering it was relatively early, I couldn’t get over how quiet the town was. I didn’t see a single soul and very few cars.

November 15th –  A long day and a late spin around Brownhills. The town was quiet, and there was no sign of the Christmas I’d seen in Birmingham the previous Friday. It was windy, but not too bad. Stood on a quiet traffic island, Morris Miner was still stood silent, metallic sentry.

Sometimes the most changeless things are best.

November 14th – I’m playing around with a borrowed camera, which I think I like but I’m not sure yet. It certainly works well in low light, as these shots of the canal show.

I’m rapidly coming to the conclusion that the best camera would be a compact with Nikon optics, Panasonic build quality and features, and a Sony user interface.