January 30th – A long day. Out early, the commute was odd. I wrapped up for very cold, a thin layer of snow still on the ground here. But as I got to Rushall, the air felt warmer and there was less and less snow. In Walsall, hardly any sign at all. I was sweating. I guess I rode over a weather front. It’s not every day you do that.

On the way back that evening, it was chilly in Walsall and warmer as I got closer to home. The snow had melted during the day, and the sky was clear. With a little moonlight and long exposure, Clayhanger Bridge looked fine in the night.

Strange weather, lately.

January 29th – I rode home in a heavy, but short snow shower, which left a light dusting of snow. Heading towards Clayhanger, I stopped on the bridge. I love the interaction between the streetlight and snow, and how the vehicle tracks define the landscape.

Wonderful. I hope we have more snow – I love it. Such an adventure!

January 29th – I love goats, and it seems we have a local herd now. In the field by Jockey Meadows in which I saw Mr. Fox in last week, I’ve been noticing the goats for a couple of weeks, but they’ve never been close enough for a good photo. Today, they were trying to get through the hedge at Green Lane. It seems there are seven adults and four or five kids, with a rather impressive ram. 

I have no idea who owns them, and I think they go wandering of their own accord sometimes; but on a grey, cold January morning seeing those little kids frolicking, jumping and having high jinks was a joy to the soul.

January 28th – And this is the thing with Darlaston – it takes your breath away. It was around 5:20pm, not yet properly dark, and the view through Victoria Park over the mystic bridge was just superb.

I’m a Brownhills lad, through and through – but I do love this place too. It has heart, and soul, and surprising corners when you get to know it. Just like Brownhills.

These are my places, and here my heart will always lie.

Thankfully, the camera got its act together for this one…

January 28th – Bit of a rough photograph, for some reason, and I will return to this in future, as until recently, I didn’t realise how beautifully lit Darlaston War Memorial was at night. It really is gorgeous.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I know of few better places of remembrance than this one. Sombre, respectful, quiet and restrained, it is a place of dignity, and reflection and is a credit to Darlaston.

I must find out what happens to the camera when it does this…

January 27th – Heading back to Brownhills, dusk now getting later and later. Tis pleases me, and the opening out is now well underway. Another cold month or two, and then, hopefully, spring. Right now, it’s still a battle, but it’s one I’m winning; this winter hasn’t seemed as dark as others in recent years and I’ve felt a lot better about it.

I am looking forward to leaves, colour and warmth again, though.

All in good time.

January 27th – It’s been over a year since I reported the brickwork n the local canals collapsing into the water – both on the bend between Pier Street and Catshill junction, and on the stretch between Catshill and Clayhanger Bridge.

The Canal & River Trust came out once, and erected safety tape, which the guys cutting the grass removed.

Since then, loads of other spots have deteriorated.

This cavity is large enough to trap a bicycle wheel or child’s foot. If you rode or stepped into it, you’d fall into the canal. 

Watch out folks – the C&RT don’t give a toss so you’d better be on your guard.

January 26th – In the centre of Darlaston, at the other end of the day, one of the last of a breed. Outside Darlaston’s wonderfully imperious Post Office, a classic K6 telephone box, still with the light and a phone.

I’ve never noticed this one before, and the light within them always gives me a warm feeling inside. Years ago, riding through the countryside at night, the sight of that red frame and white light would be reassuring; contact, signs of life and connection in the darkness. I even waited in them for showers and storms to pass.

These days, this classic design is rare, and even rarer with a functioning phone and light.

I’ve just realised this is the second OMD reference on this journal in little over a week…

January 26th – Passing through Kings Hill in Darlaston whilst nipping into Wednesbury, I noted that the former Servis factory site – nothing but a pile of rubble for a few years now – was subject of a planning application for 250 homes. 

Which is good, really, because we need them. But…

Servis was a big employer in Darlaston for many years, and was originally part of Wilkins & Mitchell, who made power presses and other machines. Servis stuff wasn’t great quality, and they didn’t modernise, despite pioneering electronically controlled washing machines. In the 1990s the company ran into trouble, and was bought by Italian white-goods giant Merloni, themselves crashing in 2008. Since then, the brand has re-emerged under a Turkish badge-engineering parent company.

The factory was razed, and lay pulverised as a testament to the economic rough seas Darlaston was enduring; as the factory was carried to dust, Councillors and regeneration wonks pronounced this site would very soon see a retail and leisure renaissance. 

There was soon to be an election, and one must suspect this was the usual electorate-buttering bullshit; the rebirth never came, and like the Exidor factory up the road, it’ll now become homes. 

Kings Hill – once the beating industrial heart between Darlaston and Wednesbury – is slowly becoming reclaimed by housing.

January 25th – This had turned into Lloyd Cole’s lost weekend. Little was going right and I’d spent hours trying to battle with technology, and achieved little. 

I escaped in the evening, into a desolate, somnambulant Brownhills, and cruised around the town centre happily lost in my search for a picture.

Sometimes, it’s good just to put the stuff down, get on the bike, start pedalling and stop thinking.