July 11th – Of all the little towns and villages of the Black Country, one of the places I’m fondest of is Great Bridge. Still bustling and busy, almost orphaned by the Black Country Spine Road, it survives almost in defiance of nearby out of town developments and larger town centres. 

It’s a place where it pays to look up. Lost above the shop fronts (which curiously often don’t alighn with the storey above), a remarkable stucco and ghost sign. 

Down a side street, one of the best Carribean meals you can find for miles around.

July 11th – I made an escape, of sorts.

The rush now over, I had loads of errands and calls to make in the Black Country, and I took the opportunity to make them on my bike – nothing better after a stressful period at work than a sunny afternoon in the industrial heartland I love. Wednesbury, Moxley, Great Bridge, Lanesfield, Netherton and lots of canals made for a great day – including an excellent portion of hake and dumpling from the excellent Carribean takeaway in Great Bridge.

`Talking of bridges, between Moxley and Toll End, I spotted this one; the eagle eyed will note that this decaying, derelict railway crossing – The Hempole Bridge – is almost identical in construction to the railway bridge over the canal near the Pelsall Road in Brownhills, which is a listed structure, due to it’s rarity. Note the same blue Freakley Brothers bricks; the pattern in the cast plates, the pre-girder hot-rivet and cast truss metalwork. 

Sad to see it lost.

madoldbaggage:

This one is for Bob. Spotted today just before Brownhills town centre, Mom swan and just five cygnets. I didn’t see any other swans at all until back by Aldridge marina and that was a solitary adult so it looks as though two of the cygnets have been lost. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news Bob

Fear not! This family are, I think, from Pelsall. Yesterday evening I spotted the Catshill brood up by Ogley Junction, and 7 were present in a neat line with mum and dad, presumably heading somewhere to roost.
Cheers for keeping an eye out. The youngsters are now nearly the size of their parents. I’ve been wondering when and how they learn to fly – that must be a thing to witness…

July 10th – Mission complete. It’s been a hard few days working on a rush job, and I finally handed it on now, and the crisis has passed. I returned home via Stonnall in the late evening light, almost too tired to cycle up Shire Oak Hill.

Cresting this hill – always, always hard work from any direction – is a personal nemesis and when tired, it’s punishing. But once at the top, it’s pretty much a freewheel downhill to food, rest, a good cup of tea and the welcome of family.

It’s over, for now. A great relief.

July 10th – I’m really concerned about an early autumn, or maybe I’m just being paranoid because I’m missing so much sunny weather being trapped at work. These rowan berries – great for wine and jam – are ripening really well and seem very early to me. 

I spotted them on the way to work at Clayhanger. It’s nice to see, and the colour – bright, vivid orange – will be excellent. But it feels like the summer is slipping away…

July 9th – I’ve worked 40 out of the last 64 hours. It isn’t leaving a lot of time for anything much, but I’m still cycling; it’s my interregnum between home and work, and enables me to straighten things out and relax a bit.

This was my journey home tonight from New Street Station, in snatched photos. 

Stations at night again, I can’t help myself. It’s that Late Night Feelings thing coming to the surface again…

July 8th – Working late. Exhausted, with very sore eyes, I hit Shenstone station just as darkness was falling. Pleased to note this camera takes very decent handheld shots in low light. This rural station is a long-time muse of mine, and I find the station building and environment fascinating, particularly at night.

In high summer like this, working late and catching the dark is a rare treat, and despite my bleariness, I did try and savour the light…

July 7th – Working late, I returned at sundown and winched my way up Shire Oak Hill from Sandhills. I noticed that lots of trees along here are laden with developing fruits – beach nuts, acorns, pine cones and these, unusually abundant sycamore seeds, or ‘helicopters’ as we used to call them as kids.

They seem to be already ripening – but this is only just the beginning of July. 

Am I imagining it, or are we heading for an early autumn?

July 7th – New Street, New… wet feet. 8am on a Monday morning, and water trickles through the ceiling and onto the floor of the new concourse. For a supposedly refurbished building, there aren’t half a lot of faults with the new New Street Station. The seems to be a permanent array of leaks, this one at the top of the escalator to Platform 7. Several others were in evidence.

What’s most worrying is that it hasn’t rained for a couple of days…

I wouldn’t pay ‘em in tap washers.