June 7th – Bad news, I’m afraid, but not totally unexpected. 

I dived out in the rain, got something to eat, and as I left, the sun came out. As the landscape gently steamed, I headed to Chasewater along the canal. I saw the swan family, who had numbered 8 cygnets with mum and dad, were now down to 7. The lost one could have been predated by a fox, stoat or mink, or could have died of illness or other cause. 

One of the reasons swans have large broods is due to the loss that’s somewhat inevitable. It’s very sad, but an unfortunate fact of nature. 

The remaining family seemed happy and well enough.

Don’t be too alarmed, but it is sobering and a reminder that nature is red in tooth and claw.

June 6th – I came through Walsall at 4:30pm up the Wednesbury Road, and was met with a large degree of congestion. I’d been seeing smoke from way back in Darlaston and wondered where it was emanating from. 
As I got closer, I discovered there had been some kind of house fire in the terraces there, and a couple of engines were in attendance. I have no idea what happened, and the incident doesn’t seem to have made the news.

Everything seemed generally calm and under control. I hope nobody was hurt and any damage wasn’t too bad.

June 5th – I returned via Walsall Wood, and checked out the site of the recently demolished St. John’s School, where building work on a new development has now started and is progressing well.

Further on, on the Brownhills Road opposite Walsall Wood School, the site of the long-derelict terraces finally seems to be seeing some action. The ‘sold’ sign has gone, and someone has been surveying judging from the datum marker on the opposite pavement. Utility marks on the other pavement suggest someone is planning on digging there. 

I heard reports earlier in the week that there were people milling around on site with drawings and surveyor’s kit.

Hopefully soon, this long vacant site will see some positive movement.

June 5th – A better day. There was warm sun and it was dry with a keen wind. I had to nip down to King’s Hill near Darlaston, and passed the derelict, abandoned Methodist Church. I haven’t been this way much of late, and since my last look at this architectural stunner, it has continued to decay gracefully. The building has been sold, and permission granted to convert it into apartments, but work has not commenced yet.

At least we’re not losing the building.

What fascinated me today was the way nature is reclaiming the place. When the Church still held it, although unused, volunteers used to tend the grounds. Now, it’s run wild, and a riot of begonias, roses and shrubs are taking over. 

It’s sad and beautiful simultaneously.

June 4th – A spin around Brownhills in the rain. I had errands to run, and I took a shortcut under the loading bay of the old Tesco at Ravens Court. There, no doubt pushed off the back of a truck under the cover of the fences and scrub, the carcasses of two scrap fridges.

The plague continues. The old appliances have been stripped of any metal with commercial value, and that will be kept by the tatters and weighed in for cash. The remnants are just flytipped anywhere they can offload them.

There is no defence of this; it’s what happens when recycling legislation is thoughtlessly altered, but the people doing this are scum. They don’t care for anything but the cash, and everyone who leaves old appliances out for the scrap men to collect is as guilty as those who dump the remains.

Stop leaving stuff for tatters and get your waste disposed of properly, because we all up up paying if you don’t.

June 3rd – I headed back to Brownhills along the canal, avoiding the rain-maddened traffic. Rounding Catshill Junction, I noticed that the sculpture here ‘Cycle of Life’ by Ron Thompson & Julie Edwards, is again being consumed by the scrub. This sculpture – of which I’m not a fan, to be honest – was unveiled in 2005 as part of the canal refurbishment; the position of the artwork is so far from the towpaths that the detail of it can barely be appreciated, and it’s always felt a bit of an afterthought to me. 

Now, there’s a new development of flats and houses being constructed on the other side of the fence and the sculpture is more isolated than ever. I do hope the plans for the newbuild have taken this into account. 

Ideally, it would be nice it the piece could be moved to somewhere nearby where the public can actually see the detail in the metalwork. A bit of a missed opportunity, really.

June 3rd – I’ve often thought that one of the most attractive things in a person – male or female – is if they don’t realise just how attractive they are. As I’ve got older, I’ve begun to realise this applies to places too. 

One of the reasons Walsall is such a gem architecturally – and it is, despite the abuse of it’s more conventional historic assets – is that it doesn’t realise just what a wealth of diverse riches it has. Stop in any suburb or part of town. Look around. Somewhere, close by, there will be something remarkable – not necessarily beautiful, but always engaging. And the town as a whole doesn’t really know.

I came into Walsall from Aldridge and took a route through Highgate. This house caught my eye while I waited for a reversing driver to complete their manoeuvre – just study it; take it in. Possibly not at it’s best, but from the chimney pots down to the front wall the detail is incredible. A fantastic roofline and gables, and the detail in the window arches.

There are treats like this all over this town, and Walsall just doesn’t know about them.