April 29th – Birmingham New Street – new start? Well, it’s bright, and smells of resin, I suppose. It also smells heavily of engineering compromise, forced retail opportunity and bodge.

My first experience of the much vaunted new station access way was this morning, and after all the hype, I wasn’t sure what to expect. It’s very much unfinished, and some aspects of the project show quite bad judgement.

This is no longer a station, but is a shopping centre with railway platforms. Everything is quite a bit longer to get to than before, and the access points funnel crowds carefully past the new shop units. The platforms themselves remain as narrow and cramped as ever, but with new escalators and lifts that go direct between concourse and platform, instead of via the subway. Sadly, they’re tiny, unable to accommodate a bike and pushchair at the same time, or my bike lengthways. This is dreadful.

The new concourse is nice, the light is pleasant and it’s quite airy. I’m not keen on the stone flooring, but each to his own. The cafe looks nice, and the information up there was good, unlike the platforms where a mixture of old, incorrect signage and new stuff just confused people.

The ticket barriers are much better, and access with a bike is OK even when crowded. However, the exit in Stephenson Place is bizarre, and doubles the length of the journey to Moor Street, meaning I’ll no longer make tight connections. 

My advice to anyone planning to park a bike in racks there and travel is don’t do it. There are woefully few racks, stuck in a dark corner of the Moor Street access subway, a while away from the station. Although covered by CCTV, the Sheffield stands are only bolted down. An industrious pair of scallies with a spanner and some bottle could clear those stands of bikes in minutes. This is unforgivable.

On the whole it’s nicer, but functionally more awkward in many ways. It’s much more walking to get in and out, and I wouldn’t fancy it with limited mobility. The architecture is nice, and they’ve worked hard to make a space with no natural light more human-freindly. But the pokey lifts, poor access to Moor Street and focus of retail jarr with me a little too much.

It’ll be interesting to see how things develop.

April 28th – I’ve not really studied this old, derelict mill on the canal at Rugeley before, but it’s quite fascinating, actually. Built in 1863, it’s older than I expected, and I’m interested in its history. Most intriguing are the metal canopies installed awkwardly below the upper row of windows. Wonder what their purpose was?

April 28th – The weather seems to be in regression again. Horrid winds and overcast skies accompanied me as I cycled out via Chasewater to Cannock Chase. My ribs were still painful, but there’s no sense in avoiding it; have to keep moving to get better. Despite the weather, nature is getting on with things. I noticed the inseparable pair of Grebes near the south shore of Chasewater, and a first for the year, a huge group of very, very young ducklings on the canal at Rugeley (for some reason, all my pictures of them were awful, but there were at least 14 in the group).

Let’s hope the sun shines for them soon.

April 27th – Still sore, I slid out in the afternoon and checked out the canal to Wharf Lane. Just at the old quarry access road there, I noticed a few white hyacinths growing there. They smelled divine, and were gorgeous in the sunshine.

You don’t see many of those in the wild. I’d guess they’re the result of dumping garden waste.

Beautiful, whatever the origin…

April 26th – Have you recently employed a cheap plumber to refit a bathroom? Perhaps you’ve done the job yourself, and paid someone a few quid to remove the rubbish?

If you’re wondering what became of your bog and fittings, they are currently adorning a lay-by on Northfields Way in Clayhanger. They aren’t doing much for the area, to be honest.

Flytippers are scumbags. People who turn a blind eye for a cheap jack job are as bad.

April 26th – Cycling isn’t great for me at the moment. I had a bit of a domestic accident and have sustained bruised ribs, which is making cycling a bit uncomfortable – but I’m plodding on, just slower and more gingerly than usual. 

Fortunately, I didn’t have far to go; just an errand to a few places in Brownhills. The weather was very, very changeable, and I just caught Brownhills as it was wearing it’s spring sunshine jacket. The canal side looked great, and the daffy on the verge at Silver Street were a joy. Even the canada geese looked fat and happy.

April 25th – Scooting home along the canal, I stopped to look at a well-worn, narrow path running down from Clayhanger Bridge, down on to the driveway of the big house. I think it’s a deer run.

A few times I’ve seen deer on Clayhanger Common around the overflow, whereupon they’ve escaped either under the bridge, or over the road and run down the embankment here. Looking at the marshy land behind the house and new pool, the vegetation there looks closely cropped. I think some of the deer are loafing there, safe from humans.