April 30th – a bright, warm sunny day, unfortunately tempered by a headwind forged on Satan’s back doorstep. After some routine mechanical attention, I set off to Lichfield to get a little shopping in. Here at Lower Stonnall the wind was pulling pollen from the oilseed rape and the scent was intense. Nature felt more alive today than it has done on any day this year.
April 29th – A return along the canal prompted me to photograph this fine piece of history. One of only two listed structures in Brownhills, it used to carry the South Staffordshire Railway over the Wyrley and Essington Canal. It’s now slowly decaying, with large holes in the bridge deck and the metalwork corroding steadily.
Sadly, nobody seems to want to take responsibility for this unloved bridge. It’s a shame, because I think it’s a fine example of victorian utilitarian architecture – simple blue brick, lightly decorated, totally functional.
April 29th – The former railway track that ran over the common at the end of Engine Lane is now long gone, but the sturdy trackbed it left behind forms a gorgeous, wildlife rich greenway. Sadly, it’s plagued by offroaders and scramblers, which the police do a fine job of apprehending.
Thankfully, today it was peaceful.
April 29th – A late afternoon escape found me spinning round Brownhills Common in a fruitless hunt for deer. I pottered on up to Engine Lane, and remembered the shaft located on a small mound by the old level crossing. Brick-lined, capped about six feet down with old railway sleepers, I think it must have been an air shaft for a nearby colliery. It’s not really wide enough to be a working shaft, and it’s termination at a considerable height above surrounding ground level suggests that the constructors wanted to avoid surface water draining down it.
A conundrum indeed.
April 28th – The Sandhills Pumping Station – built by the private concern of The South Staffordshire Waterworks Company in 1935 – still pumps fresh water to this day from two 400 foot deep boreholes drilled into the bunter pebble beds under Springhill. This station – and others like it dotted throughout our area – are handsome period pieces of civic architecture that speak of a better, more socially aware time, when the supply of basic services like clean water was seen as a noble activity and not a purely profit driven enterprise.
April 28th – Shenstone is a neat and compact village built on the slopes of and around a central hill. On top of this hill stands the imposing structure of Shenstone Church, St. Johns. At this time in the spring, only one church tower is visible, but there are actually two – another, smaller ruined tower from an earlier church still stands, being gently carried to dust by the weather, in a corner of the churchyard.
April 27th – clearly, today was drive like a fuckwit day, and I’d missed the announcement. Why is that on some days, you just feel really uneasy on the road and see a whole traunche of daft road use? Today was one of those.
I was on an early morning commute to work in Redditch – 7:50am on the Smallwood Island. Some duffer in a cream car just stops in the middle of the island. I have no idea why. I check he can’t suddenly floor it and hit me, then get the hell out of there.
A little further on, we see a community transport bus overtake me, only to cut me up turning left. It’s why I hate left hand cycle lanes; they encourage this behaviour. It wasn’t dangerous in this instance, but it’s as irritating as hell.
I was glad to get home this evening.
April 26th – On my return journey, I hopped off the canal at Goscote, and on to National Cycle Network route 5 through the Goscote Valley. There are lots of horses tethered on the grassland here. I noticed this wee chap alsleep in a field nearby.
He’s got cute in shitloads…
April 26th – Tuesday, at a loose end, so I cycled into Birmingham along the canal through Aldridge, Walsall and Great Barr. Stopping for tea and sustenance at the excellent Urban Coffee Co., I picked up a few bits and pieces around town and returned via the canal through the Broad Street area, Smethwick, Great Bridge and Walsall.
I love that journey, and some of the graffiti fascinates me – this odd example was near Perry Barr. There’s clearly a Banksy influence there somewhere.
April 25th – Chesterfield Lodge, a handsome, victorian house just round the corner from Chesterfield itself, in Raikes Lane – is an intriguing place. Now a secluded, tree-shrouded oasis of calm complete with large lake and tennis court, it was once a workhouse. I’ve not been able to find out much about it, but it just goes to show that many buildings have intriguing histories that we may be unaware of…
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