March 27th – Sunset over the Tame Valley canal, looking from Rushall Junction at Ray Hall, out to Wednesbury, with the twin spires of Wednesbury clear on the skyline.
People say that pylon ruins this view. On the contrary, I think it makes it. What built the Black Country – canals, power and church. All in one shot.
A great ride and beautiful, but chilly evening.
March 27th – This seems unusual to me – well developed Canada goose goslings near Heathtown. Bear in month this is in March. Looking at them they must be a couple of months old. Has anyone seen this before?
Maybe it’s a sign of a mild winter…
March 27th – Another afternoon escape, and I hit the canal again, up to Wolverhampton for a meeting, down to Coseley and round the old line through Tipton, Dudley Port and Oldbury, back up to Toll End, then up the Tame Valley to Rushall Junction, and back home. A pleasant 45 miles, in decent conditions, but the towpaths are still very muddy and heavy going.
I nipped to the shops in Wednesfield for a snack, and the primroses around the church there are a stunning sight – it really is quite a lovely High Street they have there.
March 26th – Love locks seem to be becoming a thing in the UK now, which is an interesting cultural phenomena. If you’re not aware of the principle, lovers take a padlock and close it over a fixed structure, like a bridge, railings or other urban feature. The lock is often marked with a message of love.
I note the aluminium bridge over the canal at Gas Street Basin has become a focus for this craze in Brum, and I’ve noticed other locks in other places.
I’m not bothered by it, and think it’s quite sweet, if a bit contrived now. It’s not destructive, and it’s interesting to see the variety of names and approaches.
A fascinating urban cultural affectation, and it’ll be interesting to see if it’s a passing fad or a more lasting feature of city life.
March 26th – It was a tough ride; the wind had been forged on Satan’s back step, and blew relentlessly from the southwest. My route had it behind or across me mostly, but the stretch from Gas Street Basin to Smethwick was ceaseless.
But all the while, the sun shone, and otherwise, it wasn’t bad. Birmingham and the Black Country showed itself well, in all it’s diversity.
I noted the cormorants at Sandwell Valley just for Phil. Soon, Phil, soon. I, for one, welcome our new midnight black, long billed, fish-breath overlords…
March 26th – I escaped work early, and despite a fearsome wind, headed down to Kings Norton on the train and cycled back up the canal, and through the Sandwell Valley.
At Kings Norton station, this poster and one of the worst photo editing failures I’ve seen in ages.
Just what is going on with the spokes in that wheel, and are images of bicycle wheels so sparse that you have to badly photoshop your own?
March 25th – As it happened, I never got to a place where the sunset was that good today, which was probably just as well as I was reduced to the phone camera with the main one flat. As I rode down the canal to central Brownhills, I saw a large dog fox run up the bank onto Clayhanger Common. Grabbing the phone, I crested the bank looking for a fox picture to go with yesterday’s heron.
Sadly, he disappeared into the thicket.
The sky wasn’t too bad though, so I took a quick picture, and headed home.
March 25th – Cruising down the canal, a great sunset seemed to be building up, and near Bridgman Street in Walsall, I stopped to capture the view towards Birchills. I was interested to note the colour balance change between the tow images, and that soon after taking them I discovered what happens if you forget to charge the camera properly the night before hand: it goes flat.
Ah well, never mind. That’s a great view, and you’d never think it was right in the heart of Walsall. Roll on spring and let’s have some leaves on the trees, then it’ll be even better!
March 24th – Compression of the neck… herons are more and more common now. Barely a towpath ride goes by without seeing one, and on longer rides like last week, I’ll see five or six, which must be a symbol of how clean the waters are now and how the fish population must by bountiful, too.
This proud bird was on the towpath in Pleck, just by the wall of Rollingmill Street Cemetery, pretty much the industrial heart of Walsall. Wary of me but not skittish, by dismounting the bike and taking things gently I got close enough for some decent pictures, I think.
I adore herons.
March 24th – From Fallings Heath, the twin sisters of Wednesbury: St. Bart’s and St. Mary’s looking splendid in the evening sun.
I know I keep banging on about it, but the TZ70 is light years ahead of the old camera. Very pleased with this shot.
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