Tag: 365daysofbiking

December 23rd – Tired, horrid day, washed out. The end of a working day. Heavy with a headache, buffeted by the wind, and finding the roads hostile despite the lighter traffic, I headed home from work for the last time in 2014.

I whipped the camera out as I waited on the lights at the Arboretum Junction, and as I usually do, watched the traffic move past in a blur.

Only the clocktower and the traffic light remain constant. 

I was glad to get home. Glad to finish the year. And so, a holiday, family time and fun, and then a new year.

That’ll do; that’ll do.

December 22nd – With a light heart and the wind behind me, I returned via Walsall in mild drizzle. It was warm, and I had to stop to take off some layers – the weather has been crazy this last few days – windy, but blowing hot and cold.

We’ve just passed the winter solstice and this makes me happy. I’m in the darkness here and now, but from here, the days lengthen in that all too familiar sinusoidal acceleration pattern, and soon, we’ll have light and leaves again. Fact is, I’ve survived the closing in again, and this year, it barely affected me at all. Considering I was dreading it, that’s some relief.

Cresting the Black Cock Bridge, this conifer decorated beautifully with hundreds of lights demands attention. It’s so bright, so sparkly, yet not glaring like a lot of such things. It’s really, really beautiful. And it’s huge.

Such a gorgeous beacon of light in the darkness.

December 22nd – A day at work in Darlaston, then nipping into Brum on an errand. New Street Station is mad at this time of year, and the lousy revamp is crippling passenger flows. Stood at the end of the platform for blessed space waiting for the train to be made available, I took a couple of shots. I love the differing lights here, the colours, surfaces, angles and textures.

I guess most folk would dismiss it as ugly, but I think it’s curiously beautiful.

December 21st – I was spinning up to Walsall Wood to make a quick delivery, and I realised there was a carol concert happening at St. John’s church, and it was lit up. 

It looked and sounded very Christmassy. 

Sadly, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get a decent night shot of this humble but handsome church without that bloody streetlight spoiling it. Just can’t get a good angle.

Deember 21st – I’m interested in road safety technology and lighting as many readers will have gathered, and I’m intrigued by the recent upgrade to the zebra crossing on the Lindon Road by the Clayhanger Road junction.

The conventional Belisha Beacons have been replace for two LED streetlights, shining down on the crossing and adjacent footpaths, bathing the whole area in white light. This gives a stunning effect in an area of orange sodium lights; further, the beacons themselves are bracketed off the lighting columns, which have LED lights in them and shine out the white bands on the post that would normally just be paint or reflectives.

The overall effect is remarkable, but very hard to photograph. I’m impressed.

December 20th – I came back up through Longdon and Farewell as I always do. It was a chilly day with a crisp wind but the sun was lovely, and the views over the village of Upper Longdon were gorgeous. Good to see the renovation of the old Windmill coming on now, too.

Nearby at Red Hill, the houses clinging to the hill are still beautiful, but stopping to photograph them I noticed I had an audience – one large, disapproving cat and a pair of prize pigs. 

A great ride. Really enjoyable.

December 20th – Today, today was great. I had a Christmas errand to run near Rugeley, and heard there was a farmer’s market on. I’ve never really had a good look around the town, and I have to say I was impressed. This former mining community serves a very wide area, and so maintains a good selection of shops, a couple of indoor markets, and the produce market itself was brilliant. 

I’d not realised how good the architecture was in the town centre, either; I must go back when it’s quieter and have a good mooch around.

The huge inflatable Father Christmas by the sports club is brilliant, too, and can be seen from a long distance.

I returned with all manner of Christmas treats.

That wee dog in the indoor market stole my heart – such big, sad eyes!

December 19th – I don’t know why I think this, but I always consider cotoneasters a Christmas plant. The bright red-orange berries are a favourite with blackbirds who will strip a bush in days, all the time protecting it from the hungry beaks of other birds.

Something odd is going on though. Last year, there were huge bounties of such berries still on the bushes well into spring, seemingly barely touched. This year, these I pass on the way to work are already nearly stripped. This seems to be the same everywhere.

Why? Was preferential food available in abundance last year? Perhaps not so many blackbirds? Did something about that previous summer make the orange fruit less nutritious or maybe unpleasant?

Really puzzled by it.

December 18th – the weather got progressively worse, and on my return I crossed the Alan Woollatt memorial bridge over the A38 at Thickbroom. I had to be back for an appointment, and it was raining steadily but I couldn’t resist long exposure photos of the rush hour.

Before this bridge was built – again, a side effect of the M6 Toll – I used to negotiate that road between here and the turning for Little Hay. It was murder.

Alan Woollatt was a great cyclist and a fine man who fought for this crossing. I think of him every time I use it, and gaze from safety at the traffic speeding beneath me.