Tag: 365daysofbiking

October 11th – I was in Telford for the day, and a commute that started in bright sunshine ended in steady rain at my destination. I noticed as I stood on the covered walkway waiting for the rain to pass that the northbound platform was lined with a tree with bright, orangey red berries, yet leaves a bit like those on a cherry tree. I have no idea what this is, and the birds don’t seem to be very interested, either.

It put me in mind of cotoneaster, but the leaves and berries are way too big.

Anyone help me out here, please?

October 10th – Back in Walsall, I realised I was wrong; there is something awfully special about Walsall at night, too, but for deferent reasons. In Birmingham, It’s about the rush dying down, about the custom changing, about the shift from daytime economy to night time. In Walsall, it’s about empty, stone empty urban space. Places that in the daylight one doesn’t notice, or care about, but in the sodium light make a different, slightly threatening world.

October 10th – In Birmingham late, and the autumn has brought the night back, actually with some shock to me at the time. I emerged from a function to find the city at its very best; light, hard surfaces, wet paving and exaggerated perspective. I only had minutes until my train left, and grabbed quick shots around the Cathedral area. My train turned out to be late, so taking my life in my hands, I took some on the platforms of a darkened New Street Station, where a combination of ongoing construction and desertion make the environment fascinating.

I love playing with photography at night, and there’s no better place than at the city sliding into its own wonderful nocturne.

October 9th – A casual observer might think I had a downer on the project to renovate and upgrade New Street Station in Birmingham. I haven’t particularly, but in my opinion the design leaves much to be desired, both functionally and aesthetically. A good example of the aesthetic horror of the design is the polished stainless steel cladding being erected on the Stephenson Place facade. Unsealed, and hanging from girder work erected on the surface of the old Pallisades centre, again, it stinks of bodge and bad taste. The mirror surface looks tatty to me; adjacent sheets  don’t always meet perfectly and where the sheets are pinned, the surface is often distorted and looks dented and cheap. 

Compared to the iconic and stunning Selfridges building, this looks like something dreamt up on a bad Saturday in the pub by a crazed Meccano fan. I dread to think what the rest of it will look like when complete…

October 9th – There must be a good return on parsnips. I watched this mystery crop grow at Home Farm, Sandhills, from polythene covered strip mounds to lush, verdant foliage, from which readers identified the then mysterious crop. Harvesting has been ongoing for a week or two now – not everyday, but I imagine as often as demand occurs. Workers appear to sit in the shed-like trailer picking the root veg by hand, and tossing them onto a conveyor. Debris in one spot shows the crop was large and in good condition.

Don’t think I’ve ever seen parsnips grown in large quantities before. It’s certainly labour intensive to pick them. 

October 8th – Also in Walsall Wood, change is incremental. This was once the site of Walsall Wood Library. A squat wooden hut, it wasn’t much, but I spent loads of time there as a kid, just as I did at the one in Brownhills. The library was moved into a better building some years ago, and the plot stood derelict and empty for ages. Planning applications came and went, and finally, the site has become a car sales showroom. 

You’d not think a library was ever here; but then, you’d not think there was ever a working men’s club where the gym is next door, or greenspace where there’s now a vile-smelling KFC.

Those cars are parked on my memories.

October 8th – Today, I cycled past Rod, the Walsall Wood angler. I’ve never been fond of this artwork, even though it is modelled on David Evans, local character and contributor to my main blog. Rusting so badly now that the writing can barely be discerned, Rod had his copper fish stolen some time ago.Since then, wags have hung alternative objects from the angler’s pole, namely a gold wellie boot and olympic rings. Rod is symbolic of the fortunes of the Wood; unveiled in a public artwork binge ostensibly to record the village’s mining past, he sits corroding, while the real mining memorial – the original Oak Park – also decays.

October 8th –  more pleasing spot right now is just up the road from the old Wheel Inn, at Anchor Bridge. The open space here is dotted with an assortment of mature trees, from willows to birches, poplars to ash. They are handsome any time of year, but right now, they are spreading the grass with a variety of colour. With the canal adjacent, but for the roar of the nearby traffic you could be in a great park…

October 8th – I noted today as I passed that the Wheel Inn is still derelict, and slowly rotting away. I had thought the former pub – or at least, the land it stands on – may be in for a renaissance a year or so ago, when the new gates  went up beside it, and some attempt was made to clear the yard. Sadly, this has not been the case, and the building remains forlorn, unloved and an eyesore.

I wish whoever owns this once fine boozer would take responsibility and either demolish or renovate it. It stands on Lindon Road, a grim welcome to Brownhills for any arriving traveller. I wish the owners could be forced to clean it up.

October 6th – From Milford, I headed out via Tixall and all it’s remarkable architecture and hit the canal at Hoo Mill. Returning along it to Rugeley rewarded me with a great golden hour and some lovely toadstools I’d not seen before. This was a great ride on what surely must be one of the last warm, sunny days of the year. I’m glad I was out and able to enjoy it.