Tag: 365daysofbiking

March 21st – I hadn’t been up Brickiln Street in Brownhills for a while. I was quite surprised to see the old library is still standing – it’s been empty ever since its replacement in the Parkview Centre, Brownhills opened a few years ago. I’m sure I read a local councillor was campaigning to have it removed; certainly, the council have been trying to flog the land for a while. The building is boarded up, and the grounds locked.

It fills me with sadness, really, as I spent years here, as a kid. That small, dull building held everything I needed for a while – peace and quiet, headspace, and a world of possibility, learning and dreaming.

In there now is probably the ghost of an awkward young lad, chin propped on his hands, reading the local planning list, some map or the latest Bernard Ashley. That building – and what it held – had a huge influence on me. 

March 20th – More sunsets. Sorry, it’s just how it is right now. I tend to be out on my bike at sundown. The canal looked gorgeous and I loved the reflections. The rooftops, chimneys and TV aerials of Clifton Avenue, just off the Pelsall Rood looked good, too.

I guess the repetitive sunset thing will be solved come Sunday and the return of British Summer Time…

March 20th – I came back from work as dusk was descending, but the light was interesting and I dived onto the canal in Brownhills. On sheer impulse, I hopped up the embankment onto the old railway line behind Pelsall Road. I note someone has finally blocked the hole in the old bridge-deck over the canal. That hole has been there for at least three years, probably longer, and I was dreading someone might fall through it into the water below. Repeated calls to the authorities failed to get any action, and I have no idea who did this, but I salute them. I suspect it’s linked to other acts of grounds management on the commons locally – I note on the old railway trail, new guard fences on the Clayhanger Lane bridge and a lot of scrub removal. Top job, well done.

As I trundled along the trail in the dark, with lights turned off, the local, old dog fox sat looking at me for a while. He seems to recognise me. Eye contact for 20 seconds, then he turned tail and trotted off down the trail. 

March 19th – Returning that evening after visiting both Telford and Redditch in the same day, I emerged from a decidedly windswept Blake Street station and headed homewards. Traces of the previous day’s remarkable sunset were still evident over Little Aston church, but the oddly keen wind made the going difficult. Spring is certainly here, but it can still be decidedly wintry at times.

March 19th – Back to work, and off to Telford. It was a gorgeous, bright but frosty morning. My chosen station of departure, Shenstone, looked as beautifully rural as ever. Despite having nor real facilities and problematic accessibility – only steps on the northbound side – it remains one of my favourite local stations. It’s usually quite easy to get your bike on the southbound train here, too,  A real joy to travel from.

March 18th – The work at the southern end of Chasewater dam is very near completion. Again, the security had been breached so I swung back to Brownhills along the canal. It’s nice to see that the minor overspill culverts have had grilles fitted over them, like this one at the rebuilt Nine-Foot pool. They were enticingly child sized and I was concerned that some inquisitive urchin might get stuck… I’m looking forward to the dam opening again, even is there’s still no water.

March 17th – Unusually, I came home through Hammerwich. I don’t usually do that, but had to pop into Brownhills West on the way back. The weather was vey grim, and I only just missed getting soaked. Hammerwich, however, was as beautiful as ever, and the overcast weather made for moody, cinematic photos. On the corner of the bizarrely-named Lions Den and Station Road, I noticed Hall Cottage, which I’d not really studied previously. A beautiful little house.

March 17th – A recovery ride. I had to do some bits and pieces in Lichfield, which was a good opportunity to spin the aching legs. Surprisingly,  they were quite fluid once I got moving. The weather was rather grim and Lichfield as quiet as I’d come to expect it lately. It really is starting to give the feeling of a place half asleep. It was in Breadmarket street that I noticed this; it must have been a really, really unlucky shot, speared neatly on a pigeon spike. That’s gotta hurt… I bet the prize striker got a ribbing for it.

March 16th – The first video of the Peak District ride. I will do a second in time.

A journey from Comford Wharf, on the Cromford Canal in the Derwent Vally, Derbyshire, to Hassop Station in on the Monsal Trail, not far from Bakewell. The trail starts with a 300m Climb to HArborough Rocks, near Brassington, and follows the High Peak Trail for 12 miles of utterly flat, traffic-free trail. Joining the Tissington at Parsley Hay, it’s a slow climb to Hurdlow, the on to the Penine Bridleway, where the route peaks at Fivewells at 440m. A sharp descent to Wyedale, vita Topley Pike and the A6 ensues, then the Monsal trail to Hassop, for a well deserved lunch. Part 2 to follow. From Hassop, I cycled the rest of the Monsall, then into Derby on the A6, then home via NCN 54 – Mackworth, Etwall, Egginton, Burton, Barton and Lichfield. About 115 miles total. 

Music is the divine ‘This Sky’ by the Derek Trucks Band.