Tag: bench

#365daysofbiking Omnidiretional signals


January 19th – Some things are just nice.

I’m a big fan of Back the Track – the group of, it has to be said, mostly pensioners and older folk who have been determinedly converting the old South Staffordshire Railway trackbed through Brownhills into a cycling and walking route for all to enjoy.

This week they installed the new bench at the base of the signalpost by Clayhanger Marsh. The bench was always a personal dream of Brian Stringer, the group’s instigator and leader. Barry Roberts built the bench in his garage from materials he had, begged and were donated, and now it’s in place for all the trail users to ponder the great views on.

The McLean Way (MW) logo is made cleverly from track clips found discarded in the ballast of the old line.

What’s really neat is the backrest flips over, so you can comfortably sit facing the direction you choose.

It’s a lovely, creative and novel thing and I thank Barry and of course, all of Back the Track for their efforts.

It’s worth noting that there’s no road access to where the bench is sited, so those old guys must have manhandled the bench to it’s position. No mean feat.

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January 17th – It was a nice day on the canal, and as I came past Lathams Bridge on the way home, I couldn’t resist a couple of peaceful shots of the waterway. The marina doesn’t seem very busy at the moment, I must say, but the view is as lovely and serene as ever. You wouldn’t think you were only tens of metres from a busy, large marl pit and a bustling chemical waste transfer and treatment facility.

The new pond at Clayhanger, this year will be thirty years mature and no longer new is looking stark but beautiful, with the last of the previous night’s snow still hanging on on the shaded bank. I wonder how many times I’ve parked my bike and sat on that bench over the years? At least ten different bikes and it must be hundreds of times. Looking at the rot, I don’t think it’ll stand many more…

January 10th – For the first time this year, a pleasant, dry, almost tropical morning commute; sadly, it wasn’t to last and the journey home was cold and damp with a return to mist.

Cycling up the canal over Bentley Bridge my eye was caught by a flash of verdant green – a plant of some variety has clearly seeded into the rotting cavity of an old bench, and is growing well – truly life from death.

Crossing Kings Hill Park purely to catch the day, I tried the twin sisters and liked what I saw; The clock on St. Bart’s is in fine detail and all we need is some green on those trees. 

I know it’s way too early, but come on spring!

December 30th – While ferreting around the canal and Clayhanger Common for a decent night shot (and failing to find anything at all) I noticed this lovely, sedate and peaceful waterside retreat: At the canalised behind the houses of Lindon View, a bench, table and light, right by the canal.

How lovely is that?

August 20th – A much better, brighter day for me, but not the weather, which got worse as the day went on.

Out for a meal and a ride with someone I’d been missing while they were on holiday, a ride out to a local pub for a huge steak blowout and then a ride to work it off.

There was no wind, and I started in sun; but it soon became overcast and the rain started. But for once it didn’t matter. Returning home 50 miles later in darkness and soaking wet was actually a joy after a wonderful trip out.

Travelling up the A515 through Abbots Bromley, I noticed the modernist, brutal concrete Jubilee Memorial bench, which must be one of the first examples of a very particular municipal style; and then the Best Kept Village trophy sign, which lists all the winners since the competition in Staffordshire began, which is actually fascinating.

I do wonder why that’s in Abbots Bromley, though, and not somewhere else. It seems very… specific.

June 29th – A grey, wet afternoon in Tipton, and I noticed something I’ve passed maybe hundreds of times but not noticed: an odd little bit of civil engineering.

Just on the corner of Wood Street and Owen Road, effectively right on Tipton’s High Street, a circular bench feature, that’s actually concealing the top of a storm buffer.

A storm buffer is a large subterranean tank usually made from reinforced concrete pipe that acts to store rainwater surges in the event of a storm, buffering the deluge and releasing the water slowly into the drainage system at a manageable rate.

It’s unusual to see one proud of the ground, and even more so in such a prominent location.

That’s quite clever, and surprised I’ve never noticed it.

November 6th – As I’ve noted here before, I very much like Darlaston’s war memorial. Intimate, sombre and peaceful, it sits in its own sensory garden, a little oasis of calm in the middle of a Black Country town.

On this grey and foul morning, it cheered me as I passed, so I decided to record it for posterity.

I’ve never noticed the bench with the poppies on before. Wonder how that came about? It’s very beautiful.

August 19th – Thanks to friend of the blog Rosa Maria Burnell, I can reveal that Brownhills has developed a second pop-up bench. Again, secondhand, it’s appeared at the junction between Silver Street and the Miner Island. It’s not a picturesque spot, but Rose reports it was being well-used. 

I have nothing against such street furniture, but I’m curious as to who’s erecting them, from where, and why.

August 17th – In the way that sometimes things just happen in Brownhills without notice, rhyme or reason, a bench has appeared at the top of Pier Street in Brownhills. There is no logic to the positioning, and indeed, it’s quite awkward. Nobody would want to sit here, facing the side of a shop.

The bench is tatty and has clearly been transplanted from elsewhere. But where? And why? By whom? What on earth were they thinking?