December 28th – A stretch up to Walsall Wood on my way to Aldridge in one of those remarkable but fairly rare blue dusks we sometimes get at this time of year.
There must be a meteorological or astronomical reason for them, but I have no idea other than the fact that they are really, really beautiful. The view from Hollanders Bridge glowed in the cold night.
Reall, really gorgeous.
This journal is moving home. Find out more by clicking here
from Tumblr https://ift.tt/358e1RS
via IFTTT
February 13th – I wasn’t very well, so I only cycled out on a quick errand to deliver something in Walsall Wood. On the way back, I decided to hop onto the canal at Hollanders Bridge. There was little wind for a change and the canal was pretty flat. Even though it wasn’t late, everywhere seemed eerily quiet.
Walsall Wood, despite being part of the lumpen sprawl of North Walsall, is still lovely and retains a village atmosphere.
November 9th – A strange day. I was at work very, very early and spent the day tired, misplaced and spare. I wrote a little, did some bike mechanics, slept an hour or so. When I emerged, it was after dark and I had a desperate run to Walsall Wood on an errand I left way too late. On the way back, I experimented with the evening townscape. From Hollander’s Bridge, the road that no longer bears the same name looked almost dreamlike, and somnambulant. Binary Wharf, nearby, looked impressive in the street light. Even Bullings Heath, once tiny hamlet but now extension of Walsall Wood seemed villagey again.
What is it about night, the urban landscape and this atmosphere that I love so much? It’s almost addictive to me.
March 14th – Monkeying through the back streets of Walsall Wood on an errand today, I traversed Hollanders Bridge, the pedestrian-only canal crossing next to Binary Wharf. Closing the bridge to through traffic years ago cut off Queen Street from the Lichfield Road side of the canal, and created an orphaned stub of road that was of no consequence until a new housing development was constructed adjacent to it, on the site of an old computer business. Somewhat cringingly, the road-stub was christened “Steep Bridge Way’.
Way back in August, 2011, local blogger The Stymaster noted the original sign was badly spelled; then, in May 2012, I spotted that sign had been removed. It seems to have been finally replaced.
One wonders at the cost, and how slowly the gears of bureaucracy can grind in such matters…
May 18th – Well, that’s one technique. Over the last year, both myself and The Stymaster have grumbled to Walsall Council about the badly spelled road sign that stood here on the southwestern flank of Hollanders Bridge, in Walsall Wood. I say stood, as the obvious solution to crap spelling is apparently just to remove the whole sign…
Like, wow. I have nothing further to add.
August 11th – Thanks to The Stymaster of Pigblog fame who spotted this and tweeted it for the attention of Walsall Council. Until he posted, I was unaware that the bottom end of Queen Street by Binary Wharf had been renamed. Dictionary for town planning, I feel. Wonder how much that’ll cost to correct?
If the Express & Star are reading this, hope you get lost trying to find it…
May 14th – Binary Wharf is an oddly named canalside housing development in Walsall Wood. Named after the former home of a computer software company it replaced – Binary House – it’s architecturally quite interesting, with a varied roofline and an odd mix of levels. I was terribly disappointed when it opened that the numbering system was decimal, the only correct numbers to use would should have been 000,001,010,011… Oh, to live at 101, Binary Wharf…
BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking 