January 13th – I was grumbling uphill in Bradford Street, Walsall, and a piece of fresh graffiti art caught my eye. In light of the recent grumbles I’ve been having about the weather, it seemed like a message from fate.
In the last couple of days I had a message from a good friend and reader of this journal ‘Stop moaning about the rain!’
I shall try, promise. There’s always hope, after all.
March 11th – It’s nice to see history preserved well. In Walsall, at the top of the old Bradford Street, there used to stand Walsall’s old, dingy general hospital. When that was replace in the 1990s, part of the building that was most historic – the Victorian Outpatients Department – was preserved. New flats were built on the rest of the side, and adjoined to the older, converted building.
Dark, foursquare and made of very, very red brick, it’s a imposing but wonderful edifice.
March 6th – Back in Darlaston today. Riding up the hill from Walsall town centre, I noticed the Old Clinic in Bradford Street. Clearly vacant, it seems to be doing nothing except acting as parking-clamper bait. I know nothing of this building, or its history. But it is rather handsome. I love the leaded lights. Wonder who owns it? Let us hope that Walsall’s Municipal Arsonists haven’t spotted this one yet…
July 27th – A morning meeting took me to Camp Hill in Birmingham, then on to Darlaston. Heading into the centre of Birminham, I was struck by the wonderful view downhill from the top of Bradford Street, Digbeth. This could almost be San Francisco… how I love Birmingham and it’s surprising corners. Always something new.
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