Tag: bridge

May 10th – I pottered into Brownhills for a mid-afternoon recovery ride to do so errands, and with the warm afternoon sun, everything was beautiful and felt right: the canal at Silver Street is wearing it’s summer jacket of green and blue, the boats and waterfowl were quietly busying themselves and all was right with the world for a change. 

Also busy, but probably busy doing nothing, a black and white resident of the canalside who took up a better vantage point to observe me, observing him.

The canal cats really are wonderful at the moment.

April 29th – I couldn’t resist hopping over to Silver Street and checking out the canal view at night, also a familiar winter haunt. I adore this spot at night, and things are changing here now; soon, houses will be built on the old market place, and much of the empty feeling here at night will disappear.

I love the urbanity of this place at night; the combination of steel, water, hard surfaces and sodium and LED light. This spot confirms to me continuously that there is indeed beauty in the most mundane of situations, not matter how plain we might consider them. 

You just need the right time, the right angle, and an open mind.

April 24th – A very cold day once more with periodic rain and sun, so typically April, really; I keep forgetting it’s so early in the year. However, as I passed Clayhanger bridge in the early evening, a patch of cowslips I’m fairly certain are there due to my previous guerrilla seeding forays, and it’s wonderful to see such beautiful delicate softness against the harshness of the traffic barrier.

Mission accomplished, I think.

April 11th – In the soft light of a windy but sunny afternoon, the canals are looking great; Here near Clayhanger Bridge the hedgerows and thickets are showing bright green and very, very fresh – but not just that, they’re as alive with songbirds as the waterway is with waterfowl.

Everywhere you look, the environment is teeming with life at the moment, either fresh new leaves, blossom or nesting birds. Such a joyous, beautiful time of year.

Just wish the wind would ease up a bit…

April 7th – A day at home doing bits and pieces, and then an errand to Shenstone on a lovely sunny afternoon. On the way, I came over the old bridge at Footherley, and was reminded it was very nearly the anniversary of a piece of graffiti that fascinates me.

I remember the boldly carved script ‘Billy + Tracee 30-4-83′ from when it was new and surprising. Now, nearly 34 years later, I wonder, as I do often who Billy and Tracee were, where they are now, and wonder if they’re still a couple?

I do hope they’re still local, still together, and pass this, often as a reminder.

April 3rd – Another job I thought would be well and truly over by now that wasn’t is the demolition of the former Boat pun in Darlaston Green. Derelict, burnt out and plagued by antisocial behaviour, it was measure for it’s coffin years ago, and last week when I saw demolition crew here I thought it would be only hours to go before the landmark was lost – but this is clearly a thoughtful, reclamation demolition where the material removed are salvaged for resale, and for a while at least, this sad husk of a building remains.

A sad but fascinating sight.

April 3rd – Running an errand from work into Walsall mid day, I decided to avoid the traffic and take the canal, as the resurfacing of the towpath would surely be finished – sadly, it wasn’t quite, and there’s still some plant and workmen putting the hours in around the rear of James Bridge cemetery, but mostly it’s now tarmac all the way through with a coating of tar and chip. 

At the moment, there’s lots of loose grit on top so take care – it’s skinny and hard going in places, but will improve once settled and swept.

A decent job executed well. I just didn’t really see the need, but hey-ho…

March 17th – Coming back from Lichfield, tired after a hard week, I stopped on the motorway bridge at Summerhill and tried long exposure photography again. 

I finally got just what I wanted. and the experiment of setting the camera on the ground looking down the hill towards Sandhills worked better than I could have imagined.

That’s taken a while, but I’m happy with that.

Mach 15th – I nipped to Telford for a quick errand mid day, and was pleased to see that the construction workers building the new bridge at the station hadn’t destroyed the daffodils under their wheels.

The scrub on the right was until recently covered in trees and shrubs, and upon clearance for the upcoming works, the daffodils formerly blocked from the light bolted forth. It’s good to see them get their time in the light.

March  7th – I had to nip to Telford, and as I came through the station I noted that the tree clearance now seems to have ended, and construction weens to have started in earnest on the western side of the bridge span.

I was also pleased to note that the daffodils on the station ramp side that bolted wonderfully when cleared of their shady tree-cover are coming into bloom as yet untroubled by the construction machines. it’s right they should bloom unfettered for a final time, I think.

This project has caught my attention and I’ll be interested to watch it progress – not least to see how they manage to built a new access way that will so clearly interfere with the old one, and yet still maintain public access.