March 13th – Up onto the Chase via Pye Green over Brockton Field and down into Sherbrooke Valley: over to Milford, then onto the Shugborough Estate and the canal, returning via Rugeley and Longdon.
A remarkable, beautiful, mist shrouded sunset – and Sherbrrok Valley was as wide open, deserted and cinematic as ever.
I really missed this.
February 14th – Also caught in the sunset was the M6 Toll, Britain’s toll motorway, recently put up for sale by it’s banker owners, presumably because this botched, badly conceived project isn’t making enough money.
Frequently next to empty, people never flocked to use it as the tolls were considered too high, and the whole misadventure – which was at one time to be the future of such roads in the UK – does little except illustrate the folly of a country where we can no longer invest in anything for the common good.
When everything – even the most basic infrastructure schemes – have to turn a profit – then this is what we end up with. We need to stop thinking about price and get back to value.
February 12th – Still just light for 75% of my commute home, the bright western skies were a cheering feature of commutes this week. The ring road traffic was driving me nuts, so I took a shortcut past the Walsall College site and over the new bridge at North Street, which is still closed to general traffic.
The Walsall College building I’ve always found to be a hideous, cheap-looking tin shed, but it does look rather wonderful from behind at night, and the classic view over to the church never ages,
I’m so looking forward to leaving the darkness behind this year.
February 11th – Monkeying around with the Clayhanger overflow view again. I liked the sky, and reflections: not quite really dark, I think this worked quite well.
Nice to feel that chill in the air, too. Dry and cold, this is how it should be in February!
February 6th – I had promised not to moan about the rain again. But come on, it was rain all day from the moment I awoke until late into the evening. That’s not good. And again, that evil, evil wind.
I got out around teatime and did a quick loop of the town. There is something enchanting about traffic, electric light and rain, but I think I’ve seen enough of it.
All I want right now is a dry, calm and sunny spring. It seems unlikely. But I can always hope…
February 2nd – I had to leave work and pop to Walsall mid morning, so I hopped on the canal. Passing through James Bridge, I noticed a works compound had been set up, and butties and a utility boat were blocking the canal under the old IMI bridge. From the contents of the compound, it seems a particularly daft folly is about to commence: the tearing up and resurfacing of one of the best canal towpaths in Walsall.
The stretch from here to Walsall is being relaid by the Canal & River Trust, apparently as a cycle route, for reasons I’ve been unable to discern; but one thing I’ll guarantee is the person who decided it was needed was not a cyclist.
The towpaths here are wide, smooth and well made, in contrast to those from Aldridge to Rushall Junction, which are unusable in winter, or those through Pelsall to Goscote. The money spend here will be an unneeded waste.
Breathtaking folly.
January 30th – Further up the canal on the Aldridge/Walsall Wood border, the canal was also looking good from Northwood Bridge, over the marina there, and in the other direction, up past the brickworks at Stubbers Green.
The canal here looks so serene and peaceful, that only a vague chemical smell in the air and low background susurration would tell you that nearby there was a toxic waste handling facility, a large landfall, marl pits and two brickworks.
Impressions can be deceptive sometimes.
January 22nd – It had been one hello of a bad day. I’d had a terrible ride to work – 50 minutes into driving rain and a headwind, and when there, didn’t get time to catch my breath. After a day that seemed to last forever, I had to pop to Stonnall on my way home – but at least the rain had stopped and the wind was more accommodating. Coming down from Shire Oak into Brownhills, I stopped to catch the lights of the High Street. It was warm and wet again, so winter seems to have abated again. But this was a good sight – back in Brownhills after a bad day, and the promise of a couple of days off, a big mug of tea and some decent food.
Some days, home is all you need.
January 18th – After months of being shut to be rebuilt, the North Street Railway bridge, linking The Butts with Birchills in Walsall is very, very close to reopening. Rebuilt higher to accommodate electrification of the railway beneath, the bridge seems much steeper than before.
Still, it was fun to ride up and down while traffic free and still closed – and at the top, a decent view of the New College at night.
January 13th – A better day, at least: the sun was out as I cycled through Victoria Park in Darlaston and under the Mystic Bridge. It was still very wet, though and I was running late against a headwind. But the light was nice, and I felt better.
One of the things about cycling nearly everywhere you go is the massive connection you have with the outdoors and the weather. Periods of continued poor conditions can get to feel like a personal attack, and that’s how I’ve been feeling just lately.
There has to be a break in this soon, for a few days at least.
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