Tag: bridge

May 29th – A quick run through Walsall Wood on the cut on a wet morning rewarded me with all kinds of life in the dripping wet green. The swan family from the Watermead were near Clayhanger Bridge and had obviously gone past their nap-time. Shame about the litter, sadly left where people were fishing the day before.

If people bring stuff with them, is it really so hard to take it back home?

The Canada Geese goslings are also growing well, and were closer to The Black Cock bridge – but in-between, a stripy fellow was being nonchalant and pretending he’d not seen me.

Life teams this time of year, rain or shine.

May 20th – I’m intrigued by these deep yellow poppies, which seem very, very early and somewhat unusual. They’re growing in dense undergrowth near the Black Cock Bridge in Walsall Wood, and were so bright they caught my eye as I rode past.

Are they indigenous, or garden escapees? Whatever they are, they’re beautiful.

April 30th – This was a shock – I cycled to work for a change up the canal through Walsall Wood. Just past Clayhanger bridge, at the back of Maybrook Industrial Estate, a small group of female red deer (still very much in moult, the poor scruffy things) were browsing the scrub. This is an isolated patch only really accessible from nearby roads, but in itself, although small, is not bad for them as it’s barely touched by humans.

This means the deer are now crossing Clayhanger Bridge. 

Watch out on the roads, folks.

April 29th – Bentley Bridge near Darlaston is the scene of a huge roads project at the moment. For a week or so, huge and fascinating plant has been involved in erecting deep and sturdy H section piles along the roadside.

It’s an impressive bit of engineering with some fascinating machinery. The webs on those girders are about 50mm thick.

March 26th – Love locks seem to be becoming a thing in the UK now, which is an interesting cultural phenomena. If you’re not aware of the principle, lovers take a padlock and close it over a fixed structure, like a bridge, railings or other urban feature. The lock is often marked with a message of love.

I note the aluminium bridge over the canal at Gas Street Basin has become a focus for this craze in Brum, and I’ve noticed other locks in other places. 

I’m not bothered by it, and think it’s quite sweet, if a bit contrived now. It’s not destructive, and it’s interesting to see the variety of names and approaches. 

A fascinating urban cultural affectation, and it’ll be interesting to see if it’s a passing fad or a more lasting feature of city life.

March 18th – Gone 6:30pm, and still not dark. I stopped on Catshill Junction Bridge, and took a throwaway shot of the Humphries House flats, looking ghostly in the half-light. 

The more I use it, the happier I am with this camera. There’s clearly a lot more fiddling to be had yet, and I must sit down and read the manual. But for a point and shoot operated by a monkey, it doesn’t do bad.

March 17th – Heading to work on a misty, smoggy morning, the sun trying desperately to break through the murk and light up the day, but not quite managing it.

Spinning down the canal over Bentley Aqueduct, the twin sisters of Wednesbury on the skyline were as beautiful as ever. This view fascinates me.

March 3rd – Cold, windy. Horrid journeys to work, fast and fun journeys back. It seems we’re in for a blustery spring, but it was light nearly all the way home tonight – another week, and I might get home in the light.

Ah, blessed light.

I’ve been fiddling with the new camera – astoundingly to me, these shots were all handheld (I don’t have steady hands). This one seems more sensitive, if that’s the word, and seems to select a faster shutter in lower light than previous models. I’m liking it a lot.

It was a fair sunset tonight, but clear, and harsh. I was glad to get in.

February 24th – Little firsts are the art of getting through winter. Little, tiny victories that mark the passage from darkness to light, and tonight, on my way home from work, it was my first normal-time commute in something approximating daylight, rather than darkness.

OK, it was wet, windy, murky, verging on the brink daylight, but it was perceptibly not dark. A little victory.

The joy of this almost totally took my mind off what an unutterably foul ride it was…

February 17th – Darlaston, again. What a difference a day made. Spring was in the air, the sun on my face and warmth in my heart.

Shame about the trees in front of St. Lawrence’s Church. They make it impossible to get a decent angle on one of the finest churches hereabouts.