Tag: bridge

April 16th – Signage is an interesting thing. Passing the Anchor and Anchor Bridge on my way back to Brownhills I noticed these two examples. Of the dog water, I’d be interested if anyone had actually ever charged for that, or whether it encouraged any patrons.

‘Fancy a beer, Bob?’

‘Not here, we need to find somewhere I can get free water for Fido’

I’m not knocking it, just interested in the thought process. It took effort to do that, to satisfy what the sign writer saw as a market. Curious.

The canal distance markers sprung up like mushrooms when the canal footpaths were rebuilt here about 8 years ago. A fantastic project, it did involve some inexplicable decisions, like closing off access to the canal from the Pelsall Road bridge. Sadly, someone forgot to tell the guy casting these expensive, cast iron signs, and the distance to the Pelsall Road is painted out on every one. Unfortunate.

April 12th – I don’t know much about the Little Holms in Shenstone. This secluded, rather pretty public open space runs from the railway bridge by the Pumphouse along the banks of the Footherley Brook. It’s been there as long as I can remember, and is delightful at any time of year. A great spot for quiet contemplation. It’s also a great place to appreciate the bridge and it’s architecture. 

April 6th – I came out of Birmingham on cycle route 5, up the canal to Smethwick’s Galton Bridge, then up through the Sandwell Valley to Rushall Junction on the canal. Galton bridge is a historic, very high bridge over the mainline canal. Built in 1829 by Thomas Telford, it’s a classic of its kind and the views from it are fantastic. The canal here is lovely to cycle, and steeped in industrial history. Well worth a wander if you get chance. Travel writer and culvert crawler Nick Crane came this way in his book ‘Two Degrees West’ and pointed out that the arrangement of canals (2, side by side at different levels), Railways (2 different lines at different levels) and road bridges made the physical geography here so complex that he had to draw it out on paper. He’s right.

April 2nd – Working in Telford today meant returning late from Walsall with the wind behind me, a few weeks since I’d undertaken this commute. The wind eased me home, as did the impending drizzle, and my legs found quite a bit of energy from somewhere. Cresting the Black Cock Bridge, I noted how grey it all looked, and how depressing it seemed. Yet it was 6:45pm and still light. That’s a good thing, I guess. I put the camera away, and sped downhill to Brownhills with a less heavy heart.

March 25th – Out for a blast on a sunny, warm, spring today. Today is the day I realise I’ve survived, and this time, you did it with me. Today, the light came back and I become aware that I’d survived another dark winter. Commuting home in the light. Soon, after a brief reclamation, there will be bright mornings too. Together this year, we survived the darkness.

I felt great – forty miles in two and a half hours, I ripped through South Staffordshire, into Lichfield and out via Whitemoor Haye and Edingale. At the A513 river bridge between Alrewas and Croxall, known as Chetwynd’s or Salter’s Bridge, I stopped to look. Built in 1824, it was designed and overseen by renowned Lichfield architect Joseph Potter, who also designed Christchurch at Burntwood and Stafford County Lunatic Asylum. It’s a majestic, elegant yet sparse design, still in service and carrying heavy traffic. It is, however, and accident blackspot, and periodically vehicles end up through the balustrade and into the greasy grey green of the River Trent below…

March 20th – I came back from work as dusk was descending, but the light was interesting and I dived onto the canal in Brownhills. On sheer impulse, I hopped up the embankment onto the old railway line behind Pelsall Road. I note someone has finally blocked the hole in the old bridge-deck over the canal. That hole has been there for at least three years, probably longer, and I was dreading someone might fall through it into the water below. Repeated calls to the authorities failed to get any action, and I have no idea who did this, but I salute them. I suspect it’s linked to other acts of grounds management on the commons locally – I note on the old railway trail, new guard fences on the Clayhanger Lane bridge and a lot of scrub removal. Top job, well done.

As I trundled along the trail in the dark, with lights turned off, the local, old dog fox sat looking at me for a while. He seems to recognise me. Eye contact for 20 seconds, then he turned tail and trotted off down the trail. 

March 12th – Half at work, half not. Just doing a few bits and pieces that matter, then going my own way for a few days. Today, I popped to Darlaston for an hour or two at lunchtime, then headed off on the canal to Birmingham. The sun came out, and Birmingham and the Black Country performed beautifully. Anyone who says this place is ugly hasn’t looked. This is a gorgeous place, and I want to shout it from the rooftops. Up yours, London…

January 25th – returning late from work, I headed for a change, up through Pleck and over Church Hill. I stopped on the railway bridge on the Wednesbury Road. Although the metal footbridge was shaking well in the wind, I managed to get this pretty decent picture by standing the camera on the top of the guard rail. I love railway views at night. Luckily the wind was behind me, and I was soon home.

January 15th – I have to keep rolling. Despite feeling a bit grim, I embarked on a chilly ride around Brownhills, Chasewater and Hammerwich. The ice tyres made short work of the icy puddles and frozen track mud, and it was quite a blast. As I approached what has now been christened ‘Slough Railway Bridge’ in a sudden fit of bridge nameplate renewal by British Waterways, I noted something I’d been meaning to feature here for a while. Many folk don’t realise what the channel on the right of this flight of steps is for – it’s to push your bicycle up to the cycle track above from the towpath below. It’s only been installed in the last few years, and certainly makes the climb easier, and provides a trick challenge for the BMX kids. I see more an more of these about, and a fine thing they are, too.

I don’t care what British Waterways call it, it’ll always be the Cement Works Bridge to me…