Tag: Brierley Hill

#365daysofbiking Old haunts

July 11th – I had an appointment near Brieley Hill in the morning. The weather was grey and the Stourbridge trains were having a cowturn but I got to Cradley Heath and cycled up the canal through Saltwells.

Years ago, I spent a lot of time in Cradley and its environs. It’s still a busy little town, but it’s changed, suffering the same economic and social pressures as anywhere else.

This is of course, deepest Black Country and I was pleased to see the chain makers still behind Cradley station.

The goats at Saltwells were a pleasant surprise, too.

It’s been a while since I was back here, and it’s still a decent old place. I should come back when I have more time, I think.

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April 10th – Passing the huge shopping complex at Merry Hill today, I realised a few things. Firstly, that although it was sold as regeneration – it was built on the site of the Round Oak Steelworks in the late 1980s – it hasn’t regenerated the area around it at all, large tracts of which are still waste and derelict. Secondly, it’s looking just a shade dated and tatty these days – but no less busy.

Thirdly, the ill-fated monorail that linked this place to the Waterfront – taken out after six years of unreliability and trouble – still has a ghost presence. Just above M&S, the black oblong prism is a former monorail station.

Oh, brave new world. What went so wrong?

April 10th – I was in Brum early for an appointment and, on impulse, hopped on the train to Stourbridge and cycled home along the canals. I took the route along the Stourbridge and Dudley lines, through the nine locks, Brierley Hill and the Netherton Tunnel, then over to Smethwick, where I rode home through the Sandwell Valley and NCN 5. 

The Netherton Tunnel remains a psychological and sensory endurance test. I love it.

The canals and day were lovely – but I can feel the weather was just about to break. I’m glad I caught this last week; I’m rejuvenated and back in touch with places I thought were lost.

Good to see the peacock butterfly out and showing so well, and that heron was under the M5 at Oldbury: he was furious with me for spoiling his fishing.