bypass | BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking

Posts tagged ‘bypass’

#365daysofbiking Curtains

Saturday November 28th 2020 – A day of grim weather, and jobs and tasks going wrong. Things that were supposed to be half an hour, took three. The weather was lousy, headache grey and wet. It was a day to hibernate, and dream of a sunnier clime.

I left late and took a loop of Chasetown, but the weather was not conducive to good photographs. The High Street Christmas lights are up, but the rain and mist made photos pointless.

So I settled for a shot off the bypass Bridge on the old Paviours Road. I’ve never noticed before, but all the streetlights here are on one side of the road, which is unusual, but they do give a wonderful curtain effect on a murky, misty night.

As an aside I note that the lights on the M6 Toll where it passes near here and Chasewater have been turned off, which is interesting: It must be a money saving thing. Sad, really, as the lights made for interesting effects on a couple of the footbridges.

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#365daysofbiking Saville glow

Wednesday November 11th 2020 – Working from home I don’t seem able to get out in actual daylight. It’s like a mental block: I want to, I just don’t seem able to manage it. I think it’s some kind of guilt reaction for feeling like I’m skiving.

However, on a quick blast around Chasewater and over to Chasetown, there’s a great night-time photo spot on the green footbridge over the Chasetown bypass that has been a muse for some years, due to the way it interacts with the nearby road lighting.

The effect of the yellow sodium light falling through the wonderfully geometric bridge steelwork is thoroughly gorgeous, and reminds me a lot of designs by that icon of Manchester and Factory Records, Peter Saville.

So perhaps coming out after nightfall has it’s positive aspects, then…

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#365daysofbiking Tones of home

Sunday, September 27th 2020 – It was a lovely autumn day of sunshine, and I wanted to be out: But fate had blessed me with a bad cold (yes, it really IS a cold…) and I felt enervated and weak.

I tried, but I just managed a slow, lazy loop of Chasewater and Chasetown, and trundled home.

The colours of the season were gorgeous in the soft sunlight, the tonal palette of which seems to be mainly shades of dark green and brown, but also blue, too.

Chasetown High Street and that remarkable hill still captivate me. It manages to look frenetic and busy even when there are few cars and even less people. An impressive achievement.

Some days you go a long way, some you barely orbit home. Today was not a day for venturing far, but near home was reassuring and gave me all I needed.

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#365daysofbiking Default browser

October 5th – And then, in the scrub at the top of Chasewater dam, between Pool Road, the bypass and rugby club, this fine solo lady was browsing the scrub and posing for photos.

With the rut starting now and the old herds regrouping, odd to see a lady on her own, but she was in good condition and her coat was sleek and beautiful.

Always a fine sight and one I’ll never quite get used to.

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#365daysofbiking Slipping the reins

Christmas Day – Just lately my deer magnet has been very poor – I hadn’t seen deer close enough to get a decent photograph for weeks if not months.

Luckily, I spotted these fine reds in the scrub at Chasewater North Heath just by the bypass. I gently ushered them over the trail and back into the park – for all the good it will do.

We don’t have reindeer wild here, but the reds made a special Christmas treat. Good to see them.

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#365daysofbiking Endless rain

December 16th – Delivering Christmas cards in Chasetown, the light rain turned to a downpour, and although the Headquarters of Chasetown Civil Engineering and the nearby pub The Uxbridge looked beautiful with their lights reflected on wet tarmac, the rain had me low.

I tried long exposure photography on the Chasetown Bypass footbridge, but the weather was determined to wreck my plans.

I returned home wet, cold and despondent. This time last year, I think we had snow. Which at least is fun.

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#365daysofbiking Decent exposure:

December 9th – As darkness fell, I pulled myself up and decided to find a decent photo opportunity or two. The pedestrian bridges over the Chasetown Bypass are always good, and the Canon G1X really comes into it’s own on the long exposure work.

The crescent moon over Catshill doesn’t bode well for the weather, though – mum always said when the crescent was on it’s back, it was holding rain in it’s belly. I hope she’s wrong.

My unusually distorted shadow caught under Middleton Bridge arch from my bike light was an oddly serendipitous thing, too.

Grim days are what we make of them, I guess. Never was that more true than today,

#365daysofbiking Fade to grey:

November 24th – A grey , dark day with few redeeming features. A little maintenance on the bikes failed in the face of a more serious issue, and I headed out before nightfall for a breather. A full circuit of Chasewater and Chasetown offered little in the way of photo opportunities, and the images, apart from one, reflected the colour of the day.

The night, some what perversely however, was a bit more dramatic, as I captured at Anchor Bridge.

April 27th – I had to pop into Lichfield on my way home, and took the opportunity to nip to Waitrose for a bit of posh shopping.

In the fields surrounding the bypass and store, to the south of the Darwin Park estate, the fields are full of healthy, plump spring lambs and their mothers.

On a dull Friday afternoon they made for a lovely sight.

November 35th – I passed through Chasewater in a splendid, cold golden hour, hoping maybe to catch some red deer. Sadly, the deer were elsewhere as there was a rugby match on over at the club, so they’d probably wandered to more peaceful environs until the shouting and cheering was over.

What I did find, however, was a beautiful north heath which, as Ian Anderson would have put it was ‘Glowing in the evening cool’ – and the view of the Paviours Road footbridge in low, golden sun was gorgeous.

Not a bad ride at all today – but bitterly cold and still with the treacherous, slippery conditions.

I have a feeling we’re in for a sharp winter this year.