Tag: canal

March 24th – Compression of the neck… herons are more and more common now. Barely a towpath ride goes by without seeing one, and on longer rides like last week, I’ll see five or six, which must be a symbol of how clean the waters are now and how the fish population must by bountiful, too. 

This proud bird was on the towpath in Pleck, just by the wall of Rollingmill Street Cemetery, pretty much the industrial heart of Walsall. Wary of me but not skittish, by dismounting the bike and taking things gently I got close enough for some decent pictures, I think.

I adore herons.

March 21st – Despite the cold, spring is well underway now, and nothing will stop it. The early crops are emerald green, the blackthorn is in blossom, the swans are doing the nesting thing, and the local amphibians have been spawning in the small pool at Shire Oak Park.

Soon, the clocks will be forward and the darkness will be behind me for another year. Winter wasn’t too bad this year… And now, the promise of a new season.

This’ll do.

March 20th – Almost a lost afternoon. I slunk out of work to get another ride in around the canals to Wolverhampton, but suffered a mechanical failure. After a failed bodge fix, I grabbed another bike and escaped late, in bad humour.

A run through Bloxwich and on to the canal at Sneyd opened up to a great ride – up to Wolverhampton, back down the mainline through the Coseley Tunnel to West Brom, then back through Great Bridge, Toll End, Moxley and Darlaston. 

It was surprisingly grey, but not a bad evening at all.

The ride was fast, enjoyable and fixed my bad mood a treat.

March 19th – Then, there was the city in a golden, very golden hour. I met a companion, had a good meal and a natter, and we rode back through a gorgeous evening, out from the city centre on the canal to Smethwick, then back through the Sandwell Valley. A gorgeous ride.

It was smoggy, and the air quality was poor; even the air conditioning at Gas Street was belching steam into the air. But it made for such a soft, golden light that kissed and flattered all it touched in this varied, architecturally eccentric city.

Man, I love this place.

March 19th – In a dark, unlit tunnel under Spaghetti Junction, in the exact spot where, a year ago, Bill Drummond placed thousands of daffodils in jam jars under the skylight, he (or someone acting in his spirit) has left an important message Birmingham (and indeed all of us) should heed.

Brilliant. Just brilliant

March 19th – I rode the canal down through south Walsall, through Tower Hill and down into Birmingham. The canal alternates here between deep, deep cuttings and tall, elevated sections. There are 3 really impressive bridges, and I took time to go up on each one. I was fascinated by the ramshackle brickwork amongst the weather-fissured sandstone, put there to stope the face collapsing. An odd solution.

The going was very heavy – the towpaths are still very muddy and slimy and they need a couple of weeks of decent weather to dry out a bit. The Birmingham Cycle Revolution doesn’t seem to be coming to this line, which is a shame, as it’s a lovely route.

19th March – On the Walsall Canal at Park Hall, having left work early in the afternoon to head to Birmingham in the decent weather, I come upon a small, kitchen sink drama. 

Young cat fancies it’s paw at a little waterfowl: maybe mallard, or even Canada goose. The concentration is huge… the tension… then the cyclist spoils it.

Of course, the birds knew the cat was there. But puss’s ambition was impressive.

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 18th -This week has odd weather. Misty, with a perceptible wind, but the air quality is very poor; it seems smoggy like it did about a year ago, but I could be imagining that. The sun seems to have a hard time penetrating the murkiness, but when it does, it’s springlike, and warm.

It makes for decent canal views, that’s for sure.

March 15th – To compound a bad ride, I had to go up to Walsall Wood, and my beer magnet was at full power. Excellent, you might think. Fourteen reds in a loose group, on the field margin along the canal that borders Grange Farm, Walsall Wood. Largest group I’d seen for a while, and there were some impressive specimens.

Just one snag: there was a thin scrub-copse and barbed wire fence stopping me getting through the trees to get good photos. Immensely frustrating.

Aaargh!