January 29th – Up on the old Cement Works Bridge, time to have a think and play with long exposure photography. With the lightening morning sky the results were remarkable.
I love how the trees seem out of focus as their extremities moved with the wind.
It was going to be a tough day. But at least I’d captured something interesting to kick it all off.
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January 28th – By the time I got to Whitehorse Road/Wharf Lane, things felt a bit better. My trepidation was still there, but night was coming in now and the light was altogether better, friendlier and more comforting. And the wind seemed to be subsiding.
There’s a current Canal and River trust campaign about life being better close to water. They’re not wrong, actually.
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January 28th – I was due to have a medical procedure next day.I’d left work early so I could make a start and prepare – I had medicine to take soon which meant I wouldn’t be able to stray far from home for long for a while, so a quick loop up the canal to Newtown and back.
At Ogley Junction, the scenery was stark and bleak as night descended.
I like this spot normally. Admittedly, far nicer on a sunny, warm day, but tonight it left me feeling empty and tired.
Perhaps it was the anxiousness for the following day kicking in – I couldn’t really tell.
The twilight hour can be such an unreliable friend.
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January 27th – I returned that evening in half-light and as I got to Brownhills, I couldn’t resist a shot of the canal at Silver Street from a bit of a different angle.
Night had fallen but it was the most clear, dry glistening evening I’d seen for a while. Not a trace of anything in the air. It was glass hard clear, and beautiful with it.
An area that’s nice enough by day becomes golden and almost mysterious by night.
The lights on the boat looked really welcoming, too…
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January 23rd – The murk continued through the next day, too, and it was beginning to get on my chest. Cycling in it, with it’s grim cocktail of traffic fumes, damp, road spray and smog is not inspiring.
However, I had to nip up to Coppice Side on the way home to see a pal. As I crossed the old Jolly Collier bridge, the urban lights and mist combined to make something special.
The diffuse glow of the gas discharge lamps suddenly made a very ordinary place extraordinary, and I was captivated.
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January 19th – A murky, misty, unpleasant day really. It was cold, and although the sun threatened to come through, it never really did here which was a disappointment.
I pottered around Brownhills and Chasewater, looking for good photos but the light was much worse than I was expecting it to be. But there were some good shots.
I was expecting it to make me feel better today, and for once, it didn’t.
Days like today make spring seem a very long way off.
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January 18th -Whatever happens, Brownhills is always in my heart. The old place has it’s problems – like those of any post industrial town – but I love the canals, the open spaces, the countryside and the frontier feel of a town on the fringe between the West Midlands Conurbation and the rolling countryside of South Staffordshire.
On a cold, clear evening, returning from errands I came along the canal at Silver Street and over the bridge.
I love the Peter Saville efeect of the railings on that bridge, and the great views from it. But I also love the friendly feel of the new housing and occasional moored boat.
I take photos here lots… but it’s so photogenic at night. I love this place with all of my heart.
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January 17th -As well as the Bontrager Flare RT rear light, I’ve also subsequently got hold of an Ion Pro RT – the similarly connected front light that is controlled by the bike computer via Ant+ personal area networking.
It’s about the same size as my beloved Garmin UT800 which has served me well for three years now, but squarer in shape. It has some nice orange sidelights, and the same three stages of brightness with a day and night flash too, just like my normal light.
But the kicker is it’s 1300 lumens – 500 lumens brighter than the trusty Garmin, and the connected nature of it works much better, with a handy app allowing me to set modes directly from a screen on the computer unit.
The photo above is the light on minimum brightness. It’s bloody bright, with seemingly (so far) better battery life and control.
I think this might be a grower. Stay tuned.
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January 16th -Thoughts of spring had been very seductive, but as the following day had proven, it was way too early to call yet. A very wet, windy but warm day, I got soaked on the way in to work and soaked on the way home.
A day with bad traffic, near missed, lousy weather and terrible light.
Returning I had to leave the canal at Catshill Junction again, although I wanted to be well away from traffic, but the water on the towpaths was so bad I had no choice.
At least the lights of the Anchor Bridge Junction were pretty reflected on the canal.
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January 10th – At this time of year, I desperately scan the world around me for signs of the oncoming spring, however small or odd. Today, I spotted one.
This floating root in the canal at Walsall Wood spotted on the way to work is just such a sign. It looks like a random piece of flotsam in amongst the maturing algal bloom which in recent weeks has turned red from green. But this root is actually the front guard for a larger movement.
It’s a water lily rhizome.
These roots break from last year’s dead growth and sink to the floor of the canal, then as spring comes, they gain buoyancy and begin to float. They move with the currents, boats, winds, waterfowl moments and eventually settle and sprout roots.
In high summer they will provide a new carpet of the familiar huge leaves and bright flowers for us to enjoy.
So it’s good news: Lily thinks spring is coming!
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