May 23rd – I left work early afternoon in a rain storm. I don’t mind cycling in the rain, and the wind was behind me. Periodically very heavy, the downpour lasted 45 minutes or so. I did what I usually do when it rains on the commute – headed for the canal. It’s safer than the roads, and the sights and sounds are wonderful. Here at Pleck, the rain rattled off the canal like gravel in a tin can.
May 15th – I haven’t a clue who Nog is or was, but he scratched his name into wet concrete on Anglesey Bridge, Brownhills, 12 months ago today. Never noticed the inscription before, but I noticed it today whilst pushing my bike up the steps off the canal bank.
Just lately, everyone seems to be talking about synchronicity.
May 14th – Binary Wharf is an oddly named canalside housing development in Walsall Wood. Named after the former home of a computer software company it replaced – Binary House – it’s architecturally quite interesting, with a varied roofline and an odd mix of levels. I was terribly disappointed when it opened that the numbering system was decimal, the only correct numbers to use would should have been 000,001,010,011… Oh, to live at 101, Binary Wharf…
May 14th – A hop out to get some essentials saw me caught in a downpour. Mooching around the canal, I noticed that the remainder of the old railway bridge at the canalside on Clayhanger Common was slowly being reclaimed by nature. Nothing more than the steady hydraulic pressure of organic growth is splitting apart the brickwork and reminding us that nature is really in charge, and it’s got all the time in the world.
May 12th – not a half mile away, on the Canal Bank near Bentley Bridge cemetery, the rushes are in flower. These vivid yellow water blooms will continue for some weeks, complementing the colour provided by water lilies and other canal bank wildflowers such as orchids. This is the reality of urban wildlife; hidden, often unknown and strikingly beautiful. Get out there and enjoy it.
May 12th – Still just managing to avoid the rain. Here at Bentley Bridge, near Darlaston Green, beautiful foliage and a placid canal mixes with post industrial dereliction and heaps of scrap at Haniel Metals. Welcome to the darkest, deepest Black Country.
April 26th – Tuesday, at a loose end, so I cycled into Birmingham along the canal through Aldridge, Walsall and Great Barr. Stopping for tea and sustenance at the excellent Urban Coffee Co., I picked up a few bits and pieces around town and returned via the canal through the Broad Street area, Smethwick, Great Bridge and Walsall.
I love that journey, and some of the graffiti fascinates me – this odd example was near Perry Barr. There’s clearly a Banksy influence there somewhere.
April 24th – Dull but warm. A trip out to a party in Burntwood, and a chance to speed along the canal to Wharf Lane. The oilseed rape at Lanes Farm is looking good and smelling beautiful.
April 23rd – Waiting for the rain that never came. On the canal in Walsall Wood, the Walsall Wood Fisherman – Rod to his acquaintances – is still without the company of Bob the fish, mysteriously ‘lost’ some months ago.
The sculpture, like it’s fellow follies, now looks rusted, scruffy and forlorn. It’s utterly symbolic of the supposed regeneration and council attitude to the village. Throw some sculpture at it and hope it goes away.
Thankfully, the spirit and soul of the Walsall Wood people is stronger and worth more than that…
Apil 20th – continuing my ride home, I took a spin down Lower Avenue, near Brewood. This overgrown wooded approach to Chillington Hall is charming and secluded. Where it crosses the Shropshire Union Canal, it does so by means of a gorgeous bridge. I first came hear 27 years ago, and the ride has lost none of it’s charm in that time.
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