Thursday February 11th 2021 – We’re in an odd time of snow, with showers every day but little actually settling much. What there is, is powder and pack ice and I’m impressed with how well the Continental Top Contact II Winter tyres are handling it. For a non-studded tyre, grippy and trustworthy.
Which is just as well, it’s lethal out there.
Mind how you go, folks.
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Monday February 8th 2021 – About the only thing the pandemic has been good for has been the re-emergence of political graffiti.
It’s everywhere – the angry, the conspiracy theorists, even satirists are having a go. They’re all a bit rusty but it’s coming along nicely.
Here at Catshill Junction, just on the bridge, some disaffected soul has expressed themselves. Blunt and to the point.
Generous offer but I’d rather not, cheers.
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Sunday February 7th 2021 – Out on a short ride up to Aldridge, it was bitingly cold and I could sense winter coming in again for another go.
I don’t mind the cold; it’s life affirming and just part of life’s pageant, after all, but I’m aching for this winter to end. The foreboding told me my relief would still some way off.
The canal was grey and the towpath hedgerow still very much of the season, and the ride was hard work.
Oh well, while you’re marching you’re not fighting…
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Tuesday January 2th 2021 – The snow hung round and was still quite fresh looking – unusual for snowfalls here, which can be heavy, but rarely last long when down.
Coming home on the canal, I thought I’d try my old muse Clayhanger Bridge in the snow. For some reason I’m having real trouble getting this bridge at night with the current camera. I just don’t think the software in the device knows what to do with the image.
It still came out well though, although much darker than I expected.
I can see that with this camera, I still have lots to learn.
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Monday January 25th 2021 – The day was again cold, and the snow didn’t really thaw at all. As I came home from work, I joined the canal towpath at Clayhanger Bridge to see what the tyres were like on compacted, hard snow: I needn’t have worried. They were fine.
Coming up over Catshill Junction Bridge I couldn’t resist a quick photo looking back the way I’d came: I love the way snow completely changes night photography.
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Sunday January 24th 2021 – The snow did indeed arrive, and in some quantity with it falling heavily throughout the day. Sadly, I was too busy with work matters to get out in it until early evening.
I managed a circuit of Brownhills, and the snow was maybe a couple of inches deep: But due to low traffic levels it was persistent on the roads and it made going hard. At least the tyres were good in it: If I’m honest, in handling terms they were far better than the studs I normally use, but that may be a factor of tyre width more than anything.
At Silver Street, the canal and new housing estate there looked beautiful in the snowy night. With nobody around and the white LED lighting complimenting the snow, it looked thoroughly magical.
I’ve really missed decent snowfalls this last few years.
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Sunday January 17th 2021 – Riding hasn’t been great this winter, if I’m honest. The lockdown and pandemic notwithstanding, the weather has been consistently wet and unpleasant, and this is reflected in the muck and mud on every towpath, off-road trail and minor country lane. Everywhere is saturated, even on dry days.
We really have had some wet winters in recent years, that’s for sure.
On an evening ride out before a difficult Monday, I planned to head to Chasewater along the canal – I got on near Silver Street, headed up over Catshill Junction and got as far as Anchor Bridge, before giving up and riding back down the High Street. It was just too muddy to be enjoyable.
I hope this weather breaks soon.
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Friday January 15th 2021 – Just hopping on the canal on the way home from work, I turned to look behind me at the bridge whose challenging climb I was avoiding by taking the towpath of the canal it crosses.
The Black Cock bridge – comedically named after the nearby pub – has suffered subsidence in the early part of its current incarnation and is still monitored closely for cracks and fissures. It’s approaches are now dangerously steep, and a later footbridge has been added alongside to accommodate pedestrians.
I don’t think in it’s current form this sore abused, but not yet dead bridge will survive long now. I suspect it’s fate may be similar to Hollanders Bridge further up the Line in Walsall Wood – renovated in the 80s with a lightweight metal deck and blocked to vehicular traffic.
It’s a fascinating bridge with a remarkable history, it really is.
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Friday January 8th 2021 – A warmer day, but not much: The snow was mostly melted and the frost slight as I headed home from work.
Between Catshill Junction and Anchor Bridge I opted to leave the muddy canal and hit the High Street.
I always like the end of the first working week after Christmas. The festivities seem an age away, it’s now not really dark until well past 4:30pm and things seem to be heading toward spring. Of course, the pandemic is a huge worry, as is Brexit and problems it’s causing at work, but I think we can endure.
It’s actually nice to be back in my routine.
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Tuesday January 4th 2021 – A better evening commute, but I was in a hurry to get home. We’re now back in full lockdown, and the world felt that little bit more hostile to be out in, so I just swept through the Silver Street Marina area, and took some quick shots looking up the canal to the Watermead Estate.
It’s not a bad spot this, but the paving at the waterside desperately needs some love – it’s uneven and breaking up. The view is nice though, and a bit of welcome calm in a mad world. You’d never believe this was central Brownhills.
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