Tag: canal

March 3rd – A bad day when it barely stopped raining all day.

I had to be in Birmingham early, and took short rides in the morning and early evening. The weather was foul, and my mood little better.

Thankfully, good news, a mind at rest and the company of a very good friend helped no end.

Some days make you glad they’re over.

February 25th – An unusual Saturday morning that saw me at work in Darlaston, and the commute there had been very hard, as it had been solidly against the wind. I left around lunchtime for a run into Birmingham on the canal, hoping to stop off for some Caribbean food at my favourite cafe on the way through.The plan was to have the wind behind me back up the canal through Hamstead.

The cafe was rammed, so I got back on the canal, and went to the Soho Road, where it has to be said, excellent curry and breads were devoured; but whilst eating, the rains came and winds got up, much against the forecast.

Whilst on the Soho Loop I spotted this curious, brutalist sculpture in a really odd, forgotten spot by Asylum Bridge. It seems to have been revealed by scrub clearance work, and I have no idea what it is, or why it’s there. Does anyone out there know, please?

I don’t mind the rain and I’ll tolerate the wind, but the two together are evil. So I popped to see a mate in Aston and got the train back to Blake Street. 

A sort of lost day, really.

February 19th – It was a warm day with an insistent wind and occasional sunny periods – but a fine day for a ride. I covered 63 miles, the first big ride of the year, and the towpaths were much easier going than I thought, apart from a couple of rough patches at Stourton and west of Wolverhampton.

The canals showed themselves beautifully, and the sound of church bells and sight of daffodils, snowdrops and other spring flowers gladdened the heart.

Of course, the architecture stole the show – the viaducts, aqueducts, bridges, locks and associated houses are gorgeous. 

The Black Country is wonderful and I’ll always love it.

February 19th – I had to be in work on a Sunday, unusually, early in the morning. After spending a few hours there, I decided to make the best of the day and head on to the canals of the Black Country. I shot over to Tipton, then through the Netherton Tunnel, wound around Brierley Hill to Stourbridge, out to Stourton and then all the way up to Wolverhampton on the Staffs and Worcester, heading back home on the good old Curley Wyrley to Bloxwich.

I love riding the Netherton Tunnel – at 3036 yards it’s a long one, and the effects of water seepage and time make it an interesting and dramatic journey. 

Those air vents still remind me of something out of Doom or Quake.

Didn’t see another soul down there, either, which was odd. Bumble Hole at the far end was busy, though.

February 15th – The day had been warm for the time of year, and the morning commute grey and foreboding but dry. During the day it rained, and on my late return in darkness, it was on a warm, April-like wet night after the rain.

The journey was unremarkable until I came across this fellow on the canal towpath near Silver Street. A large, healthy looking frog, clearly on the move.

Awakened by the warmth and seasonal imperative, it will be off to the water to mate, then another year of avoiding herons and other predators whilst doing little more than eating. Not a bad life, really.

Pretty soon, the roads and paths at night will be full of frogs and toads on the move, and there will sadly be carnage as many are lost under vehicle wheels. But I shall have my eagle eye out, and like this one, I will assist any I find to a place of safety.

It’s coming on spring. The snowdrops know it. The crocuses know it. The light knows it. My heart knows it, too.

I stop for amphibians. And occasionally, for no perceptible reason whatsoever.

February 14th – A few people have asked, so as I passed the canal towpath resurfacing works today I took a pic of the map and details.

I’m still baffled as to the concentration on this stretch, and not the awful sections through Aldridge/Rushall and Pelsall/Bloxwich, but who knows what goes on with funding for these things?

There are very few notices up this time, so keep your eye out.

February 13th – On the canal near Bentley Mill Way Aqueduct, a pair of swans feeding on canal-bottom greens, enjoying the company of each other and honking noisily.

They were far too busy browsing the algae to be disturbed by me, and they performed beautifully. You can say what you like, but a swan with only it’s arse sticking above the water is very amusing, and certainly not graceful. A lovely thing to watch. 

But those feet too, though. Swan feet are fascinating, and they look almost pre-historic.

February 13th – Just as I feared I couldn’t stand the grey anymore, a blessed break in the weather. I have never, ever been so glad to see the light.

One commute on the canal through Walsall to Darlaston – a route I haven’t taken much since Christmas – was all it took. Sunshine, wildlife, glistening water, beautiful mist-suffused urban streets. And in Kings Hill Park beautiful yellow crocuses reminded me of the good that was to come.

I noted that the towpaths from Bentley Mill Way to Bughole Bridge are now being resurfaced, so if you cycle this way, expect to avoid folk in hi-viz marshalling small excavators and other such plant.

Today, my week was saved… by a crocus. I’m just mad about saffron.

February 11th – It was one of those days daylight seemed to avoid. I headed to the canal for a little inspiration, but none came. The grey just merged via a horrid, drizzly mist.

The sky was grey. The water was grey. The landscape was in shades of grey. I felt grey.

Days like these really try your resolve.