Tag: canal

January 11th – Another rare daylight commute, so again I took the canal into Darlaston. On my way I became aware of a series of yellow marker paint spots on the towpath, and it took me a little while to work them out.

The canal towpath here is to be resurfaced soon, and disturbed soil in places pointed up the fact that someone had been surveying. Markers near the bridges indicate a gas main runs alongside the canal here, and the spots indicate the position of the pipes. At the old arm crossover near Haniel, the pipes emerge and cross the disused inlet, and one can observe the spots follow it’s course.

This part of the towpath would benefit a little from resurfacing, but it’s nowhere near as bad as the stretches through Aldridge and Pelsall. The resurfacing policy is absolutely baffling.

January 8th – Still periodically bouncing the strange bike to test the forks, I took it up Catshill Bridge to try it over the drop on the way back down. When up there, I realised the low cloud was making for interesting colour in the night sky, so set the camera on the parapet and let it do it’s thing.

Not a bad picture, really. Streetlights have a lot to answer for…

January 7th – I love inversions, when mist rolls off water low into the air. I don’t see many these days, and certainly none as dramatic as those from my childhood, but the character of the area has changed so much in 40 years that I shouldn’t be surprised, really.

I was out after dark and noticed fleeting, transitory clouds of mist forming over the canal at Silver Street, intensifying, then disappearing. It was stunning.

I tried to photograph them as best I could, but this is really something you have to see first hand…

January 3rd – I had to ip out to Screwfix at sunset, so again hopped on the canal. Nothing as interesting as the Goosanders, sadly, and having forgotten the camera, I chanced my arm with the phone at what was a pretty nice sunset.

Cameras on phones are getting better and better, despite the obvious limitations. I’m quite pleased with this.

January 3rd – Still rough this morning, I took a leisurely cruise on some errands, and was surprised to note on the canal near Pier Street this couple – Goosanders. I know they’re fairly common on the local lakes like Chasewater and Ryders Mere, but I can’t recall seeing them on the canal before.

Fish eaters, they must be a sign – like the kingfishers and herons – of good water quality and a good fish population.

They were fast moving, so apologies for the poor pic.

December 31st – I looped back into Brownhills, and took in one of my favourite night photography muses – Silver Street and the canal at night. I never get tired of this, the interaction of lights, architecture and water are always lovely.

Looking back to the flats, soon this view will change. The market place – deserted for 5 years – will be houses, and as the development towards the flats completes, life and light will return to the canal side, transforming the character once more.

Change is what I guess this journal is all about, and as ever, I welcome it, as I grudgingly welcome 2017.

Happy new year to all readers and followers. Here’s to peace, prosperity and happiness to you all, wherever you follow me from.

December 28th – It was one of those so cold, but so beautiful sunlight winter days when there was thin ice on the canal and the usual winter towpath quagmire had frozen solid, so I headed to Birmingham on the canal. From Aldridge, via Rushall Junction, Tower Hill, Aston and Brindley Place. After a call at the German Market I went up to Soho, over Sandwell Valley Park and home on NCN 5 via Yewtree and Walsall.

The kingfisher was the best that could be done – the birds are very active at the moment, but they don’t stay still for long! In the sunset photo, that’s St Augustine’s at Edgbaston, as viewed from the canal mainline at Rotton Park. the sky really was that colour.

A beautiful day, and a lovely ride.

December 27th – I needed to get out, and a silly challenge on social media led me to the Trent Valley, to prove Rugeley Power Station still exists. You’re probably best not asking, to be honest…

I ended up do a tough ride up to Hanch, then into Armintage, back along the canal to Rugeley, they over Stile Cop and back home via Prospect Village and Chasetown. 

The sunset – I caught it as I travelled back up the Trent Valley – was gorgeous, golden and cold. I mashed up Stile Cop from Rugeley, and didn’t stop until Chasetown. A great ride.

And guess what? The power station is still there. Out of use, but still lording it over the valley.

December 25th – Mrs. Muscovy was still in her favourite spot when I passed by. Still solitary and apparently contemplating. Escaped from the nearby smallholding, still resisting recapture, this funny fowl is inscrutable and something of a local canard celebrity.

I wished her a Merry Christmas, and after nearly a year on the run, bid the Newtown One another year of singular freedom.