December 18th – A trip to Middleton Hall via Buzzards Valley for a cuppa and some cake, as well as a few card deliveries and other errands.
I was rewarded with a truly stunning sunset, but also I saw Middleton Hall and the courtyard in the dusk. It was gorgeous, and made me feel very Christmassy.
I think I’m finally getting down with the Christmas spirit…
December 12th – I can’t lie, it was an absolutely foul day for commuting; in the morning the temperature hovered around zero degrees and there was a surprising damp chill to the air. By my return in the evening, the temperature had risen and if felt warm again, but there was a constant foggy, misty drizzle.
It was bad cycling weather. I’d had to nip into Brum as I often do at this time of year to drop a bottle off. The trains were bad on the way back, so I ended up getting a train to Four Oaks and riding back from there.
Only 7 more working days before a holiday. I think they’re going to be long ones. Hope the weather settles in time for Christmas.
December 10th – In a bizarre twist of events, in an already hectic, busy day, I had to go to Leicester to collect something from a shop. This pre-christmas errand wouldn’t have been so bad, but I had to pop in to Aldridge on the way, and the weather was awful.
It started to rain before I set out – steady, but light. When I got to Aldridge, the errand I was on there proved to be pointless, so frustrated, I headed for Blake Street to get a train to Birmingham. The train, unusual even for a pre Christmas one, was heaving. I’d tangled with the crowds going to an Aston Villa home game.
Dishevelled and irritated, I hopped on a warm, peaceful train to Leicester, and as I found my way to the mall where the shop in question is, the rain was very nearly stopped. I locked the bike up, and completed my task.
Re-emerging from the electric glare of the Mall it was pouring with rain. I returned through a beautifully glistening city, alive with interesting bikes, shops, lights and a rather wonderful but slightly wonky Christmas tree. I was wet, but Leicester was gorgeous. I love that place, I really do.
Returning from Blake Street was a trial. There was local flooding. The Chester Road and Brownhills High Street were awash with standing water the traffic wasn’t handling well.
But I’d completed what I needed to. I felt better. Mission accomplished.
December 7th – And when I reached Tipton – busy with rush hour traffic – I found a delight of street, shop, Christmas and traffic lights all blending into one magical, beautiful electric night.
Just when you think you’ve seen it all, the Back Country steals your heart anew.
December 3rd – Another great Christmas tree – always one of my favourites – it the one on Swan Island at Burntwood. Always with really nice lights, it’s a lovely sight and erected by the local Rotary Club – if I remember right, their membership sponsors it.
A lovely sight that cheered me up like Walsall’s tree did yesterday,
November 24th – Returning late gave me an opportunity to feature something here I mean to every year, but rarely get chance to – the remarkable Christmas lights at the house near Rushall Square.
I usually pass in times of heavy traffic, or frustratingly when they’re not switched fully on but this fiesta of LED light takes place broadly from the end of October until New Year every winter.
It’s not, I have to say, to my taste, but there’s clearly a huge amount of work, time, and no little use of electricity there, so hats off to it and my compliments to the householder.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…
November 17th – It felt a long way from Christmas on this sunny but chilly day, but I found something quite festive in Hortonwood: the holly and the ivy. The holly berries are bright red and plump, this year’s crop, and the holly leaves are so shiny and perfect the look at first glance like they might be made of plastic.
The ivy, creeping up the fence in front, is also rather beautiful.
An odd find on a gorgeous day.
December 27th – A cruise around Brownhills in the dark of a damp but moonlit night was odd. It didn’t feel like Sunday, in what must be considered the perineum of the year, this netherworld between Christmas and the return of normality at the turn of the new year. It felt like nowhere – there were no people about, the factories and homes were quiet. Only the pubs showed life, and the open, but deserted takeaways on the High Street.
This time of the year can either be really enjoyable, or purgatory. It’s never middling.
December 25th – I passed Oak Tree Farm near Stonnall, and although the farmyard was deserted, I was pleased to note many of the ducks and a couple of sows had survived the Christmas purge.
Dozing peacefully in it’s sty, the sow will never know of the other pigs in blankets being fussed over in homes nearby.
Extra points to the cheeky robin who seemed to be looking for lunch while the tenant was asleep.
December 24th – Back on the bike in Brownhills, I had to pop up to Walsall Wood on an errand at tea time. I stopped on Anchor Bridge to try and capture the lights on the new flats there – not brilliant, but it conveys the frenetic last-minute traffic and bright lights.
A little bit of electric night in Brownhills.
BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking 