June 7th – I went to the steam fair at Draycott, and came back through Marchington, over Marchington Cliff and back through the Needwood Valley.
I’ve never noticed Marchington Church before – it’s very curious. It looks old, with curious, almost Eastern European influences; maybe even a little bit industrial.
What really struck me was the unusual war memorial over the doorway.
May 20th – I had reservations about the fate of the Kings Hill Methodist Church, next to the park at Kings Hill, Darlaston – but it looks like they were needless.
The former church, having closed several years ago, was sold to a developer, and planning approval sought to convert it into flats. I was expecting some horrid rush job, but it’s been taking a long time, and seems to be very thorough. As I passed today, the roof was in the process of being relaid using the same tiles. That’s a big roof and can’t be cheap.
it’s nice to see such a curious and historic building getting some love after so many years empty.
May 7th – I nipped out on an errand from work at lunchtime, and fate had it that I’d get caught in heavy rain. I saw it gather over Wednesbury, but the relentless wind of late had gone, and it felt warm. Once I was soaked, it wasn’t unpleasant, and it felt like a warm, spring storm.
By the time of my return, the sky had cleared, the sun was out and St Lawrence Church in DArlaston looked beautiful through the greening trees of Victoria Park.
If you don’t like the May weather, just wait a few minutes.
April 29th – I crossed Kings Hill Park on my way back from a trip to the retail park at Junction 9, and caught sight of the two sisters of Wednesbury, looking gorgeous in the sunlit, clear air. Both are beautiful – a landmark for miles, I adore Church Hill in Wednesbury and love to see it on the skyline.
I make no apologies for featuring this beautiful view again…
April 28th – I returned gingerly, saddlebag laden with Dhansak, poppadoms and naan, up the Lichfield Road from Sandhills. That view across the fields of home Farm at sunset always makes me catch my breath; Ogley Hay, at it’s centre the 1850 parish Church of St James, in a view that’s changed little in a century.
Beautiful.
April 15th – Zipping over to Tipton and Great Bridge on a sunny spring afternoon in Moxley, closing the Black Country Route I looked right to see Moxley Church, marooned by urban development, but still presiding over the urban chaos beautifully.
A wonderful afternoon, and a joy to be out.
March 27th – Sunset over the Tame Valley canal, looking from Rushall Junction at Ray Hall, out to Wednesbury, with the twin spires of Wednesbury clear on the skyline.
People say that pylon ruins this view. On the contrary, I think it makes it. What built the Black Country – canals, power and church. All in one shot.
A great ride and beautiful, but chilly evening.
March 27th – Another afternoon escape, and I hit the canal again, up to Wolverhampton for a meeting, down to Coseley and round the old line through Tipton, Dudley Port and Oldbury, back up to Toll End, then up the Tame Valley to Rushall Junction, and back home. A pleasant 45 miles, in decent conditions, but the towpaths are still very muddy and heavy going.
I nipped to the shops in Wednesfield for a snack, and the primroses around the church there are a stunning sight – it really is quite a lovely High Street they have there.
February16th – I passed St. Johns Church, in Walsall Wood, early afternoon, and a bright flash caught my eye as I passed. Doubling back, I saw the sign was a QR code.
For goodness sakes.
I’m not a fan of QR codes; by the time you’ve downloaded an app, fiddled around scanning the code and waited for it to decode, you could just go to the site from a printed, simple web address.
Predictably, this piece of obfuscating technological flapdoodle leads to this website, so there’s no need to scan it yourselves…
February 18th – Next door to Kings Hill Park, the former methodist church is steadily being converted into flats. It will be interesting to see the result, and how well executed it is. In the meantime, the vegetation has been cut from around it revealing a rather interesting foundation stone.
I hadn’t noticed before, but the lead has been stolen from the building and the roofs and gables are in a parlous state. That won’t be a cheap fix.
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