March 5th – And on I pottered. The dark and dusk encroached, held at bay as ever it is by the electric night of Birmingham City Centre. The traffic, the lights, the people, the susurration of thousands of unconnected lives crossing in this place.
To be still here it like being flotsam on some heaving human tide. I never tire of it.
Again, all snatched, all handheld.
March 5th – Never let it be said that I do not consider cycling a broad church; from the moment any of us owns a bike, we make it our own, unique. We confer upon it our patina, our personality and our individual stamp. We personalise, adjust the fit, add our own accoutrements, dial it in until it fits.
The handle bar area – christened by the great Bike Snob of New York blog as The Cockpit, is probably one of the most individual bits of any steed. I have a personal arrangement of controls, add-ons and positions on my rides that is unique, comfy and tried and tested.
However, wandering through Birmingham city centre on a dull Thursday afternoon, even this easy-going freewheeler found a cockpit that confounded him.
The bars. The brakes. The light pointing at the ground. I’m hoping the owner has swivelled the bars up as a theft prevention technique, but I’m not convinced.
Coo, gosh! As Molesworth might say.
June 11th – Back in Tyseley, and a change in the weather; it was dark and overcast, but rather warm as I dashed to the station. The changeable weather was reflected in the view of Birmingham City Centre from the railway bridge. Patches of light, and dark, dark clouds, threatening rain. I love this view, and everything it contains; it is Birminghame for me. The train tracks, trees, transmission towers and pub clock, giving way to office block and skyscraper.
Birmingham is a patchwork.
6th April – New camera day. I’ve been using Panasonic cameras for a while now – built like brick shithouses, they offer a good feature set, remarkable zoom range and good picture quality, all in a package small enough to pop into a pocket and always carry with you. I’d been eyeing up the TZ30 for a while – I’d had a TZ20, and liked it, but there were a few extra features in the new model – 20x optical zoom, sweep panorama, better low-light performance and so on – that I quite fancied. Able to hand down the old one, I found a camera store in Birmingham had stock and a decent offer, so I cycled into town and picked one up.
I always love a ride round Brum, and took advantage of the opportunity. Near Edgbaston Street, I realised how far Birmingham had come as a cycling city: the bike racks were full. This is in spite of, rather than because of anything the council have done. Birmingham City Council’s support for cyclists is legendarily awful, yet Brum is developing an engaging, active cycling community.
October 20th – My love for Birmingham’s canals has been well recorded here, but this to me is the essence of the city. This tunnel lies – largely unnoticed by those passing above it – beneath Proof House Railway Junction, to the north of New Street Station. The tunnel itself is functional, grubby and bleak, but is actually beautifully lit and is a veritable refuge in the heart of the city. The canals show you life from the back; old factories and yards mingle with scrubby wastes and the margins of city life. And they are charming and fascinating for it. All of Brum is here, and I love every brick of it.
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