Tag: Co-op

#365daysofbiking That was a bit nippy

November 18th – It was a cold, thankfully dry journey home. The roads were glistening with ice, and the main ones, a fresh scattering of road salt.

The first icy commute home of the winter is always hard. My hands and face were cold. It hurt.

Stopping at a shop in the way home, I noticed that the temperature was marginally still above zero degrees Celsius.

That was a shock. it felt much colder.

This journal is moving home. Find out more by clicking here

from Tumblr https://ift.tt/34qigbI
via IFTTT

#365daysofbiking You’re having a laugh

June 29th – Spotted while I was on my way to calli at the Co-op on the way home: This wonderful frog, who appeared to be laughing.

I have no idea if frogs laugh or indeed, find anything funny. But this gorgeous creature posed for photos under bike light with the most wonderful facial expression.

I was very pleased to see it – not seen many frogs this year.

This journal is moving home. Find out more by clicking here.

from Tumblr https://ift.tt/2XmUcaw
via IFTTT

October 20th – Oh my goodness this is clever, but I’ve given up trying to think of a way to explain it – it’s just best to take a look yourselves.

The Co-operative store at Streets Corner in Walsall Wood seems very popular, and the new build has been a generally welcome addition to the local amenities. In the same building, there are two other retail units, still to be occupied. They looked blank for a while, then some time ago, so clever person came up with this.

Behind the windows, images of the inside of a store have been arranged at angles and flat on, to look like aisles in a store. Because of the angles, as you move past, they give a remarkable convincing three-dimension effect.

A reader pointed this out to me ages ago and I’ve struggled to find a way to represent it. It’s a really neat optical illusion, and works best at night.

I take my hat off to the designer…

March 21st – I returned from Walsall in the beginnings of a storm of wet, heavy-flaked snow. It soaked through my jeans, and made me cold, wet and miserable, a mood not helped by the utterly relentless and unforgiving easterly headwind.

Walsall Wood church looked good in the cold night, and the lights of the new Co-op store on Streets Corner – only opened that morning – were cheering.

March 13th – There’s a lot of changes in progress at the moment in Walsall Wood, as I noted when I passed through tonight. The new Co-op store is finally ready to open on the 21st March at Streets Corner, and nearby, a new car sales showroom is being built on the site of the old library. Several applications had approval there, from a complex of flats to a convenience store. Nice to see something built after five years of dereliction.

Derelict for well over a decade, the abandoned terraces opposite Walsall Wood School are in the process of demolition, to enable the construction of a new housing development. It’s been a long time coming, and although it’s sad to see old buildings go, they were in a terrible state.

I hope the builders have the sensitivity to preserve the name-plaque and incorporate it into the new development, as was done with the Ivy House, nearby.

March 3rd – I’d had a grim day. Most of the day the weather was beautiful, but I was stuck working and couldn’t get out to enjoy it, and I felt lousy, too. When I finally got free, at dusk, it was cold and the coming darkness uninspiring. I shot up Brownhills, then up to Walsall Wood, but the subject I though of didn’t make a good night picture. I had to pick some essentials up, so I skipped into the Tesco Express at Streets Corner in Walsall Wood. Open a couple of years now, it’s seen off the independent newsagent next door, and given other local shops a tough time. Tables could be turning, though, as a new Co-op is due to open opposite it and I’ll certainly use it in preference to these robber barons.

November 23rd – I haven’t been over Streets Corner for a few weeks. Returning that way this evening, I noticed the boards were down from around the new Co-op store that has been built on the former car sales lot on the lights. It’s looking good – a little odd at first, but it quickly grew on me. It’s a lot larger than I expected. I like the Co-op – and it’ll be nice for the Tesco Express over the road to have some competition. It’s good to see Walsall Wood getting something new for a change.

Wonder when it’ll be opening?

October 8th – I don’t like to see the gradual erosion of our pubs. But since so many are being lost, it’s nice to see when they’re saved – if repurposed. I’m thinking here particularly of The Muckley Corner, which is now dwellings, or The Brown Lion, in Pleck, which is a refuge. Like the Knave of Hearts in Bloxwich, the Spring Cottage in Shelfield has been converted into a bustling Co-op store. Whilst the loss of the pub is sad, at least the building was saved, and not altered too much. If only more closed pubs could be saved like this…

July 8th – Whittington is developing a bit of a reputation as an ecologically sound, green village. They hold ‘Green’ fairs here quite often, and there are food markets here at weekends. All of which are really, really good to see.

The effect, however, is somewhat spoiled for cyclists who choose to visit the local Co-op general store. The cycle parking, consisting of two wheel bender stands, have been concreted in too close to a wall to work for an adult bike. Even if they were not, the clothes bank and bin prevent you from using them.

Well done, folks. Next time, ask a cyclist first, eh?