January 19th – A cold commute on a sunny morning, and lots of little delights; the mist off the canal, wildlife and plumes of steam and smoke drifting in mercifully still air. On Green Lane, Walsall Wood, road spray from the pooling water there had coated the adjacent hawthorn hedge and encased it in ice.
Beautiful and haunting.
January 16th – Scooting between Snow Hill and New Street to change trains on the way home, this snatched photo. On the left, the ‘new’ New Street, ugly as sin, dysfunctional, with a cheap, tinfoil gimcrack cladding that shows every careless dent and poor alignment in fitting.
In the centre, Birmingham’s postwar Brutalist architecture, and on the right, something altogether older.
In the middle, people, lights and a city hiding and surviving beneath the rule.
I love this place with all my heart. Even the ugly bits.
January 16th – A day in Droitwich for a change. Cold, hard and clear, I set out before sunrise, and returned as night fell.
I like Droitwich, particularly the railway station, which has a very sleepy, rural feel to it, despite being quite busy – I think part of the charm lies in the old-style mechanical signals that are still in use here.
The town itself is pleasant, and in places quite hilly with makes for interesting cycling.
It was a hard day’s work and I was glad to finish and that it was Friday, but not a bad end to the week, all in all.
January 9th – A long day at work, and a blustery commute there and back – but at least it blew me home. Had to nip down to Stonnall on the way back, and noted that the Old Swan Pub seemed busy. A pub that’s changed hands a few times, I think in this day and age it must be hard work to make it pay.
It looks well loved and cared for at the moment, and it looked to be humming inside.
It also looks brilliant at night.
December 23rd – Tired, horrid day, washed out. The end of a working day. Heavy with a headache, buffeted by the wind, and finding the roads hostile despite the lighter traffic, I headed home from work for the last time in 2014.
I whipped the camera out as I waited on the lights at the Arboretum Junction, and as I usually do, watched the traffic move past in a blur.
Only the clocktower and the traffic light remain constant.
I was glad to get home. Glad to finish the year. And so, a holiday, family time and fun, and then a new year.
That’ll do; that’ll do.
December 16th – A grim return. I’d been in Birmingham on a late run, and as I left the train at Shenstone the rain was getting quite heavy. Without waterproof trousers, I got soaked. It wasn’t a fun ride, to be honest, but I did realise upon cresting Shire Oak Hill that I hadn’t noticed cycling up it. That’s the sign of familiarity, I think.
Come on Christmas, I’m knackered…
December 15th – Brownhills High Street. Darkness, rain and lights. Time to grab a takeaway, get home, dry off and have a mug or two of tea.
It felt like Christmas there today. Something about the lights, night and rain; every year, I always feel there are obstacles between me and Christmas – need to get x job finished, attend y event, buy z etc. and they steadily tick down until the holiday.
This year, I seem to have cleared most of the hurdles early, and I have a decided air of smugness about me. This can’t really end well.
December 15th – A spin around the canal up to Pelsall on the way home, just to try and get a good angle on the sunset that was developing, and while pinning it down, it rained.
An odd, cold evening that felt oddly airless and dank. But it was so beautiful, just the light, and water. I was glad to catch it, even if I did get wet.
December 8th – I noticed it particularly in Victoria Park, Darlaston; this was now a winter place, and the low sun was doing it justice. It was only morning, but looked almost like the golden hour. Days like this, the light is like honey all day.
This sun, the weak but beautiful one we’re blessed with for the shortest days of winter, lights the red, red terracotta of the Black Country wonderfully, and there’s no better place to enjoy it than Darlaston.
December 8th – A shock today, commuting on a cold, hard morning with the wind against me; I noticed today that the leaves had gone and winter was truly here. It was chilly, and I felt it in my bones.
The sun shone, though, and passing on the Ring Road, I noticed the site of the proposed new cinema between Tesco and Stafford Street in Walsall had been cleared of scrub and it looks like work might be about to start here.
It’ll be interesting to see what develops.
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