Tag: Darlaston

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 1st – Another piece of architecture that’s bothering me is the old Three Crowns in King’s Hill, Darlaston; another one I pass frequently, for years it was being used by a jig and inspection company, but now seems to be empty. It;s a genuinely lovely building, which underneath the fake timbers and facing really deserves a better future than dereliction and eventual loss.

The trouble is, who would take on such a building?

I feel sad about this one every time I see it. I hope it gets saved.

November 25th – Further on, near Bentley Bridge, a narrowboat passed me going a fair lick. Unusually, it was decorated in an eye-catching indian style, replete with Ganesha motif fretted into the hatch door. Equipped with a canoe, this looked like a home as well as a boat; it had that well loved but well used air that comes with such craft.

I love boater dogs. These two are clearly great mates, and I love the way the hound is wrapped, like his boss, against the cold.

A lovely sight.

November 20th – In Kings Hill Park in Darlaston, there’s a lovely recent sculpture. Paid for by lottery funding, it represents the resurgence of nature post-industrialisation, and the globe of leaf and bird silhouettes is stunning. 

Each side of the supporting plinth is a cast metal relief depicting aspects of local history and life; industry, the zeppelin raid, football and other iconic aspects of Darlaston culture. I particularly liked the bike and horseshoe nails.

It’s a commanding and fascinating thing in a great location, and I could look at it for ages. So much better than a lot of such commissioned work, this has a real feeling of being of its community, without feeling contrived, or art-by-numbers.

The fact that it took real artistic skill to create also helps.

A fine thing.

November 18th – Not all change is for the worse. Here at James Bridge, on the Walsall-Darlaston border, the road between the two crosses a river: the Tame, in it’s nascent stages. At Besot, a mile or so away, it’s in confluence with the Ford Brook, and becomes the major watercourse of Sandwell and North Birmingham.

This river used – even here – especially here – to be nothing but a foul conduit for industrial effluent; but the industry that discharged into it has either gone, or been forced to clean up it’s act, and the river now runs relatively clear.

Today, mallards drifted in the strong flow, basking in the hazy but warm morning sun. This was unthinkable even a decade ago.

I never thought I’d see this waterway clean.

November 14th – After a late night, an very early start riding into the wind in horrendous rain. It was probably the worst ride for years. The waterproofs kept me mostly dry, but I arrived drained and down in the dumps.

Out and about popping to the cafe in the morning after the rain stopped, it was nice to see the last remnants of autumn hanging on – bright red, rain-glossed berries and beautiful yellow oak leaves cheered me no end; as did the smell of wet, fresh earth, making a pleasant change from the normal metallic scent of the Black Country.

After a good butty and a bit of space, the day improved.

November 12th – Bentley Mill Way at Bentley Bridge, between Darlaston and Walsall is closed for a major road improvement project, which seems to be starting quite slowly. As I passed today, there were a few groundworks going on and a JCB removing old tree stumps, but not much else. The closed road – that’s a surveyors car judging by the guy that got out of it – is flooded quite deeply now. 

It’ll be interesting to watch this project progress: I noted yesterday on Google Maps that it’s already showing Bentley Mill Way as being a dead end. Nifty.

November 10th – I make no apology for featuring this war memorial twice in one week. Darlaston is always beautiful and poignant, but after Remembrance Sunday, even more so.

The crosses, flowers and wreaths tell their own stories of loss, valour and gratitude.

You can’t fail to be moved by it.

November 5th – Wow, in came winter. Cold, but dry and the return of a soft, hazy but harsh morning light that’s actually rather beautiful. I don’t pass down the east end Station Street in Darlaston much these days, but still love it; yes, it’s industrial and not conventionally beautiful; but I love the clashing architectures, the air of busy urbanity and the sights, sounds and smells of a busy, multicultural town.

Just wish they’d fix the potholes…