February 7th – On the subject of interesting architecture, in the last few days I noticed this peculiar and rather charming twin tower arrangement in the back gardens of central Darlaston, behind the handsome houses of Rectory Avenue and the Post Office. I have no idea what it is, or if it’s accessible. It’s visible across the workshop yards of Church Street, too. Does anyone know anything more about this?
January 30th – Darlaston was similarly beautiful again. I love Victoria Park and this partof town – it’s so quiet and peaceful. I love the soft contours of the old railway cutting and the oddly delicate wooden footbridge. The green turf contrasts beautifully with the Victorian, four-square red brick townhouses. Once, steam trains thundered through here, now just walkers, a little local traffic and the odd, awestruck cyclist.
Just a minor point, though. Does anyone else get a slight Teletubby vibe from this landscape?
January 27th – Today was the exact opposite of yesterday, well, sort of. A beautiful but chilly ride into work, on a very spring-like sunny morning. Then it howled it down on me on the way back home. Since it was such a nice morning, I cut through Cartbridge Lane and hopped on the cycle track at the back of Ryecroft cemetery, then down into The Butts via Mill Lane nature reserve. The sun was gorgeous, going from hazy to bright blue skies. I stopped in Victoria Park to reflect on how fine the view of Darlaston was, and just what a huge amount of culture was encapsulated in one shot. All apart from that bloody metal tree…
January 24th – Sadly, there’s another derelict building in Kings Hill, Darlaston that I’ve as yet not recorded. The Scott Arms has been empty and boarded up for a long tome now, and like the other lost pubs in the locality, I doubt it will see life as an inn again. I don’t know what it was like as a pub, this isn’t my patch, but it’s clear to see that the decline of local industry and a change in social habits have sealed the fate of many a backstreet, blue collar boozer like this. A tragedy.
January 24th – I’m fascinated by some of the curious things people do to make mobile homes. From van conversions to trailers to… aberrations like this, really. I have absolutely no idea what’s going on with this. Parked near the old Charles Richards factory in Darlaston Green, I’ve never seen it move. It appears to consist of an ex-military Landrover special vehicle with a truncated caravan mounted on the back. Seemingly keeping the ensemble together in a frame of tubular, square-section steel. Quite what the deal is with the outriggers is unknown. I don’t know who owns and built this, but I salute your inventiveness…
January 18th – One of my predominate emotions regarding the Black Country, and Darlaston in particular, is that of loss. Looking from the Walsall Canal at the James Bridge aqueduct, right on the Walsall/Wednesbury/Darlaston border, the much improved but still grimy Tame picks its way through abandoned brownfield sites and wasteland, past the gas storage depot and into the hinterlands of Bescot and the shadow of the motorway. Once, it wound its slimy way around huge factories, refineries and metal mills. IMI, Rubery Owen, FH Lloyd, GKN. Between this wind-blasted canal bank and those proud twin churches, hundreds of thousands of men, women and children worked. In vile conditions, often uneducated. The noise would have been deafening, unlike the gentle lap of canal water and wind rush I hear today. Sometimes, it’s as if their improved standard of living killed the place. They destroyed us for wanting better.
It doesn’t matter anymore.
You can’t put it back, as an old mate used to say.
January 12th – An incredible sight this morning in Victoria Park, Darlaston. Trees in blossom. I have no idea what they are (the pink one looks like it’s a weird graft from the trunk) but surely, this must be some kind of record? The evergreen at the back also has bright yellow-green blooms. This year is all out of synch. I hope if winter does come, it doesn’t do these, the most optimistic of trees, any harm. They deserve only the best of seasons for coming out so soon.
January 11th – I also passed the old Three Crowns Pub in Kings Hill today. Once, this pub would have bustled with the workers from nearby factories like Servis. Now, it seems to be the home of Martin Inspection, and still seems to be in use – the lights are often on when I pass at night. I think this is a lovely building, with some very interesting details. Sadly, it has no architectural or historical value, so I suspect it will eventually be lost, maybe when the old Servis site next door gets redeveloped.
January 11th – Darlaston was gorgeous again this morning. Just in front of the swimming baths, looking down the former railway cutting that is Victoria Park, I admired the long shadows of winter. I was reminded of the lyric to The The’s ‘Perfect’…
Here comes another winter, of long shadows & high hopes,
Here comes another winter, waitin for utopia,
waitin for hell to freeze over.
Matt Johnson wrote that in the recession and depression of the early 1980’s. It feels like history, politics and culture are stuck on repeat at the moment.
December 16th – I’d been looking forward to a snowy, wintry commute. The weather forecasts had been for a cold morning with maybe a settling of snow, but it was not to be. Sadly for me, I was sold short and have never quite been so disappointed to find myself cycling on a bright, sunny and temperate morning. Here at Darlaston Green, the sun caught the wet town and made it beautiful. Yet another example of why I love Darlaston so much. Ah well, the snow can wait…
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