Tag: desolate

December 31st – A bit of a bug and a mountain of admin and accounts paperwork for work kept me home, but the weather wasn’t great. I slipped out at teatime, and sped along the darkened canal through Brownhills to Chasewater. 

There was no moonlight, and for once, Chasewater in the dark was uninspiring but not so the M6 Toll. For once quite busy, I waited for a gap in the traffic which bunches strangely.

I’m not keen on new year, to be honest; I dislike the forced jollity and felt quite down; but as ever, a ride on my cyclic antidepressant did the trick.

March 2nd – Escaping a heavy afternoon of bicycle fettling, I skipped out on a new transmission at dusk. Enjoying the freedom, I headed up over Wyrley Common for a bit, out beyond the old level crossing at the top of Engine Lane. Heading back towards the factories at dusk, I jumped half out of my skin at the surprise of being greeted from the shadows of the scrub by a ne’er do well in a grubby anorak with the hood pulled up, emanating a strong smell of dope. The transmission got quite a test, there…

Catching my breath back near the Hussey Estate, I noted how desolate the site of the old garages at the rear of the Pelsall Road had become. When I was a kid there was decent street lighting here. Only the welcoming lights of the Activity Centre next door stopped it being utterly black. An unsettling ride, for sure….

November 14th – Lichfield Trent Valley railway station at night appears even more grim than it does in the day. The harsh lighting, surprisingly dark corners and hard, human-unfreindly surfaces make it oddly photogenic. I hate this station with a passion, and curse every time I carry my bike over that footbridge, but the metalwork and gas discharge lighting hold my attention at night. Dystopia or beauty? I can’t decide.