August 23rd – On my way to a friend’s house in the evening, I shot through Walsall Wood, and as I came over the canal bridge looking towards Walsall, something about the lights, the sunset sky and that window showroom caught my eye.
An odd splash of colour. It was actually raining lightly as I took these photos.
July 8th – An enervating, hectic day from which I returned late. Tired, aching and verging on a sugar crash, I relented and stopped for a rest and a few sweets at the small meadow above the new pond at Clayhanger. I’d caught it in a lovely golden hour, and I reflected on how this spot had changed. When I was a kid, this hollow leading to a sunken pond with tree-lined banks was a spoil heap standing a good ten feet above my head. Between then and now, the colliery spoil was removed, the area landscaped and allowed to mature.
Not all change is for the worst.
June 19th – Scooting late through Walsall Wood, I caught the sunset.
I haven’t caught a good one for ages – I’m just not usually about when they happen at the moment, which is sad.
I was glad to see this one. I must make more of an effort – some of the recent ones have been spectacular.
June 3rd – I found myself riding home through Walsall Wood and on through Brownhills in a gorgeous golden hour. The coos of Jockey Meadows were waiting at the gate, and keen to investigate me as I stopped to take their picture.
On the canal, the greens are still magnificent, and something about the light and water interacted and made the evening precious.
May 13th – Less dramatic and more serene was the view over the new pond at Clayhanger from the canal towpath; caught in a glorious golden hour, the fresh greens glowed in the evening, and all seemed right in the world.
I was, of course, taxed for tidbits by the same pair of geese as usual, the canny devils – all hissing and wing flaps until they get food, then they waddle off, sated.
May 1st – Like an idiot, I left my camera at home this morning. I like the iPhone camera, but after the all-singing and dancing idiot box I’m used to, it seems very limited.
I left work earlier than usual, and on my way home shot over Shire Oak hill for a spin to Shenstone and back. The backlanes were glorious and sun bathed, and it really felt like spring out there.
I’ve missed this sort of thing in recent years. It’s good to get back to riding just for the hell of it.
December 28th – The dry, still and cold day with a near cloudless sky made for an interesting sunset, with the light reflected off the haze and mist in the atmosphere rather than clouds, giving the colour a uniform, smooth transition.
Hammerwich, the A38 and Knowle Hill were all rendered precious by it. This was a very rare sundown these days and I was glad to witness it.
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.
Novermber 4th – Quite enjoying the ring road in Walsall these nights. Really gets the blood pumping.
July 18th – By the time I was riding home through the backlanes between Shenstone and Stonnall, my energy had gone, I was hot, tired and in pain. It was hard going, but the evening views and atmosphere made it difficult to be upset.
A truly gorgeous evening, of the kind we don’t get in the UK much. Such heat, but so glorious; and a storm is coming in.
Don’t moan about the heat too much, it’ll be cold and wet again soon enough…
BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking 