Tag: galton

#365daysofbiking Warm rain and what lies beneath:

September 22nd – Thanks to a reminder from the most excellent Stymaster, I got to attend the Tipton Canal and Community Festival, all be it on a really wet, rainy dray. The weather notwithstanding, I had an excellent time, as can be seen on my main blog here.

Having ridden to Tipton from home in the rain, I decided to carry on down the canal into Birmingham following the old mainline into Birmingham.

This time of year, the Galton Cutting is gorgeous, and it’ll be even better when the leaves really start to turn.

The huge maze of scaffold under the M5 viaduct at Oldbury is hugely impressive from underneath, too. I wonder how many delayed, queueing motorists above know the complexity of what lies underneath them?

June 8th – A lovely evening after a grey, dull day so I fell out of work and hit the canals into Birmingham, then over Sandwell Valley Park to Smethwick, then back through the City Centre, a curry in Aston and home.

The summer really is excellent this year, I must say, and in the unexpectedly golden evening, the canals, city and park glowed beautifully and were beautiful and vibrant. 

I don’t think I’d rather live anywhere else as long as all this is just a short ride away.

June 12th – Just found this from a few weeks ago. 

Riding out of the Galton Valley canal cutting in one go up on to Galton Bridge. Real time, no stopping. 

For a tubby old bloke, I still have me moments. 

Music ‘Forest Dance’ by Jethro Tull.

(Source: https://player.vimeo.com/)

March 14th – I escaped work in Tyseley at lunchtime, and headed onto the canals of Brum on a fine sunny afternoon. From the Soho Loop, Winson Green; polyanthus in Centenary Square; the canal mural opposite The Bond in Digbeth; Galton Bridge and Ludgate.

Sometimes, this city still feels like it’s mine. A cracking ride.

November 20th – It’s all about stations this week. Off to Telford for a meeting early, then back to Tyseley. A day of delays, missed connections and grim, grey weather. I get to see a fair few of the local rail stations around Birmingham and the Black Country, and they’re a varied bunch, from the Victorian to the modern, from the beautiful to the pug-ugly. This one is Smethwick Galton Bridge, built adjacent to the imposing, remarkable iron bridge canal crossing it’s named after. Straddling two canals, the station sits at the crossing point of the Snow Hill former GWR line and the Stour Valley Line between Wolverhampton and Birmingham. Everywhere you look from this complex, multilevel edifice there is history, be it Chance Glassworks decaying nobly down the line, or the historic, grim 60s architecture of Smethwick. 
A station so complex, I’m not sure how it was planned, in a place who’s history is far more convoluted. Not bad for a grey Tuesday waiting for a late train. 

March 12th – Half at work, half not. Just doing a few bits and pieces that matter, then going my own way for a few days. Today, I popped to Darlaston for an hour or two at lunchtime, then headed off on the canal to Birmingham. The sun came out, and Birmingham and the Black Country performed beautifully. Anyone who says this place is ugly hasn’t looked. This is a gorgeous place, and I want to shout it from the rooftops. Up yours, London…