April 13th – Only mid April, yet the canal at Lindon Road, Brownhills is greening up well. On a cold evening as I headed on an errand up to Ogley Hay it was cold, but there is spring everywhere. I can’t really get over how quickly and seamlessly we seem to have progressed to this. It doesn’t seem five minutes ago it was Christmas.
Who knows where the time goes?
It would be nice if last week’s sun and warmth came back to see us, though…
April 5th – A ride marked by the growing trend towards renewable power. At Thatchmoor, a huge wind turbine turns slowly in the afternoon breeze. Beautiful, elegant and awe-inspiring, I love these silent harvesters of the wind.
Yeah, bring it on. I’d love one in my garden. Hell, make that a whole wind farm….
At Hademoor, huge solar panels rotate as the sun moves through it’s daily arc. Much as I adore Rugeley, it’s clear to see that power generation of the future will be working with, rather than against nature in the decades to come.
I’m glad to see it.
March 30th – I keep banging on about this, but it is rather great. On a blowy but beautiful spring morning, I dawdled through Kings Hill Park. With every week of spring it gets that little bit more green, that bit more in bloom.
Today it was gorgeous. Can’t wait until there’s some leaves on those trees. Wherever you are, get into your local parks. Walsall’s people work hard to keep our open spaces looking great. Enjoy them while they’re at their most beautiful.
January 5th – In the New Year Quiz on my main blog this year, I asked about the bulkhead pipes visible sticking from the mounds of a couple of local landfill sites; the answer was that they were gas collection points, to feed a gas turbine that generated electricity from the otherwise wasted methane evolved when the buried refuse decomposes.
This plant – humming away continuously in the way only a gas turbine can – is just off Brickyard road in Aldridge and has been running for at least 3 years fuelled by as from the Vigo Utopia landfill, generating electricity which is fed back into the national grid.
Refuse operators will paint this as ‘green energy’ – it’s no such thing; it’s not renewable, is finite and is no cleaner than any other methane power plant. It is, however, making use of gas that formerly would have been wasted, so it’s a good thing.
There is a similar setup at Highfields South, not more than a mile away.
October 28th – Coming into the town centre from the Green, I passed this old building in Church Street I’d not noticed before – shame it’s not in better condition. Does anyone know what its original function was? Tramway power houses normally say so. Perhaps it was a depot or workshop. Under the horrid primrose paint there’s some interestingly ornate brickwork there.
I was also intrigued by the corner townhouse adjacent ‘Favourite House’ – what a curious name.
October 28th – Autumn seems to be lasting forever this year. The wind was still punishing, but it was a lovely warm commute with sunny spells. I took to the canal to get get to Darlaston, and hopped off at Bentley Bridge. The canal looked lovely in the morning brightness, and Darlaston Green could have made a postcard.
I’m normally down in the dumps at this time of year when the clocks go back, but it hasn’t really seemed to trouble me this year – perhaps because the weather is so good.
October 23 – A little further on up the canal, the vegetation is changing colour, but is still remarkably green. The canal here is peaceful, and a little urban oasis where herons fish and ducks potter in the rushes. The roving bridge here was to allow access to the Anson Branch – a lost, truncated waterway whose last job was mainly to supply water to Reedswood power station, itself long demolished.
The fate of the Anson Branch was sealed by the M6, which cut it short, but the bridge is still in use to access the road from the other side.
September 11th – In Darlaston Green, a sight to bring joy to the coldest, hardest heart – a single, 7 foot tall sunflower, growing right in front of a living room window. I imagine it to have been planted by a child under adult supervision – possibly a grandparent.
You can’t fail to adore this.
September 2nd – I will continue to rave about the beauty of Darlaston until I have convinced the whole world how wonderful it is.
Passing through Victoria Park and past the Police Station having been knocked off course by the resurfacing, I noted the lady, content in the warm sun, lost to the world reading a book under the bolt-tree sculpture. The Police station is still a gorgeous building, and it’s leafy surrounds are the perfect setting.
It seems a world away from the Black Country, but at the same time, it’s close to the heart of it.
This is the Darlaston and Black Country I adore.
August 12th – Sweet rain fell in short, sharp showers as I rode home, often out of an almost totally clear, blue sky. The weather is certainly odd at the moment; the wind has been quite strong and it’s been very changeable.
I’ve forgot in this really quite dry summer the music of rain falling on the canal and leaves as I pass. In summer, it’s an occasional delight to the senses.
So long as it doesn’t become too frequent..
BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking 