Thursday February 4th 2021 – It was again cold, and rather wet, but I couldn’t resist a quick stop in Kings Hill Park to check out the snowdrops.
They are such lovely, delicate but hardy flowers. It was a rotten morning weather-wise but they were bright in the gloom.
They never see the warm spring themselves, but always speak of its promise. Harbingers of better days.
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Wednesday February 3rd 2021 – It was a wet, cold and intense commute home – and I had to go somewhere I rarely do – Bentley Mill Way, which bisects old industrial land beside the M6 motorway, between Junction 10 and Darlaston.
This is a place where there’s a faded showcase cinema, some of the usual out of town outlet formula stores, a restaurant, and the derelict remnants of an odd attempt to create a night time economic centre here.
At one point there was a pub and a couple of night clubs, and the council were trying to expand it as a leisure area. But the nightclubs closed: When drunken revellers emerged into the cold night onto what was a remote, barren trading estate with no transport and little distraction, there was regular trouble. Development stalled. The project died.
So now the road is a hinterland, lined by scrub, factories, the remnants of the leisure and retail dream, and some dereliction. And now the burghers are trying to get industrial investment here, so have thrown money at improving the local road system, including the odd scheme of lowering the road beneath the 1700s canal aqueduct that limits large vehicle movements to the south.
The millions spent have so far yielded nothing, and the lights under this unusual aqueduct cycle most of the day unwatched by anyone.
But at night, it’s got that wet sheen and urban light thing going on, and it’s strangely captivating.
And there’s always this grimly fascinating, faint smell of failed dreams.
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Tuesday February 2nd 2021 – In Kings Hill Park in Darlaston, the spring flowers – crocuses mainly, but snowdrops too – are up now, and as i’d not been there for a week or so, they were a cheery surprise on a bright, but sadly sunless day.
The miniature daffodils here are also ready to burst forth and although it’s still bitterly cold, spring, like the flowers, is coming up. I can’t tell you how happy that makes me.
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Monday February 1st 2021 – The year ticks by, faster than I’d have imagined, given the circumstances. My beloved spring will not be far off now.
On the way home from work I had to drop a letter coffin Brickiln Street, and as I returned to the High Street, I stopped to put my gloves back on, and realised the view was oddly Hopper-ish.
I don’t know what it is, it just appealed to me. These quiet side streets are still very much my Brownhills: I know them as well as I did when I was a kid, I frequently came up here to the long-moved Library, my second home, the site of which is still a vacant plot years from the old library’s demolition.
There was nobody around much on this Monday evening, but Brickiln Street was very much crowded with my memories.
I put the gloves on, had a wistful last look, and rode off, all the time wondering where all the intervening years had gone.
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Sunday January 31st 2021 – Some trees have a property, and it’s mostly, but not exclusively oak trees – that they do not drop their leaves when they die off in autumn.
Instead, the tree keeps the dead leaf attached, shedding it the following spring.
The behaviour is called ‘Marcescence’ and scientists don’t really know why it occurs. It may be to protect leaf buds from browsing animals like deer, or to faster recover nutrients from the dead leaves by absorbing them back into the tree directly, rather than through the soil.
Whatever the reason, it’s very curious.
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Saturday January 30th 2021 – I had to nip to the shops on an errand, but wanted to miss the worst of the lockdown queues, so went as late in the day as possible, and then headed up to Walsall Wood to get some bits for a DIY project, I realised it was still just about light at 4:45pm.
Spring really can’t be far away now, the light is flooding back.
Even on this grey, chilly winter day, it filled my heart with joy.
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Friday January 29th 2021 – Brownhills has had a bit of a fad in recent years for stencil graffiti art by – it must be said – out of town artists, the most prolific of which seems to be North Birmingham street artist Itchers.
In total we have They See Me Rollin, in Brickiln Street, Flower Man on the side of Archers Florist, Winnie the Pooh on the wall of the Church Road Car Park, and now, this. This isn’t an Itchers, I don’t think.
This lad chasing the like balloon appeared on the wall of the former Forward Garage some weeks ago, and is a competent enough artwork.
It’s just a straight lift of Banksy, though, and whilst nicely and confidently executed, it would be a pleasant change to see some non-stencil street art.
Just for a change.
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Thursday January 28th 2021 – I noticed on the Walsall Road in Darlaston that a camelia in an overgrown front garden is heavily in bud.
I’ve never noticed this particular one before – it’s large and seemingly untended.
Camelias are beautiful spring shrubs with huge and plentiful, but sadly short-lived blooms.
I’l looking forward to watching this one: Fascinatingly it seems to be in the garden of a house converted to flats, with nobody bothering about the front garden.
Looks like the tenants are in for a beautiful surprise…
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Wednesday January 27th 2021 – I like Morris, the Brownhills Miner as I’ve posted here many times. This stainless steel, Soviet-style collier is the embodiment of the town’s history and we’re all very proud to have him on our central island.
But for what he is – an impressive work of not just art but structural engineering and welding – he’s bloody hard to get a good night photo of. I think it’s that the lighting is bad, and the nearby street lights always make getting a good angle tough.
On this misty, cold night with lingering snow on the ground, it must have been a chilly gig to be the town hero. But he did make for a better than usual photo, which pleased me.
I don’t understand why such a gorgeous piece of art should be so difficult to photograph at night. It’s enough to break the heart of an iron man.
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Tuesday January 2th 2021 – The snow hung round and was still quite fresh looking – unusual for snowfalls here, which can be heavy, but rarely last long when down.
Coming home on the canal, I thought I’d try my old muse Clayhanger Bridge in the snow. For some reason I’m having real trouble getting this bridge at night with the current camera. I just don’t think the software in the device knows what to do with the image.
It still came out well though, although much darker than I expected.
I can see that with this camera, I still have lots to learn.
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