Tag: Inner City

#365daysofbiking Splendid isolation

May 8th – I’d had to ride into Brum to check out something for work. Public transport is unusable, and the day was lovely so I rode all the way on the canal.

At Aston Junction there’s a garden ruin of mown grass just by the canal bridges there, and within, I noticed an artist.

Clearly busy under his straw hat, he seemed engrossed in his work.

I didn’t think he had noticed me at all, and the dedicated, solitary pursuit of his art was fascinating and just a little sad.

As I left, I bid him a cheery goodbye and without looking up, he wished me a good ride.

Lockdown is doing odd things to us as a society, and I kind of like it.

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January 25th – I wanted to get asian snacks in for my workmates as a treat. The best place near to Tyseley is Mukhtar’s, in Small Heath, so on the way to work this morning I hopped off the train one stop early. I discovered the shop didn’t take debit card payments, so dived onto Small Heath High Street to use the ATM. I was struck – as I always am here – by the imperious nature of the architecture, repurposed for mundane shops and bedsits. 

Today, Small Heath is a bustling, busy, inner city suburb, teaming with life and a very, very diverse population. But when these places were built, what was it like then? Genteel? Gentrified? Semi Rural?
Look at the wrought iron, arches and architraves. Appreciate the gables, towers and bays.

Curse the fact that few ever look up and notice.

April 26th – I love the backstreets of Leicester. The terraces here have a lovely, period feel and I adore the busy, community air. At 4:15 in the afternoon, sounds of music, kids playing, the smells of foods cooking. Urban life in all it’s forms. Following on from observations by Kate of Lichfield Lore and good pal [Howmuch?], today I spotted the built-in boot scrapers I had never noticed before. I just love the grace of the old corner shop, too. This was housing built to provide homes for the working class, by the industrial oligarchs. Oddly, I think they did quite a fine job.