November 7th – It had been an awful day with two dreadful commutes, on in heavy rain, the other in a wet darkness inhabited by very, very crazy traffic. Heading towards Brownhills over Anchor Bridge I stopped for a breather and realised I had a good angle on the new flats. I realise the architecture is a love/hate thing but I really like them, but they’re almost impossible to get a decent photo of.
This didn’t come out too badly.
November 5th – Wow, in came winter. Cold, but dry and the return of a soft, hazy but harsh morning light that’s actually rather beautiful. I don’t pass down the east end Station Street in Darlaston much these days, but still love it; yes, it’s industrial and not conventionally beautiful; but I love the clashing architectures, the air of busy urbanity and the sights, sounds and smells of a busy, multicultural town.
Just wish they’d fix the potholes…
October 29th – On the edge of Darlaston’s industrial area between Bentley Bridge and the town centre, there sit this curious pair of cottages, on the corner of Gladstone Street and Station Street. Under the paint and facing, these are rather old, note the great chimney pots on the cream one.
I get the feeling there’s a story to these places. Wonder what it is?
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.
September 27th – Having visited the farm shop, returned via Weeford and Little Hay. Autumn is really kicking in now, and even on this very dull, overcast day, the colours were lovely. By the drainage lagoon at Thickbroom, you’d never realise you were less than 15 metres from the A38.
The rooftops of Weeford – John Wyatt’s exemplar village, built as an advertisement of his architectural prowess – still fascinate me. From the high cemetery near the community hall, the view is commanding and beautiful.
I noted that the land north of Park Lane, between Shenstone and Little Hay is now almost totally given over to free range pigs, snorting and rooting through the brown earth. They must outnumber local residents by a healthy number, and their produce – a quantity of which I’d just bought – is fine and tasty.
I couldn’t help thinking though that if they ever got together and rose up, we’d be under porcine rule within a matter of days… perhaps Animal Farm wasn’t a satire after all.
Septemver 27th – I’ve been passing this odd, low farmhouse/barn in Knowle Lane, south of Lichfield, for years. It looks disused, but someone clearly used to live here.
It’s more redolent of a railway station building than a farm, but has impressive chimneys. There seems to be a bigger house behind, and this the outbuildings, but it’s hard to tell. It has some curious features, including the door or aperture halfway up the wall.
Since the lane here is a partial holloway, it’s impossible to get a good angle for a photo, but this is a fascinating little bit of architecture. Does anyone know the history?
September 15th – Returning to Birmingham via Snow Hill station, an absolutely remarkable view up Great Charles Street to Paradise Circus over the Queensway Tunnels. Several styles of architecture here from Victorian to Brutalism.
And beneath it all, a beautiful, glorious city lives and breathes.
This is my Birmingham.
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.
June 3rd – I’ve often thought that one of the most attractive things in a person – male or female – is if they don’t realise just how attractive they are. As I’ve got older, I’ve begun to realise this applies to places too.
One of the reasons Walsall is such a gem architecturally – and it is, despite the abuse of it’s more conventional historic assets – is that it doesn’t realise just what a wealth of diverse riches it has. Stop in any suburb or part of town. Look around. Somewhere, close by, there will be something remarkable – not necessarily beautiful, but always engaging. And the town as a whole doesn’t really know.
I came into Walsall from Aldridge and took a route through Highgate. This house caught my eye while I waited for a reversing driver to complete their manoeuvre – just study it; take it in. Possibly not at it’s best, but from the chimney pots down to the front wall the detail is incredible. A fantastic roofline and gables, and the detail in the window arches.
There are treats like this all over this town, and Walsall just doesn’t know about them.
May 15th – Today, I found myself in Droitwich, which is a place I used to go a lot, but rarely visit these days. A bright, sunny and warm day, it was a pleasure to be there.
There’s just one bit of Droitwich that really, really irritates me: just off the island at the top of Salwarpe Road, there’s a modern newbuild housing development. Some muppet in the design office decided they were going to make the new block of apartments look old, by building in false bricked up windows and bolting on very, very artificial architectural ironwork aping S brackets and circular tie plates. The effect fools nobody, and is visually and conceptually abhorrent.
Whoever designed and executed this dogs dinner really needs a crash course in good taste. It ruins an otherwise reasonable building.
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