November 2nd – The mist and horrid weather continued throughout the day. Patchy, it would be relatively clear one moment, and quite dense the next. Commuting was a challenge – it’s amazing to see people driving and riding around in these conditions without lights.
Fog is horrid to ride in. It drenches you and gets into your clothes and hair. It’s cold, and the extra vigilance it requires is mentally exhausting on a long commute.
Hope it clears up soon.
January 13th – it was a hectic, draining day. I had a meeting in Brownhills, then had to got to the doctor, then on to work. My infection has returned and my stomach was bad again, ever since finishing the antibiotics. It was about 11:30am as I cycled to work in Darlaston. Heading through Walsall town centre for a change, I passed this pair of Victorian semis that used to be neighbours of the now demolished Mellish Road Church. They’re actually very interesting, as they were just saved from demolition – the subsidence that caused the closing of the church affected them, too; but better construction and less weight helped them survive. They’re a very good illustration of the effects of subsidence – in this case caused by limestone caverns – as outwardly, they look straight, but when studied, there isn’t a single true line anywhere on them. A testament to the tolerance of Victorian building techniques.
July 22nd – How to get rid of a listed building. These masons are carefully removing examples of significant stonework from the Mellish Road Methodist Church, which was sadly damaged during the operation to fill limestone caverns under the Butts area of North Walsall 22 years ago. Never well built, it suffered from cheap, ambitious building techniques, common to many such churches. Having taken the substantial compensation, the original owners sold the church on to developers, whose attempts to do anything with the site were roundly rebuffed by he planning committees for 20 years. Finally, after vandalism, decay and a visit from the municipal arsonists, the church is being demolished, clearing the way for the owners to build whatever they want.
Oddly, Walsall Council paints this as some kind of triumph, when in reality it’s a sickening, depressing example of how commercial interests outflank attempts at development control. But it’s more than that – a decade ago, an application was made to turn the church into a community centre, which was declined, too. Had that been approved, these men wouldn’t be taking apart this sad, decaying building now.
BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking 