November 5th – Stopping on the Pool Lane bridge over the M6 Toll to try another long exposure shot, I noticed the lights here seem to have been changed to LED white from the old orange sodium ones.
Whilst the change is undoubtedly for the better, I miss the orange glow and the peculiar light of the older types – but it’s interesting to see a shot like this with such clear and true colour.
June 10th – Anyone interested in the canals of the Black Country knows about Smethwick Galton Bridge – the beautiful cast iron structure; the multiple railways, roads and two canals intersecting at different heights.
However, there’s something not half a mile away that’s as wonderful; where the M5 crosses a railway, which is running alongside two canals, and crossing a third.
This is a fantastic thing – right next to the sadly derelict Chance Glassworks, Victorian Aqueduct jars with 60s brutalism, which pays no heed to the water. A fine, fine thing that makes one wonder at the progress of engineering, the wildlife that perches in such situations, and the smallness the scale makes you feel.
You may not agree, but it’s beautiful in it’s harshness and ingenuity.
February 14th – Also caught in the sunset was the M6 Toll, Britain’s toll motorway, recently put up for sale by it’s banker owners, presumably because this botched, badly conceived project isn’t making enough money.
Frequently next to empty, people never flocked to use it as the tolls were considered too high, and the whole misadventure – which was at one time to be the future of such roads in the UK – does little except illustrate the folly of a country where we can no longer invest in anything for the common good.
When everything – even the most basic infrastructure schemes – have to turn a profit – then this is what we end up with. We need to stop thinking about price and get back to value.
February 12th – A mad, mad, bonkers season. Discernible by the blossom before the leaf, this is blackthorn (that’s sloe) in bloom on a motorway embankment in the Black Country.
Out on an errand in the morning, I spotted loads of it in healthy, bright bloom. As a hermaphrodite flower I’m not sure if this early blossom will be good or bad for the crop come autumn.
Along with the daffodils now widely in bloom, this early spring is like nothing I’ve ever seen before.
November 27th – In Telford, the skies westwards were foreboding, and eastwards more optimistic, but it was to be a terrible afternoon both in terms of work and the weather. The stark beauty of low sun and early winter cycleways was gorgeous, but the western sky wasn’t making idle threats and I would return home in a rainstorm, battling bad connections having had a terrible day.
Sometimes, the omens are not good from the start.
October 27th – I had to nip to Priorslee to pick something up. The trail crosses the M54 via a pedestrian/cycle bridge that twangs gently when you cross it, and resonates with every large lorry that passes underneath.
From the bridge, the embankments of the motorway were displaying wonderful colour even on this dull day, and the view to my destination looked almost bucolic and mysterious.
Autumn has it’s moments.
February 3rd – A nice sunset, and an excellent moon tonight. I caught the red sky over the M6 from Pleck and I was struck by the apparent speed and flat landscape.
My goodness, it was a cold run home tonight. Very enjoyable ride, though.
March 20th – It’s been a very, very tough week, and I was glad of the peace and quite when I found myself having to visit Telford. Cycling to Priorslee on the cycleway, spring is on the way there, too; this line of blossom (probably blackthorn, but maybe wild plum – thanks, Linda!) along the embankment was impressive. Spring is really here now, and I’m loving it, even on this dull day.
January 27th – Telford. Unusually, off to Priorslee to pick up some paperwork before heading back across town.
I love the desolate symmetry of this cycleway bridge over the motorway. It twangs gently as you cycle over it.
Of such things, tiny pleasures are made.
December 26th – I nipped out again in the evening. Crossing the tollroad bridge at Pool Road, I took a shot of a deserted M6 Toll. For quite a long time, there were no passing cars at all. So quiet.
It’s like a ghost-road. But then, everywhere was quiet, I don’t think I saw a soul. Christmas renders everywhere ghostly, I guess.
BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking 