Tag: mystery

April 16th – For some weeks now, I’ve been perplexed by the appearance of what seemed like odd, helical antenna on the roofs of tall buildings around urban areas. I kept seeing them from the train. I grew quite interested in them, and decided to find out what they were. I tried to find one to photograph, and it took me over a week to do so. At one stage, they were so elusive I thought I must have dreamt their whole existence.

Today, I spotted two or three where I thought I’d seen them before – on top of office blocks in Birmingham City Centre. I eagerly took these pictures, posted them on social media, and asked what they were. It turns out they’re not antenna at all, but helical wind turbines.

They are micro generators. The reason I couldn’t find them is that when spinning, you can’t see them.

I’m fascinated – Cheers to The Aardvark, Paul Groves and Barry Carpenter, amongst others, who helped me out.

March 19th – Whilst at Catshill junction admiring the cat, I noticed that Humphries House, the Brownhills tower block recently refurbished by Walsall Housing Group at no small expense, seems to have the boys in again.

It seems access cradles have been installed again on the front of the block. That must be costly. Wonder why? Anyone know?

Perhaps they’re feeding the mice…

February 24 – Flowers have again appeared on the miner railings in Brownhills, and I have no idea why. There is no note. They are attached firmly with cable ties, and there are three separate bunches, bundled together. I can’t think of any fatalities here. The wreaths tied here at Christmas were soon cut down and taken away, which I though was rather sad.

Does anyone have any idea what this is all about?

31st December – A few folk have noticed these two wreaths tied to the central barrier on the Miner Island in Brownhills. Fellow local blogger Warren Parry asked about them yesterday, and I said I’d check them out. Passing today, they appear to have no labels. I have no idea what they’re relating to. 

Can anyone help? A small, sad mystery. 

October 25th – A much better day. The weather has cleared as we’re apparently moving to a cold snap. The air was clear and sharp, and only the odd patch of drizzle persisted as I left work. I had stuff to do in Birmingham and wanted to visit the Night Market in Walsall later in the evening, and at teatime found myself at Snow Hill Station heading for my favourite coffee shop for food and a cuppa.

Snow Hill was rebuilt in the 1980’s, and today I spotted a feature I’ve never noticed before, that has me completely baffled. I’ve used this station hundreds of times, yet never noticed this. Much of the concourse are is tiled in old-style plain, but highly glazed ceramic tiles. On the wall opposite the steps from platforms 1 and 2 is an inset detail of a cat. I could find no other instance of the is decoration, and have no idea why it’s there, about 18 inches off the floor. Is it a reference to a station cat of times past, or some other piece of whimsy? Any ideas?

September 25th – The mystery of the bean field continues. The commute home was grey and made grim by late trains, but at least it was dry. Coming back along green Lane to Walsall Wood, I noted that the fields of beans here – unlike the ones in Lynn, near Stonnall, hadn’t been harvested. They’re just rotting in the fields. Whether that’s the plan, and it’s just a crop rotation technique, or whether the lousy summer ruined the crop, I have no idea, but I’m hoping someone can explain…

September 8th – This is a relic of a different time, and most people never, ever notice it. This barcode sign, fixed to a lamp post on the Chester Road in Brownhills, just down from the Shire Oak, is a remnant of a system devised in the the eighties and implemented in the nineties for automatically assessing road maintenance. Surveying vehicles would drive the roads, checking the surface, just as they do now, but in the absence of cheap, accurate GPS, onboard systems looked for markers like this. Upon registering one, the recorder then reset a distance counter. The marker sign was read automatically, and the location of a defect being recorded by the distance from the last marker seen. Thus repair vehicles could locate faults the same way. Each sign gave a unique number. The whole network was obsolete in less than a decade, but the signs remain, puzzling anyone who notices them. 

September 5th – The Beans that have fascinated me in the field in Lynn, near Shenstone, are just being harvested. They are as dry as old bones, both plant and pod, and something has cropped the whole plant at about six inches from ground level. There’s no residue left other than stubble. I didn’t see it happen, and so far, just the perimeter ofthe field has been harvested, so I’m none the wiser…

August 31st – Here’s another one I can’t identify. I noticed it today growing up along the palisade fencing along the canal access steps of Walsall Wood High Street: some kind of creeper, the leaves are almost ivy-like, yet this isn’t evergreen or leathery in appearance. The single red berries are rather odd. Can’t ever recall seeing anything like this before.