January 12th – In Lichfield on an errand as night fell, and as always, in love with this place.
From the quiet of Cathedral Walk with it’s remarkable perspective, a somnambulant Minster Pool to the hectic traffic of Saint John Street, this tiny city never disappoints.
It’s not a bad old place really…
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January 10th – A grey, damp and misty day made for trying journeys to and from work, with frenetic, inattentive traffic and poor visibility with a somewhat patchy, unpredictable kind of fog.
There was no escape, but diving onto the canal at the Black Cock Bridge for the last run to Brownhills was a welcome respite from the tension.
Clayhanger bridge wasn’t terribly mist-shrouded, but the hazy air made for a great twist on one of my favourite local muses.
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January 9th – On the canal near the overflow at Clayhanger someone has tethered a fibreglass pleasure boat. I’m not sure if it’s being lived in or not, but seems to be. However, when I rode past in the dark this evening, one end had been untied and the craft had swung out into the water.
I don’t know who owns it or what it’s doping there, but someone clearly cares for it. I am becoming aware that waterways are currently hosting a number of unfortunate folk who would be homeless but for their often down at heel boats.
An odd one.
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January 8th – It’s not often I feature here photos of things that aren’t there any more. But in this case, I had no choice really as I just had to share.
Heading home along the canal to Brownhills, between the Black Cock Bridge and Clayhanger Bridge in darkness, I was brought to a sudden, screeching halt by… a group of deer on the towpath.
Something had spooked them up ahed and they were running toward me, but seeing my light, they deflected into the copse adjacent and disappeared into the darkness.
So, here was a group of deer.
An oddly unsettling experience…
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January 6th – A fast, long ride over Cannock Chase from Pye green, down Sherbrook Valley, down Pepper Slade and Abrahams Valley, back to Stepping Stones and over Milford and Shugborough saw me riding the canal back to Armitage in darkness.
The ride on a dull but very warm day had not been great for photos, but the canal around Rugeley and Armitage more than made up for it.
A 48 mile ride on a grey but lovely day was just what I needed. Longer rides are making me feel better again.
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January 5th – Heading back up the High Street to get a takeaway, I passed the now well-lit Morris with the lights on the surrounding trees looking beautiful.
I will never tire of photographing this statue. Is is by turns, dramatic, beautiful, ridiculously out of place, preposterous and wonderful.
Fantastic by day, even better by night. Morris symbolises home and the town I love.
And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
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January 5th – I had intended to go for a long ride – but the weather was grey and miserable and it was cold, so I stayed indoors until darkness, then slipped out on some errands.
Some long exposure photos on the canal between the Jolly Collier and old cement works bridges came out really well – thirty seconds with the camera on timer held solidly to guard rails gave excellent results in what was otherwise pretty much urban darkness.
Sometimes the short journeys turn out to be the most rewarding.
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January 4th – A stop on the way home on the North Street Bridge, the crossing point between Walsall’s Butts area and Birchills. The view from the railway bridge to the new college and town has always been great at night.
But sadly, no more.
The welcome electrification of the Chase Line railway below has had an unfortunate side effect of ruining the shot, with the overhead gantry stealing the foreground. But I don’t mind – I’d rather have the more reliable commuter service.
The college anyway was dull and in darkness, clearly not open yet from the Christmas break, and Austin House with it’s peculiar white halo was stark in the darkness.
Ah well, change is what happens while you’re not looking… There are other aspects on this view, I guess…
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January 3rd – On my way home, I crossed Kings Hill Park. I expected this cold, harsh evening to have much clearer air, but it was in fact quite misty and the view of the twin sisters of Wednesbury I’d hoped for – clear and well defined – was actually a murky grey image in shades of grey and very pale yellow electric light.
But it was rather beautiful in a very dark, Turner-is way.
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January 2nd – I’ll start this with a note about this journal. Older readers will know I started this journal on 1st April 2011after being encouraged to do 30daysofbiking by ace cyclist and top Dutchperson Renee Van Baar. From the moment I agreed, the die was cast.
Sadly, I was very ill with food poisoning the following New Year, so never rode a bike on 31st December 2011, and 1st January 2012. But I steeled my resolve, and I carried on, and I never missed a day since. Every day from 2nd January 2012 I have got on a bike and ridden somewhere.
From 100 mile plus rides in one day, to trundles to the shops, I have recorded my daily life as a cyclist, in all its ups and downs. That’s 7 years, or 2557 successive days (including 2 leap years), and about 63,000 miles.
I adore keeping this journal – both writing it, and creating the photos.I welcome feedback. If you have something to say – that I should stop, continue or do something differently, please get in touch by commenting or mailing me – BrownhillsBob at Googlemail dot com.
Today was my first day back at work and on my way back, I headed up the canal to Newtown. I had forgotten to charge my camera, and it was flat, so these are actually photos from an iPhone, which just shows how much phone camera technology has advanced.
When I started this journal in 2011, my phone would not have been remotely capable of images of this quality.
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BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking 