Tag: painting

#365daysofbiking Where it Itchers

June 21st – Returning in the half light interregnum between day and night, I passed through Brownhills to get a takeaway.

Passing the cut through between High Street and Short Street, I noticed the street art stencil artwork by Birmingham artist Itchers – and it occurred that in the six months or so that it had been here, I hadn’t featured it.

Painted on the side of Archers Florist, it’s much loved and the work of a clever, talented and witty artist.

Can’t think why I haven’t featured it before.

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March 10th – Another drizzly, grey day but thankfully the rain was more intermittent. I had much to do, and slipped out mid afternoon. Hearing the covers had come off the Ogley Junction footbridge, I spun up to take a look. It’s looking fine indeed.

The work on the deck has been far more extensive than I expected, and the paint job is lovely. I just hope they attend to the poor state of the abutment brickwork, but other than that, top job.

Beware though as the footpath hasn’t been made up yet and voids and tops exist both sides that could catch the unwary.

March 1st – I took the chance to check out the Ogley Bridge renovation work, as I feel sure it must be close to reopening soon. As I suspected, if you approach the works from the Chasewater side it’s possible not only to enter the work canopy, but leave from the far end, with less hauling of the bike – just a bit of a throw and clamber around some sectional fence. 

The scaffold cross-members that originally blocked the bridge deck have gone.

I note that the painting now seems to be over and that the deck has been surfaced with a nicely grippy texture, so as I suspected, reopening cannot be far off now, which will reopen the route for less adventurous cyclists and walkers.

This renovation has been much more thorough than I anticipated.

February 18th – A call in to Ogley Junction to see how the renovation of the footbridge is going, and it’s looking really good.

The shot blasting has finished, and the metalwork is being painted in black and white, and it looks splendid, I must say. Nice to see the approaches either side have been concreted too – the voids on either approach have been quite a challenge on a bike for some time.

The only thing bothering me is the missing bolt from the one repair plate brace – I do hope they fix that, but otherwise looking very good. It’s nice to see this historically listed bridge getting some love.

February 4th – The restoration of Ogley Junction footbridge continues apace, and now encased in a plastic tent, a noses through the screen shows the rails have been shot basted of old paint and a coat of primer has been dusted over.

The stripping has revealed the old, construction-time repair to the north side in all it’s glory with handmade nuts and washers, and this seems like a thorough job.

The bridge isn’t passable with a bike, but is on foot if you’re prepared to hop on the work pontoon. It’s a bit bouncy, and you need to watch for ropes and trip hazards, but it is possible to cross if you’re bold.

I was hoping they’d sort out a diversion, but it doesn’t seem that they have. Mind, the rate they’re cracking on, it won’t be long until they work is complete.