Tag: planning permission

June 5th – A better day. There was warm sun and it was dry with a keen wind. I had to nip down to King’s Hill near Darlaston, and passed the derelict, abandoned Methodist Church. I haven’t been this way much of late, and since my last look at this architectural stunner, it has continued to decay gracefully. The building has been sold, and permission granted to convert it into apartments, but work has not commenced yet.

At least we’re not losing the building.

What fascinated me today was the way nature is reclaiming the place. When the Church still held it, although unused, volunteers used to tend the grounds. Now, it’s run wild, and a riot of begonias, roses and shrubs are taking over. 

It’s sad and beautiful simultaneously.

February 1st – I’m coming to realise the value of multi-storey car parks as crow’s nests for taking a view of a town. I rode up to the car park on the roof of Aldridge Shopping Centre to see if I could find a decent photo, and I wasn’t disappointed. 

One thing that’s always piqued my curiosity here is the truncated access ramp that never was; at the back of the centre, an unfinished sloping access way is abruptly truncated on the edge of Rookery Lane, hanging in mid air without explanation. Legend has it that the required planning permission was not in place to complete it, or denied, and the alternate spiral one further down was built instead.

Wonder if that’s true?