December 17th – A better morning – and rather warm, it has to be said. I dropped onto the canal in Walsall to avoid the traffic, and on the James Bridge Aqueduct, stopped to look at the road improvement works below. The road is being widened in a job that will take months. This area is low, and on the Tame flood channel; they certainly aren’t messing about with that storm buffer – it looks to be at least 3m in diameter.
December 9th – Walsall Council’s road repair contractors, Tarmac, have a new toy: a velocity patcher. This hi-tech bit of road repair kit cleans out potholes, then blows in a grit and fill mixture, which has a finishing coat of grit applied afterwards. It does a good job.
They’ve been using such a machine in South Staffordshire for ages, and the repairs are long-lasting and good for what they are. They certainly take the nasty surprise out of potholes.
However, just a wee complaint. The crew in Walsall clearly aren’t quite as proficient as those in Staffs, and in the otherwise nicely repaired Scarborough Road in Pleck is awash with loose grit. It’s like Chesil Beach, and very unsafe for cyclists and anyone braking suddenly.
The repair is great, much better – but that loose stuff is going to cause, or exacerbate an accident. Please sort it out.
November 24th – A gorgeous, frosty winter morning. I had a call locally before riding on to work, so when I passed through Walsall on the canal, the autumnal colours that were still hanging on looked gorgeous.
I’d love more days like these. Refreshing, beautiful, quiet – in recent years, there haven’t been enough. I’d also like some decent snow this year.
I hope the weather gods are kind to me…
November 12th – Bentley Mill Way at Bentley Bridge, between Darlaston and Walsall is closed for a major road improvement project, which seems to be starting quite slowly. As I passed today, there were a few groundworks going on and a JCB removing old tree stumps, but not much else. The closed road – that’s a surveyors car judging by the guy that got out of it – is flooded quite deeply now.
It’ll be interesting to watch this project progress: I noted yesterday on Google Maps that it’s already showing Bentley Mill Way as being a dead end. Nifty.
November 12th – The fungi are still going well, particularly the fly agaric which are particularly prolific on the canal embankment right in the heart of urban Pleck – some gorgeous specimens from young to old and weathered.
Knowing Pleck I’m surprised they haven’t been either consumed or squished…
October 30th – The morning commute was marked by the wildlife I encountered on the way. As I left home, a large male fox sauntered towards me in broad daylight, bold as brass, taking the air, before diverting over gardens.
At Jockey Meadows, deer were over the back of the woods, but I had no time to investigate.
At Pleck, I was panhandled by the central Walsall swan family of mum and dad plus two. They always come over and noisily demand food. When they realise you haven’t got any, they lose interest and wander off. Aggressive begging is a persistent problem these days.
Right in the heart of urban Pleck, a grey wagtail was an unexpected delight, bobbin around in the canal side scrub. It was a long zoom in terrible light but such a cute little bird.
While I watched the wagtail, a large rat ran along the bumper rail. He was a big fellow. I only just caught his derrière. He looked healthy, though, so the water must be clean… yes, it’s a terrible photo but it does show the breadth of local wildlife, I guess.
October 27th – Ah, Mr. Calico… we meet again. This male cat (he is male, and unneutered by the looks) was hunting mallard on the canal in Pleck as I spun through on my way to work. I’ve seen him a few times, always in exactly the same spot. He talks to me and curses me for disturbing his sport (although the ducks were honking at him and causing a drama long before I got close).
He always moves high up on the embankment from where he can look down on me in safety, then meows long wailing cries, always seeming like curses.
Somebody loves that lad. He’s in fine fettle. And good voice.
October 23 – A little further on up the canal, the vegetation is changing colour, but is still remarkably green. The canal here is peaceful, and a little urban oasis where herons fish and ducks potter in the rushes. The roving bridge here was to allow access to the Anson Branch – a lost, truncated waterway whose last job was mainly to supply water to Reedswood power station, itself long demolished.
The fate of the Anson Branch was sealed by the M6, which cut it short, but the bridge is still in use to access the road from the other side.
23rd October – Sorry about the quality of the photos today, I did something horrid to the camera settings by accident and didn’t notice. Ho hum.
From the Walsall Canal at Bentley Bridge, the gas holders at Pleck are a landmark. No longer in use, the site they’re on looks likely to be redeveloped and these huge structures dismantled. I’ll miss them, really; they were a landmark for decades for miles around, and particularly from the adjacent motorway.
But they are so very ugly…
September 18th – Ah, Walsall. In how many ways do I love thee?
I spotted this a few weeks ago. At first glance, to the uninitiated, it’s quite shocking; an ornate front door to an everyday house bearing a carved swastika.
The swastika, though, has a millennia-old peaceful history before it was stolen by the National Socialists; it is a symbol recurrent in Sanskrit (where the name originates) and one of peace and good fortune to Hindus, Jains and Buddhists. Still in common use in defiance of the Nazi corruption of it’s peaceful meaning, the Hindu culture in particular is trying to reclaim it from being associated with evil.
This beautifully carved front door is laden with Hindu symbolism, including a representation of Ganesha, the elephant-like god of good fortune and artistic wisdom. The Swastika is used often in the front doors of Hindu houses to invite in Lakshmi, the god of love, prosperity and beauty.
Note also the front gate contains the legend Patel, a common Hindu surname.
Walsall is a melting pot of cultures, peoples and trades. On a dull moring in Pleck, a beautiful thing blends into an otherwise unremarkable urban tapestry.
That’s why I love this place.
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