Tag: route

#365daysofbiking Motortown

October 21st – Nipping over to Bilston mid afternoon on a gloomy, grey Monday, I crossed the Black Country Route near Moxley.

There’s no dobt these new roads of the late 80s and early 90s helped to revive the fortunes of areas like Moxley, suffering huge loss of manufacturing industry, but they did leave many of them feeling like isolated islands in a see of ebbing and flowing traffic.

Moxley church still looks imperious, as it always has done. But now, it lords over a dial carriageway and the frantic hubbub of the daily grind, which I find beautiful and sad.

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#365daysofbiking Primrose and proper

April 14th – Spotted on a morning errand, these primroses and scattered down the bank of the McClean Way, the cycle and walking route on the former South Staffordshire railway line through the heart of Brownhills, just below the Miner Island.

I remember as a child watching trains thunder through here full of coal, oil or cars. Now, the lines are lifted and after 30 years of decay, the wonderful Back the Track group led by human dynamo Brian Stringer have done an excellent job of reclaiming the permanent way for public use – and their hard work continues.

These primroses don’t seem much, but they’re a huge achievement. Take a bow, folks.

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May 25th – A dreadful commute, in both directions. It was the first rainy day for ages, so I can’t complain really by by heck it was wet. I got soaked in heavy rain in the morning, battling my way through standing water and on slippery roads; then on my return in fine, penetrating, all dampening drizzle.

The roses along the cycleway in Goscote looked beautiful on it though.

Hopefully a better day tomorrow.

April 3rd – Running an errand from work into Walsall mid day, I decided to avoid the traffic and take the canal, as the resurfacing of the towpath would surely be finished – sadly, it wasn’t quite, and there’s still some plant and workmen putting the hours in around the rear of James Bridge cemetery, but mostly it’s now tarmac all the way through with a coating of tar and chip. 

At the moment, there’s lots of loose grit on top so take care – it’s skinny and hard going in places, but will improve once settled and swept.

A decent job executed well. I just didn’t really see the need, but hey-ho…

July 15th – On the cycleways of Telford, the hedgerows, verges and scrubs are alive with life, blossom, and developing fruit. I was really surprised to note today that rowan berries all along the path were ripening well. 

A bitter but sugar-laden fruit, rowan makes great jam and wine, and when ripe, will be devoured by hungry songbirds.

Bright orange, it’s one of the first berries to appear, and one of the most distinctive sights of summer. Great to see.

July 14th – Called to Telford mid morning in soft rain, I was struck by how green and tunnel-like the cycleways to Hortonwood have become. The council here cut so far up the hedges, but the upper boroughs overhang and form an almost complete arch. Riding down them in even this grey daylight makes them an emerald delight, but in sunlight, they are magical green pathways, lined with foliage, fruits and flowers.

Beauty in the everyday.

April 15th – Zipping over to Tipton and Great Bridge on a sunny spring afternoon in Moxley, closing the Black Country Route I looked right to see Moxley Church, marooned by urban development, but still presiding over the urban chaos beautifully.

A wonderful afternoon, and a joy to be out.

August 6th – I’d been in Darlaston, and returned home via the cycleway down the Goscote Valley. Despite small areas of tipping and litter, it’s lovely at the moment; the pastures and wastelands are bright with willow herb, wort, convulvulus and budleia, and the Ford Brook has tall swathes of Himalayan balsam growing tall. It’s an unwelcome species, but it is gorgeous to look at.

All the way through Goscote I watched two buzzards wheel and soar on the warm breeze. You wouldn’t think this area could be so peaceful and beautiful.

Walsall still has the capacity to surprise.