#365daysofbiking Really Greet

Wednesday, October 7th 2020 – I was once again visiting a client near Tyseley, and the meeting was done and dusted quickly. I’d got there by hopping onto a train to Aston, and dropping on the canal. On my return, I visited one shops in the Balti Triangle for snacks, treats and ingredients, then rode back on the canal home.

Birmingham’s inner city captivated me as it always does – but the plight of it’s Victorian pubs is concerning me, with the Swan and Mitre in Aston up for auction again, and the Marlborough in Greet still decaying, slowly.

Few things comment more eloquently on urban decay than stopped public clocks.

It was, of course, the canal and its culture that was the star. Nice to see Anatomix’s Tangram Fox is still proud on the side of the Bond, and Bill Drummond has been at it again under Spaghetti junction. But the colour was not limited to the graffiti: Autumn is really setting in now.

A lovely ride on a nice day – but quite chilly.

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June 9th – A free afternoon and a bimble along the canals into Birmingham, via Great Barr and Saltley, a stop for tea at the wonderful @urbancoffeeco before heading home on the the waterways through Smethwick, West Brom and Darlaston. I love cycling the urban canals here – a 45 mile run around the best – and worst – our conurbation has to offer. The sheer variety of texture, surface, architecture and wildlife has to be experienced to be believed. The day was changeable with sun, overcast periods and light showers, and thankfully, little wind. A fine ride.