Tag: Sandwell Valley

October 9th – Out of work at lunchtime, and off to Brum on an errand. Occasionally sunny, but mostly grey and chilly, a real autumn run into the city down the cycleway from Straitly through Stockland Green and Witton Lakes. 

The lakes were beautiful, and the swans as charmingly truculent as ever. I’d still like to know who Georgina is and why she has a way. There is clearly a story there.

Returning on the canals and through the Sandwell Valley in a blue grey dusk, seeing the mist rise over the meadow at Ray Hall was a real ‘wow!’ moment.

A great ride, proving that the seasonal change is inevitable now.

March 26th – It was a tough ride; the wind had been forged on Satan’s back step, and blew relentlessly from the southwest. My route had it behind or across me mostly, but the stretch from Gas Street Basin to Smethwick was ceaseless.

But all the while, the sun shone, and otherwise, it wasn’t bad. Birmingham and the Black Country showed itself well, in all it’s diversity.

I noted the cormorants at Sandwell Valley just for Phil. Soon, Phil, soon. I, for one, welcome our new midnight black, long billed, fish-breath overlords…

March 14th – I headed back home from Birmingham through Smethwick, West Bromwich and the Sandwell Valley. The sun was dying and it was starting to get overcast when I got to Rushall Junction, but the scenery on the way was beautiful. 

Galton Bridge still fascinates – I wonder how many folk stand on that station platform, not knowing they’re on a seemingly precarious shelf bolted on the the side of a viaduct?

The back-street architecture of the Black Country remains gorgeous, and the little-appreciated green jewel of the Sandwell Valley was beautiful. I loved to see the cormorants lallygagging on the rail in the lake, without any concern for their audience.

The flotsam wrapped around the fence next to the Tame at Ray Hall was a reminder that the spring is fragile, and bad weather not so far away…

Birmingham and the Black Country dull? Be off with you…