Tag: shops

#365daysofbiking A beautiful approach

December 26th – I love Chasetown High Street – day or night, it’s actually a great little thoroughfare: Busy due to the mix of housing and shops, the hill combined with the mixed architecture makes it fascinating.

On a wet Boxing Day evening, on the way back from seeing family it was nice to stop and take a picture.

I’d still like to make a low rent version of the Bullitt car chase here. But on choppers or BMX bikes. It’d be fab.

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#365daysofbiking Vanishing points

November 4th – Returning from work late, I spun down the High Street as I usually do, riding along the parade of shops called Silver Court. This odd, split level semi-brutalist building is probably in it’s last years now and has never been – shall we say – salubrious at night, but I actually adore it: The forced perspectives and weird lighting effects always make me think of the great Mancunian designer Peter Saville.

I can see this place being swept away before too long, and I doubt many will miss it: Except me.

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December 23rd – Again up at the sparrow’s cough, this time I needed to go to Bridgnorth, and again had a long day before me. The dawn was warmer, and the early morning less grim than the day before.

At Silver Court, the newsagent was just open – but the building lights hadn’t clicked on yet and the shop sign made for an odd, otherworldly, brutalist portal.

December 7th – And when I reached Tipton – busy with rush hour traffic – I found a delight of street, shop, Christmas and traffic lights all blending into one magical, beautiful electric night.

Just when you think you’ve seen it all, the Back Country steals your heart anew.

December 9th – I remain fascinated by deserted urban spaces at night. This small parade of shops stands just off the A5 Watling street at Brownhills, and was built to serve the housing estates that sprung up there in the postwar period. It is fair to say that its had ups and downs, and more than its fair share of transitory tenants. I find the design odd; there’s little parking nearby, and the curious fall from the road level makes it seem almost subterranean. When I passed tonight there didn’t seem to be a soul around, and I think, in an odd kind of way, it was quite haunting.

October 7th – Bridgtown, in Cannock, is a quirky little place. In essence, a former mining community, it exists as a little island all on it’s own. Although it is part of the wider Cannock conurbation, it seems to be separate, and has idiosyncratic, brick-paved side streets full of great victorian terraces. It also a a very distinctive range of shops, and I’ve never worked out quite why. Here, you can buy vintage clothing, Landrover spares, traditional sweets, or a tarot reading. This is a great place, and I’ve never worked out why it’s so unique.