Tag: signs

September 16th – A frustrating daytime of delays and faffing before a decent night out with family. I was in Walsall getting – of all things – parts for the car. In Ablewell Street, I stopped and looked at a sign I’d passed many times, and always amuses me.

I know it’s an organisation (and a worthy one at that) but the sign is almost random in it’s minimalism and in context of such a busy urban place, perfectly pitched.

I love it. I needed breathing space, so I took five minutes and thought about the serendipity of the sign.

August 30th – Posting letters at Darlaston Post Office, I spotted this very old metal plaque fixed to the wall above the postbox.

Think about this. Dig through the archaic legal language, and consider it. What on earth were the circumstances that were so severe this notice was required to be made in metal and fixed so prominently?

Answers on a postcard, placed in a postbox in full accordance with the bylaws please, to…

July 12th – Spotted at the bottom end of Scarborough Road in Pleck, the local sandwich shop has been taken over.

I like places named with humour and a tongue firmly in cheek. Not like the clever-clever names for hairdressers and narrowboats that rely on crap puns, but genuine warm humour.

One of my favourites was a emergency retail glazier that used to exist (and may still do) called Total Board ‘em, and a cafe in Sandwell called Sam ‘n’ Ellas.

I wish Fay and her baps well, and like the idea of good food in a good mood.

Mmmm. Bacon.

July 6th – Passing through Walsall and making a few calls on a periodically sunny morning, I was intrigued by the laser cur plate in the railings and the shadow it cast. 

That’s a lot of effort to go to for a plain, mostly overlooked bit of street furniture, and I only spotted it by the shadow cast.

I wish the photo had come out as well as it looked at the time!

June 15th As I cycled home up the Scarborough Road in Pleck, I noticed some banners on the railings of the Abu Bakr Islamic School on the old Edward Shelley School site.

Pupils and staff had taken time to make signs thanking firefighters involved in the terrible Grenfell House disaster in London.

This isn’t the first time I’ve seen this school observe support for victims of tragedy: they had banners in support of the victims of the terrible French terror attacks of 2016.

It’s so nice to see this. It made me stop, and think and that’s no bad thing. My compliments to those who undertook this small but significant act of solidarity with those who do their best to protect and save us all from peril, and great risk to their own safety.

January 15th – One of those horrible, headache-grey wet winter days when it never really seems to get light and never stops raining. I plodded out to Chasewater, after checking the waxwings were still at Silver Court. Their numbers had increased, but the light was way too poor to get pictures.

Chasewater was empty save for a few brave souls, and the cafes had closed early. I mooched for a bit, looking for interesting wildlife, but found none, not even the large white geese which seem to have been missing now for weeks. I hope they’re OK but I guess by now they’re very old and I think they may have passed away.

I noticed with some amusement that new signs have been erected about not feeding the birds near the fort (due to pollution in the gravel there) – and something looked odd about the spacing of the ‘s’ on ‘birds’ – and then I realised someone had hastily removed an apostrophe. On all of them. Oops.

Also, is that comic sans?

The canal route I took back to Brownhills on the other hand was quite interesting. In atrocious light I saw the goosanders again, and I wonder if I’d ever be able to get a decent photo of these odd birds. The two remaining Abbey Road ducks were out and about too, as was Mrs. Muscovy, but her photos were so poor as to be unusable.

An awful day to ride, but I did see some interesting stuff which at least made braving the elements worthwhile.

May 27th – I had stuff to do near Allcester, and finished early, so rode over to the canal at Browmsgrove and rode home all the way on the canals, through Birmingham. A great, though tiring ride, the canal was as fascinating and quirky as ever. 

I loved the giant Lego in Aston, and was mindful of the slow men in the water. The boater dogs were charming, and I’d forgotten Brittania in inner-city Brum.

A great ride.