Tag: Silver Court gardens

#365daysofbiking On the waterfront

April 16th – Life may be on hold at the moment, but Brownhills has been steadily changing and improving for a few years now, and I can’t see that process slowing up much, even with the current unpleasantness caused by coronavirus.

A few short years ago the view up the canal from Silver Street towards Catshill Junction would have been blighted by the empty market place and waste ground where Silver Court Gardens once stood, a set of five tenement blocks that really were quite grim.

But now the view of houses and trees in blossom over limpid, peaceful water is a world away from those bad days.

And I continue to watch my community evolve.

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May 10th – Ever get the feeling you’re being watched?

Returning after work to Brownhills down a sunny, limpid canal, I felt a wee bit like I wasn’t alone.

And then I spotted ginger, watching me from behind the reads by the new development at Silver Court Gardens.

That’s one gorgeous little cat.

December 23rd – Further on, I caught Morris Miner and Silver Street in better light than had existed the day before. With the lights on the trees, and the worst of the blue LED light installed to illuminate him failing, the statue looks much better by night, and even as something of Vegas about hime.

The pickaxe still annoys me though.

I note the building works continue at Silver Court Gardens and their lights are already helping to make what can be a very desolate spot just a bit more welcoming.

February 21st – a blustery, squally Saturday, and I had errands to run. My energy was low, and I was still dog tired from work; but in the afternoon the riding was pleasant enough. I passed the site of Silver Court Gardens, where the 1960s maisonettes had been demolished a decade ago, and noted that finally, work has begun on the 160 dwellings to replace them. To me, this is good news; this swathe of barren wasteland has made the town centre desolate, wind-blasted and empty for far too long.

It’ll be interesting to see how the development goes.

August 25th – an oddly depressing day. A quick spin out to get some shopping in took me to Brownhills. This wasteland is what used to be Silver Court Gardens – once one of the most deprived housing estates in the UK – now demolished over six years ago. Nothing has replaced the homes of the hundreds of people who lived here. Is it any wonder the town is dead? How long will Brownhills have to put up with huge tracts of desolate wasteland?