March 26th – Not a great day – squally, wet, windy with periods of heavy rain. It brightened up as I slipped out for the last dusk before British Summer Time commenced, and I caught the wonderful, intemperate sunset from Silver Street, looking over the canal.
For an ostensibly ugly place, Brownhills sure can take your breath away.
February 20th – A foul, grey and wet day hemmed me in and I only left the house to get some shopping in. While out, I looped up the canal and back to town; it was dark, desolate and windy and I found the experience particularly joyless.
I did find cheer, however, in the bike on the back of the narrowboat moored at Siler Street, which seemed made to measure to fit in place, and for the waterside grotto at the back of the houses on Lindon Drive which seemed like the ideal place to chill out on a more temperate evening.
A lot of thought has clearly gone into that little sanctuary.
December 12th – Heading out late, I wanted to catch the festival of music and light at the Canoe and Outdoor Centre in Brownhills – but was too late. It looked like they’d had fun though, despite the unpleasant weather.
It has been an utterly foul few weeks, this run-up to Christmas. Wind and rain, and relentless overcast days, and it’s really hit local events like Christmas markets, light switch-ons and fayres.
Let’s hope it all blows itself out for the holiday.
November 15th – I span up the High Street and back down a canal just to stretch my legs and get some air. Not too bad for handheld shots, this one really. Considering it was relatively early, I couldn’t get over how quiet the town was. I didn’t see a single soul and very few cars.
September 10th – I was busy with technical stuff all day and finally got out as darkness fell. I spun up the High Street into Brownhills, up to Anchor Bridge, and back via Catshill Junction and Silver Street, catching the lights on the canal in all their unexpected splendour.
I love that view. The tower blocks across the old marketplace didn’t work out to badly, either…
August 14th – This one’s for Kate Cardigan, who was admiring the flowers on this very boat, moored at Brownhills, as some point on the day I took these pictures.
I’ve not seen this unusual, cream-coloured craft before, but I love the flowers and tomatoes growing on it.
Just the thing when riding through a dull, wet Brownhills on a miserable Friday.
August 13th – Nice to see the swan family at the slipway next to the canoe centre in Brownhills this afternoon. They are now healthy, large birds with some degree of attitude, and long may they display it.
I thought they’d been ringed, but only mum and dad have the ID, so this brood have yet to be tagged.
They tolerated my interest with only a small amount of hissing, and they feel like good friends these days. It’s always nice to see them.
August 12th – The photography was better, but I wasn’t.
Still pretty rough, and not really any better, I got out a little earlier and bumbled off to Chasewater to catch the sunset. Getting used to a new camera can be odd and the Nikon seems to have interesting habits; it doesn’t seem to do sunsets quite the same as the Panasonic, which tended to redden them, where as this one tends to pull out the pink aspect more. It worked better than I thought it had from the picture preview.
From there, I scooted back to Brownhills as it got dark. Some shots from Clayhanger’s railway bridge using a gorillapod allowed me to experiment and found that aperture priority allowed me to get the hash, sharp light pattern I like. That was a real discovery.
I was a lovely evening, and although I felt dreadful, I’d learned something, so it wasn’t a bad trip, really.
And then there were the toads…
August 11th – I’ll be perfectly honest, I’m not very well. I’ve been off colour since the weekend and I’ve only got out for short runs; today a quick loop of central Brownhills just to get some fresh air after dark.
Still, it gave me chance to experiment with the Nikon a little more – none of these shots used a tripod, but handheld night mode on the camera. They’re OK but I’m not sure about the indistinct fuzz it makes of lights.
Need to experiment another day when I’m well I think. Here’s to better days.
June 27th – I was suffering with both a dodgy stomach and bad hay fever when I set out late afternoon for a gentle spin around the canals in Brownhills. They didn’t disappoint, they were glorious.
At Silver Street, the narrowboats were in for the canal festival taking place next day, and everywhere else was bathed in so sunlight.
I wish I’d felt a bit better, and I’d have been able to ride further, but never mind, there will be other days.
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