December 15th – In Walsall Wood for a takeaway, and the church looked beautiful with the Christmas tree in front like that. I was tired, it was late, and a snatched mobile phone picture.
I was glad of the ice tyres, though: there was black ice everywhere and it was a cold, hard night.
December 1st – Visiting Walsall Wood on an errand on my way home, I stopped to admire their excellent Christmas tree in the grounds of St. john’s Church, which is always a personal donation by the local councillors, which is jolly nice of them.
The church also looked lovely in the cold night.
The Wood is absolutely lovely at night… even more so at Christmas.
August 11th – I had to pop to Shenstone on an errand on my way home from work, and the chance to ride these sleepy, familiar lanes, even on a dull day is wonderful.
I crossed Church Hill through the churchyard of St Johns, purely as I hadn’t been up there in a while. I have to say, the grounds maintenance at the rear in the old graveyard is currently not a patch on what it was, but I guess the wildlife appreciates the lack of disturbance.
The church remains what it has always been to me: A remarkable building in a beautiful spot, although not to my taste: A competent, muscular design in Victorian dark gothic that screams foreboding at me, not praise.
However, always good to see this landmark of my life. Love or hate it, it’s a remarkable thing.
May 10th – I squelched through Walsall Wood on the way home, like a drowned rat. The deluge had been particularly heavy around the ring road, and it had made the traffic aggressive and worrying.
I had something to do in Walsall Wood, and mindful of my promise to bring my friend the best of what was around, I spotted the gorgeous cherry blossom at St. Johns.
The day may have been a washout, but this more than made up for it.
February 17th – Only a couple of photos today as the commute was horrid both ways – driving, squally rain. I was cheered however, by spotting this grumpy-looking sentry on duty at St. John’s Church in Pleck. I don’t think he lives there, but was certainly availing himself of the shelter to watch the world go by.
I clearly didn’t amuse him. But he’s a big lad and I suspect someone loves him very much.
December 3rd – So enjoying the tailwind, I let it blow me to Walsall Wood, where I noted they have an excellent Christmas tree again this year, which I think is funded by local Tory councillors.
I’m by no means a Conservative, but respect to them for this act of generosity.
When I see the tree at Walsall Wood, I know Christmas is just around the corner. It’s one of the milestones of the season for me. A lovely thing indeed.
October 18th – I also liked how beautiful Walsall Wood was on this greyest of grey Sundays. The trees around the Brookland Road junction look superb – and the church of St. John, this evening with lights on for a service -looked great with the turning leaves in the background.
I felt much better today. I got stuff actually done. Once the black dog settles in it can be the very devil to shift, and at this time of year I’m always susceptible. But in truth, the light nights will return, a new year and new spring will dawn, and I’ll feel the warmth again.
In the meantime, I’ll learn to love the darkness. Sometimes it’s your friend. But it’s like doing a deal with the devil.
There’s a lot of cold, a lot of rough weather and a lot of darkness to come before the next spring.
February16th – I passed St. Johns Church, in Walsall Wood, early afternoon, and a bright flash caught my eye as I passed. Doubling back, I saw the sign was a QR code.
For goodness sakes.
I’m not a fan of QR codes; by the time you’ve downloaded an app, fiddled around scanning the code and waited for it to decode, you could just go to the site from a printed, simple web address.
Predictably, this piece of obfuscating technological flapdoodle leads to this website, so there’s no need to scan it yourselves…
February 10th – A little way down the High Street, the pleasant church of St. John, another part of Walsall Wood that looks good lit up in the dark. I’ve always liked the elegant lines of the tower and church, before the hideous modern extension was added. This was a simple, understated design that has been utterly bastardised by the cruel abuse of the architects, who completely failed to understand the beauty of this church, as they did so many in the diocese sullied by their handiwork.
December 21st – I was spinning up to Walsall Wood to make a quick delivery, and I realised there was a carol concert happening at St. John’s church, and it was lit up.
It looked and sounded very Christmassy.
Sadly, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get a decent night shot of this humble but handsome church without that bloody streetlight spoiling it. Just can’t get a good angle.
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