December 17th – By the time I left work and returned to Telford Station, it was raining again.
Not light rain, either, but the torrential kind I’d been caught in the previous Sunday.
At least I had waterproofs this time.
The colours of the rain and dusk were captivating on the cycleway down to the station from Priorslee.
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December 17th – In Telford – it was a frosty morning after a rainy evening and there was no shortage of ice on the new footbridge. With every turn in the weather, this ludicrous civil engineering fudge looks more and more shambolic.
In many places the standing water from the night before had frozen on the bridge deck and steps – either due to lack of gritting or the grit washing away before having chance to act.
Someone really should be answering public safety questions about this farce, but I doubt they ever will.
Still, the frost on the local byways was pretty. But by heck, it seemed cold.
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December 2nd – Waiting for a train at the unexpectedly infrequently-served Oakengates station in Telford, an example of why UK railways fascinate me.
That’s MJ 353 (not 352 or 354) and it’s 723 yarns ahead. Not 722, or 724, just to make that clear.
Why 723? Fabulous.
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December 2nd – Again on the far side of Hortonwood in Telford, I was returning from a meeting using the Silkin Way national Cycle Route 81 that runs along the A518 between Trench and the massive industrial park I had visited.
On a cycleway that I would have thought might have been almost forgotten, and some way from houses or nearby factories, a makeshift bird table at the side of the track, apropos of nothing.
On it, a selection of fruit and seed – all fresh with a nearby audience I’d disturbed of birds and squirrels.
Someone tends this lovingly, regularly. It’s well kept. It’s a thing of dedication, love and kindness for them.
Stranger, I have no idea who you might be, but for looking after a small corner of your world so beautifully, I wish you the very best my friend.
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November 27th – In contrast to the cotoneaster, nobody seems to want the sour, hard crab apples growing just up the way from them.
The leaves on the tree have nearly all fallen, and so has most of the fruit, which lies on the ground rotting, untouched even by foxes.
I wonder how bad the winter would have to be before these were eaten by something?
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November 27th – In Telford again, more berries, but unlike the holly ones on Monday, these laden boughs of cotoneaster will be very much appreciated by the songbird population.
Cotoneaster are really appreciated by blackbirds who will defend a discovered bush for weeks if need be. The berries are bitter, but laden with sugar and a read aid to the birds over a cold winter.
If the adage about heavy crops of fruit meaning we’re due a cold spell is true, looks like we’re in for. a bad one this year…
November 26th – And in Telford, the lift on the Shrewsbury side of the new bridge had failed again, so I had to shoulder my bike and clime up the stairs.
It seems the drainage holes added still haven’t cured the formation of puddles on the deck of this ‘21st Century Bridge of which any town would be proud’.
I wonder if this is the shallow end?
Is it me or is everything connected with modern railways in this country utterly crap these days?
In the place that was made famous by a state of the art bridge, the state of this art is appalling.
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November 21st – The cycleway between Wellington and Hortonwood was a bit hard to follow and convoluted, but as it happened, quite fun. It took me through variously playing fields for a private school, along a goods rail line, along a major highway (safely on the pavement adjacent) over a huge, bizarre double roundabout system, and also over a complex bridge arrangement at Hadley, which was most interesting of all.
This brutalist, utilitarian construction of tiered walkways, curling ramps and single span bridges reminded me very much of the Joy Division publicity shots from the late 70s in Manchester, or of the Great Charles Street crossing in Birmingham.
The bridges twanged gently as I crossed them, or when HGVs went under. They felt safe, and wide, and the views and design interesting, if stark. I was particularly interested in the nearby towerblock of Brookdale, which seemed to be made from the same Wimpety system build technique as the flats in Brownhills, but with some peculiar twists in the design.
It certainly looks to have been well refurbished.
All in all an interesting ride.
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November 21st – I had to visit a client on the far side of Hortonwood in Telford, and since I’m not keen on riding through that huge industrial estate, I stayed on the train to wellington and rode from there.
It was dry, and there was a cycleway all the way there, pretty much, which was a delight if confusing at times.
Autumn made west Hortonwood look gorgeous – it’s a lot more like Stafford Park on this side, leafy and quiet with lots of small units.
I found a trail into the heart of where I needed to be from the residential area called Trench, and on the way up the leaf-covered byway, I was monitored by this delightful member of the local neighbourhood watch.
That’s a splendid set of whiskers.
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November 20th – Back at Telford station that evening, I studied more of the architecture visible from Telford Station: The office blocks and roads surely do look fabulous in the gathering night before a very blue sky.
Even that dreadful bridge exhibits a peculiar kind of beauty from the far end of the platform.
Telford gets a lot of stick (often from me, let’s be honest) but it is a remarkable place at night.
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