Wednesday February 10th 2021 – Still very cold, I had to call in to Walsall on my return from work.
This is at a shade before 6pm on a regular weekday.
Normally this would be busy with commuters, people grabbing a drink or groceries on the way home.
This is pandemic Britain. Haunting, beautiful, but utterly incomprehensible.
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October 3rd – I drove to work and rode home – sadly I chose a really, really unpleasant evening to do so. Again, drizzle and a punishing headwind – but at least the town looked beautiful in the glistening, dripping night.
I decided to quickly try the camera and the phone for a comparison.
Top, the iPhone 11 Pro Max in night mode, which since a beta firmware upgrade on Wednesday evening seems a whole bunch better. It’s not as hyperreal, but is still very strange, but beautiful I think.
My preference is still to the warmth of the Canon G5X, below, which is altogether mellower without losing detail.
Further explorations to come, I think.
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February 8th – This was supposed to be a photo of the statue of Sister Dorothy Pattison, heroine of Walsall and a great personal hero of mine, moodily lit in a windswept town at closing time.
On that score it failed miserably. The old girl is out of focus, and the light doesn’t do her justice at all, which is sad. She was the mother of modern healthcare in Walsall and gave her heart, soul and life to caring for the Victorian sick, injured and infirm.
It does, however, show the atmosphere on The Bridge as I passed through. I’d had a dreadful commute again – driving rain and a headwind ion the way in that morning, and on the way back, the tailwind, although decent, wasn’t the engine-substitute I’d laboured against earlier.
A nasty gale was whipping up though, and there was a sense of increasing desertion and of collar-up, head down scurrying home.
It was fascinating and I wish I’d hung around a bit longer.
December 2nd – I came through Walsall early evening, having resolved to pay more attention to the place after yesterday taking pictures in the Civic Quarter. Tonight, I noted how nice the Christmas lights were this year, and how for once, we had a decent Christmas tree.
Although we seem to be hurtling towards Christmas at a rate of knots at the moment, I haven’t felt very festive so far – until tonight.
Of course, Christmas means the winter solstice and the end of the darkening days, and the start of another season’s promise.
I’ll have some of that.
February 13th – I had another stop to make on the way home – Asda. I was so bleary I got scant few of the things I was supposed to get, and if you ever want to know what a supermarket looks like after a riot, do visit Asda in Walsall late on Friday night. It was like a scene from The Day After. Complete with the walking dead – me.
I poured myself liquid down the marketplace, and the lights of the deserted Bridge snagged my attention; the night-time workers were about – posties, shopfitters, sign people – but nobody else. The light, the colour, the wet surfaces. In a moment, this place was precious.
I smiled to myself, and rode slowly, inexorably home. I remember very little of the journey, except it took me 45 minutes.
October 10th – I came home drained, and tired. But at least it was dry, and the wind seemed to be behind me. I pushed through Walsall as the sun was setting, and caught this lovely skyline in The Butts. Great chimeys, and excellent queen pots.
Looking to my right, I noticed the Arabic (or possibly Urdu) script high on the gable end of the house close by. I like that a lot. Curious.
October 2nd – The skies were dark and dusk was settling on Walsall when I came from work, tired and finding it hard to keep any speed up. I was loaded with shopping, and unwell, so it was a real drag; but as soon as I looked around me, I realised that I was entering the autumn dusk, and actually, it’s a thing of beauty.
I’m glad to note either my hands are steadier this year, or the camera is better in low light than previous ones, as none of these images was taken with a tripod.
The darkness isn’t all bad.
August 28th – A bit of a strange day. I wasn’t planning on going to work, but ended up called in anyway. It wasn’t a bad commute as it happened, and the journeys were pleasant. On the way home, I passed over the The Bridge in Walsall town centre. It was while there that I spotted something I pass by loads, that is really part of Walsall’s furniture; the concrete hippo. It occurred to me that I’d never featured it here before.
Derided and loved in equal measure, this 1970s artwork has formed a meeting point for a couple of generations of Walsallians. Up until a decade ago, the hippo basked outside BHS, and teenagers, before mobiles and social media would agree to ‘see you by the hippo at 12 o’clock’ or somesuch.
For a while, the hippo image was even used to advertise the Walsall Show.
The story of how our town came to have this bizarre object is complex and not without some debate, but I think all true Walsall folk love it. There is talk of a renovation, of fixing the broken ear. I hope they go through with it.
Walsall is full of surprises. A concrete hippo – without any apparent rhyme or reason – is just one of them. And it’s lovely.
July 25th – Architectural perspective. I’d been to the night market at Walsall, and I came back down the Bridge. Walsall’s architecture is actually glorious in parts, and very, very handsome, but few ever look upwards and notice it. It’s also impossible to photograph without lens distortion and addled geometry, as you can’t get far enough away for a decent angle.
Later on, passing through Walsall Wood, I noticed two thirds of the old St. Johns school, derelict as long as I can remember, still being carried to dust by the elements, wet rot, fungal deterioration and vandalism. Meanwhile, the recently refurbished southern gable is still a lovely looking home.
Never have worked that one out.
August 3rd – Pushing my bike across the Bridge pedestrianised zone in Walsall, at about 5pm on a Wednesday. A cycle cop is dawdling here, clearly riding their bicycle in a pedestrian zone. How ca we seriously expect the police to enforce the cycle prohibition here if they ignore it themselves? Yobs cycling down Park Street is a serious problem, which, as a responsible cyclist, I expect them to deal with.
This really annoys me. I expect them to set an example. I’m ready for the rash of excuses you normally get for complaining about such things… considering I was once threatened with a fixed penalty ticket for sitting astride my bike whilst using a cashpoint in Cannock, bring it on.
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