Tag: union

#365daysofbiking Major artery

May 12th – Another long ride out exploring west towards Coven, Brewood and Lapley, on a bad, but not awful stomach was hard work, but I’d decided to revisit Lower Avenue, site of the astounding bridge of the major canal artery, the Shropshire Union Canal.

I wasn’t disappointed and it was worth the effort.

The bridge – built for access to Chillington Hall was originally part of a long, well maintained avenue of trees now split into upper and lower; lower is publicly accessible and now woodland with this stunning centrepiece, giving an air of genteel decline.

I dropped down on to the canal below and rode to Lapley, crossing the Telford-constructed Stretton Aqueduct. The view of this beautiful, limpid green waterway were wonderful, soothing and very enjoyable.

At this time of year, Staffordshire is at it’s finest. Get out there if you can.

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September  22nd – Unusually, I had to visit Cradley on a work errand. I used to spend a huge amount of time in this busy little town, but haven’t been to visit in nearly a decade.

It changed, without me, as places do. Some familiar things remained – some shops, landmarks, factories – but there’s a shiny new bus station, lots of redevelopment an an interesting memorial to Mary MacArthur the trade unionist who fought so famously here.

The statues is by the same artist who made the Walsall Wood ones, and whilst the thought is there, it’s no Morris and it looks like money for old chain, if not rope. Oh well.

The High Street is suffering like they all are, but retains it’s quirkiness and frenetic air of business.

Around the corner, in Wood Lane, Griffin and Woodhouse still make chain to moor the world – some of it huge.

It felt sad to be back in a place I once haunted but now don’t really know at all well. Time moves on, with or without us.

August 6th – Over on my main blog, I’ve been giving much thought lately to the vexed question of Walsall, it’s disappearing architectural heritage, and the spate of arson attacks that are robbing our borough of it’s finest jewels. On my way back from Darlaston this afternoon, I stopped to ponder this great gem, the Walsall Union Workhouse Guardian’s Office, currently evens at William Hill for not making it past autumn. A lovely building allowed to rot, uncared for, and marooned in the middle of a new development, in this case the rebuild of the Manor Hospital. Surely, some use could have been found for this grand place? When Lichfield built their new hospital, the old buildings in front were retained and used for psychiatric services. Walsall doesn’t seem to possess the same vision.
Not half a mile further on, there stands the other end of the scale. Perhaps not architecturally significant, but socially, very much so. The Orange Tree pub – closed for some years now – has suffered at least two mysterious fires and is utterly wrecked internally. This once-thriving community meeting place is now silenced, and lost, like so many others. It can only be a matter of time until it too is razed to the ground. But how many folk, I wonder, have noticed its eclectic mix of chimneypots?

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