Tag: Victoria park

September 18th – From the Indian, back to the Indian summer. Darlaston, in and around Victoria Park. The leaves are turning and falling, and the park as clean and perfect as usual. Surrounded by beautiful houses, I will not cease banging on about this jewel of a place until everyone gets it.

I was intrigued by the scarlet berries on the holly-like evergreen; copious and beautiful, they seem to be holly, but the leaves don’t look much like holly leaves; more like a cross between laurel and holly. A curious thing.

Anyone know what it is?

November 6th – In Victoria Park, Darlaston, the shaggy mane or ink caps are still growing well. These lovely fungi grow tall and white, then go over quite quickly and, if undisturbed, decay into a black goop in the most fascinating way. Quite tasty when young, these have been sprouting for a month now. Wonderful to see.

October 17th – This all-consuming tree is still growing healthily at Victoria Park, Darlaston, just by the old railway walk. When I last featured it here – way back on May 23rd, 2011 – the trunk had only just started to reach the second bar of the fence it was slowly and surely consuming.

I pass this remarkable example of natural growth and triumph over the built environment quite a bit, so hadn’t noticed the sum of the incremental growth until today. Note that now, the whole railing is being distorted by gentle, persistent hydraulic pressure. The overgrowth has reached the other side of the wooden kerb too. 

There is no strength like the gentle, microscopic strength of nature. And she’s got all the time in the world to do it.

October 15th – Victoria Park, Darlaston is an embarrassment of fungal riches at the moment. I spun through on a misty, wet morning where the only colour I’d seen was the red of brake lights, and noticed several brightly coloured types of fungi in the freshly mown grass. The orange curly one I’ve never seen the like of before, and I love the little yellow button. There was a plentiful supply of shaggy manes, too, which the grass cutters had clearly mown round when attending to the rest of the park. I liked that – a nice touch.

Such welcome colour on a dull morning commute.

September 24th – my love affair with Darlaston is decades old and shows no signs of abating. I adore the place, from the grimy industrial backstreets, to the quiet loveliness of Victoria Park. Here, half a century ago, trains thundered through this cutting serving the freight needs of the Black Country, but now, landscaped into a lovely open space, it makes for a nice traffic free ride away from some of the worst traffic of the town centre. In spring, this spot is lined with snowdrops, crocuses and daffodils. 

I always liked that footbridge, too; it’s an inspired touch.

March 6th – I was very angry about this. Over the last week or so, I’ve watched workers from the council clear up the Kings Hill end of Victoria Park in Darlaston. They cut back the trees and scrub, swept all round and even pulled all the rubbish out of the marsh. It looked better than I’ve seen it for years. What do I find this morning? A fly-tipped armchair. What kind of selfish tossers do this? I hope their balls drop off, I really do. Those guys worked hard for the benefit of your community and this is how you repay them. You’re nothing but scum.

January 30th – Darlaston was similarly beautiful again. I love Victoria Park and this partof town – it’s so quiet and peaceful. I love the soft contours of the old railway cutting and the oddly delicate wooden footbridge. The green turf contrasts beautifully with the Victorian, four-square red brick townhouses. Once, steam trains thundered through here, now just walkers, a little local traffic and the odd, awestruck cyclist.

Just a minor point, though. Does anyone else get a slight Teletubby vibe from this landscape?

January 27th – Today was the exact opposite of yesterday, well, sort of. A beautiful but chilly ride into work, on a very spring-like sunny morning. Then it howled it down on me on the way back home. Since it was such a nice morning, I cut through Cartbridge Lane and hopped on the cycle track at the back of Ryecroft cemetery, then down into The Butts via Mill Lane nature reserve. The sun was gorgeous, going from hazy to bright blue skies. I stopped in Victoria Park to reflect on how fine the view of Darlaston was, and just what a huge amount of culture was encapsulated in one shot. All apart from that bloody metal tree…

January 12th – An incredible sight this morning in Victoria Park, Darlaston. Trees in blossom. I have no idea what they are (the pink one looks like it’s a weird graft from the trunk) but surely, this must be some kind of record? The evergreen at the back also has bright yellow-green blooms. This year is all out of synch. I hope if winter does come, it doesn’t do these, the most optimistic of trees, any harm. They deserve only the best of seasons for coming out so soon.

January 11th – Darlaston was gorgeous again this morning. Just in front of the swimming baths, looking down the former railway cutting that is Victoria Park, I admired the long shadows of winter. I was reminded of the lyric to The The’s ‘Perfect’…

Here comes another winter, of long shadows & high hopes,
Here comes another winter, waitin for utopia,
waitin for hell to freeze over.

Matt Johnson wrote that in the recession and depression of the early 1980’s. It feels like history, politics and culture are stuck on repeat at the moment.