November 27th – I again returned via Walsall Wood, but unlike the night before, it was clear. I see the christmas lights are going up, and as ever, the High Street looked bustling and beautiful in the night. Walsall Wood is often overlooked, yet it preserves it’s village atmosphere and is surprisingly beautiful in parts.
An undervalued gem.
October 20th – I had to pop into Walsall Wood on my way home, so shot up the Lichfield Road. It wasn’t a pleasant evening, and there was a distinct nip in the air.
As I came over Walsall Wood Bridge, I couldn’t resist a dusk shot up the High Street to Shire Oak. This shows that Walsall Wood is still remarkably green, and I love how the vehicle lights look like christmas lights on the tree in the distance.
I hear lots of people talk about Pelsall and Aldridge as ‘villages’, but Walsall Wood is perhaps the one locally that still retains most of the village character. It’s a lovely little place.
October 18th – In Pelsall to meet a pal for lunch, I spotted the beautiful planters by the common that were still blooming beautifully. It’s only a week until the clocks go back, and yet such colourful flowers are still with us.
Beautiful and surprising, too. Well done Pelsall.
October 5th – Still feeling rotten, I slipped past the border guards and spun through the principality, entering via the Cannock Extension Canal. At Pelsall Junction, the old tonnage house has been up for sale for a bit and I assume from recent clearance works that it’s been sold. It’ll make an interesting house, but living there could present challenges, especially for access.
The canal, commons and trees looked beautiful on a grey and dismal afternoon, which despite an occasionally interesting sky, was thoroughly uninspiring.
A ride that was better than expected, to be honest.
August 26th – Even on a grim, grey day, Wall still has a fascination. Riding in via the track that constitutes Back Lane was a challenge, as it’s very overgrown, but such a delight. The fields here have been fully harvested, and look barren dressed in their underwear of stubble.
The village itself is fascinating. The half-cream, half-barebrik place with the odd gables? That was once a pub called the Seven Stars, and is now a lovely looking home.
Once, it stood on the main A5 between Brownhills and Tamworth, but the road was diverted on to a new dual carriageway half a mile to the south, and peace is restored.
A lovely little village.
December 30th – Up the road in Pelsall, I slipped into the village unnoticed by the border guards, who were clearly either slumbering, or skiving the night off. I like Pelsall. It’s villagey, and semi rural, but a bit up itself sometimes. I noticed a new cafe here I must try out.
I’m wondering if the letter ‘I’ went missing from the Kandu Hair salon sign as an act of sublime urban mischief or just happenstance; maybe the owners are planning to convert to an Afghan restaurant and wanted to save on a new sign.
Yes, I know it’s not quite the right spelling, but it’s close enough for Pelsall…
September 7th – This is a bit odd. The last time I cycled through Shenstone, this clock wasn’t here. Didn’t get a good look at it, but it’s an odd thing, really. My biggest question is ‘Why?’, mainly – it does seem to commemorate people and companies in village life though, in the cobbles.
I’m not really sure what to make of it. It’s nice enough, I suppose.
Anyone know what it’s in aid of?
March 30th – Recklessly, and without any ID, I went to Pelsall for a late breakfast at a cafe I like there. Thankfully, the border guards were asleep, and I slipped into the Principality unnoticed.
Pelsall is a bit like Midwich. It all seems so right, but somewhere, nearby, you can feel that something is a bit wrong. Perhaps I watched too much junk sci-fi as a kid, but Pelsall is well odd. I never really feel comfortable there, although the village has a Royston-Vaseyish charm of it’s own. I love the terraces with front doors opening onto the street; the old-style hardware store where you can still buy caustic soda, tin buckets and clouts by the pound. The ancient and sadly unloved delivery bike hitched up outside the butchers is also fascinating, if a little frustrating. Only the newly erected, and frankly hideous health centre and library spoils the effect. Clearly Stevie Wonder is still on the planning committee.
They are, of course, out to get me. Why else would they build speed-calming chicanes with a bike bypass lane narrower than my pedal span?
If you visit, watch out. I think they’re on to us…
February 22nd – One of those days when you get back home thinking you’ve got a camera choc-full of great stuff, then realise you had the camera set badly and all your hard work appears to be fuzz and junk. Luckily, down in Sonnall sorting fish and chips from the best chippy in the area, the camera hadn’t yet been nobbled by my ineptitude.
Stonnall is an odd place – in a way, it’s lost is old villageyness, and is now little more than a commuter resort. Drowning in Metroland-style postwar housing, the history can be hard to find. But at night, a little of the old-world charm returns.
Stonnall is a salutary warning for aspiring village communities everywhere: don’t develop at the expense of the things that make you special…
December 21st – Further down the village, the Old Swan always looks busy and welcoming in Main Street, Stonnall. Tonight, the village was quiet, apart from the inevitable queue from the chippy, but the pub looked busy. It always does.
For the benefit of @thestymaster, those christmas lights are green, OK? I checked.
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