August 24th – Another late night at work, but I managed to escape by sundown. Cruising back through Darlaston and Pleck, the urban landscape was bathed in pleasant light. I noticed this house on the corner of an unmade drive on the Walsall Road in Pleck. It’s a peculiarly gingerbread house for this area of largely red brick terraces and townhouses. There are quite a few old, imposing homes on their road; it must have been quite important and exclusive in it’s day.
August 19th – This building, now a ‘Two Ticks’ alcohol warehouse on the Walsall Road, Pleck, has a previous history. I’m not sure what exactly, but the frontage says ‘South Staffordshire Tramways Electric Generating Station 1892’. I didn’t even realise the trams came up this road. Must look into the history here….
August 16th – Darlaston has some fantastic architecture. This industrial town between Wednesbury, Willenhall and Walsall was built in the heat of the industrial revolution on it’s drop forging and fastener trades. Both have now all but gone, with huge swathes of wasteland left behind, but hidden in nondescript rows of terraces and in quiet suburban streets are examples of buildings so wonderful they’d grace the likes of Cheltenham. This fine example is on the Walsall Road, just outside the town centre. I just love the circular tower and complex roofline. The ornamentation in the stonework is also gorgeous.
August 4th – Heading back home, having avoided the promised rain all day, I stopped at Moat Bank, on the A461 near Muckley Corner, to look at the old canal bridge. This was one of the three bridges over the now disused Lichfield and Hatherton Canal between Shire Oak and Lichfield. One was at the Boat Inn, near Summerhill, and gave that pub it’s name. This was the second, and the third was a double bridge with the railway at Pipe Hill. This particular canal arm – now subject to a lengthy and sustained campaign for reopening – linked Ogley Junction, at Brownhills, with the mainline at Huddlesford, Near Whittington. It was a tortuous journey with many locks, the remnants of one can be seen here in the undergrowth.
I wish the enthusiasts working to restore the line well. It’s a huge task.
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