Tag: Walsall Wood

January 4th – Walsall and it’s boroughs can be very, very odd sometimes. Here in Walsall Wood, the planning system threw up a peculiar juxtaposition. Oak Park is the local leisure centre, with a large car park at the front, itself fronted once by an expanse of grass. Over the road, a private health centre converted from a former night club. Inbetween the two, a Kentucky Fried Chicken drive through was built, as if to mock the punters attempting to keep fit.

The construction of this unusually located fast food joint was protracted, and difficulties  in planning were extensive, but there it now sits in its red and white illuminated, plastic glory, attracting far more customers than both its healthy neighbours combined ever could.

And it smells revolting.

December 27th – Barons Court is an unusual thing to have locally. It’s a reasonably popular hotel, and it’s been there for several decades now. Despite it’s incongruous location amongst the factory units and marl holes of southwest Walsall Wood, it seems to do reasonably well and is popular for weddings, conferences and the like.

Decmber 5th – Almost as ingrained in the life of Walsall Wood as the Drunken Duck are Oak Park and Walsall Wood Football Club. Nowadays, the old Oak Park – a collection of outdoor bowling greens, tennis courts and suchlike – is largely neglected and forgotten; the name is mostly associated with the adjacent, crumbling recreation centre, well used but nearing the end of it’s useful life. Out back is the all weather football pitch, a heavily used facility that speaks of the area’s love affair with soccer. Tonight, it was in use, with local football players training for the next big match. They looked cold. That’s dedication…

December 5th – It was cold today, and I felt it. Winter has me in it’s grip now, and the mornings are bright, icy and clear; the evenings dark, damp and very, very chilly. Today, as I came home through Walsall Wood, I passed the Drunken Duck pub, one of the oldest in the village. Various renamed The Hawthorn and Tipplers, this house has been a stable fixture of Walsall Wood Life for over a century, and still seems popular. With the warm-looking lights on this cold winter night, it’s hard to resist parking up the bike and popping in…

December 1st – I notice that Green Lane on the Walsall Wood/Shelfield border is seeing an increase flytipping again. As  usual, this is just domestic refuse, and would have fitted in a wheelie bin or public littler bin. I just can’t work out how the scumbags who do this think. It must take more effort to flytip in many cases than it would do to dispose of the stuff considerately.

November 27th – A little further on, I was cutting through Oak Park when I noticed the old bowling green was flooded, and illuminated by the floodlights of the current bowls club. I couldn’t resist the chance for a photo. Immediately after I took the first shot, somebody switched all the lights off, giving me another opportunity to experiment with long exposure night photos. I’m really beginning to get the hang of this…

November 27th – I see Christmas is rolling in, then. I’ve noticed Christmas lights up in Brownhills, a rather pathetic effort in Shelfield and tonight, Walsall Wood’s Christmas Tree was lit up in St. John’s churchyard. This is an interesting thing – Walsall Council long ago stopped buying trees for the lesser, satellite towns like Brownhills and Aldridge, and encouraged places to dig their own hole. Walsall Wood, for the last few years, has had a tree paid for out of the pockets of Councillors Anthony Harris and Mike Flower, a rare and welcome act of personal largesse. I don’t know for sure, but I expect they’ve done the same again.

We may not agree politically, but this is an act of true public spiritedness for which I thank them. Cheers, chaps.

November 23rd – I haven’t been over Streets Corner for a few weeks. Returning that way this evening, I noticed the boards were down from around the new Co-op store that has been built on the former car sales lot on the lights. It’s looking good – a little odd at first, but it quickly grew on me. It’s a lot larger than I expected. I like the Co-op – and it’ll be nice for the Tesco Express over the road to have some competition. It’s good to see Walsall Wood getting something new for a change.

Wonder when it’ll be opening?

November 22nd – Today was the reverse of yesterday, with added headwind. It was a fine morning commute into Birmingham, but the wind had been crafted on Satan’s back step. I ploughed into it head first on the way, fearful of the weather forecast which predicted very bad weather for the journey home. The forecasters were right.

I only had a few usable photos. All was fine until I alighted the train at Walsall, then the heavens opened. Torrential rain, a following wind and a desire to get the hell home took me. The were floodwaters everywhere, and the new ring road became a moat. I haven’t seen rain like this in many a year. But my waterproofs kept me dry, and I got home red faced, but in one piece. 

Forecast seems quite good for tomorrow… here’s hoping. 

November 14th – Further on, I stopped to take a photo and ponder. I’m a grown bloke, and nothing much scares me. Heavy traffic? No problem. Speed? Not at all. Heights? Maybe a little. Darkness? Not at all, love cycling in the dark, especially in rural places. Green Lane, between Shelfield and Walsall Wood at night? Hell yeah. I’ve no idea why, it’s the only place I ever feel nervous out at night, and I’ve cycled in some grim places. Something about the darkness, the woods and the traffic combine to really make me feel queasy down here after dark. 

I think it’s to do with finding a car accident down here a few years back. The imagery of that stays with me.

I must be turning into a right wuss in my old age.