Walsall – Page 49 – BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking

December 10th – I hopped onto the cycleway at Pelsall Lane, and passing by Mill Lane Local Nature Reserve, the familiar Walsall skyline was pleasingly in a shaft of light.

I’m not really keen on this cycleway. It should be fast and direct – but it’s potholed and slow, and surprisingly hilly here; but this view is always worthwhile.

Allegedly, bad weather was rolling in. The weather sensationalists who seem to get so much attention these days were calling it a ‘weather bomb’ but all I felt was a cold, relentless wind from the south west – the direction in which I was headed.

Like moons, we don’t seem to get normal weather anymore. It has to be ‘most… since records began’ the whole time, just as we once got a full moon, it now has to be a ‘supermoon’.

Spare me the hyperbole. It was nippy. And windy. But it did blow me home.

December 9th – Walsall Council’s road repair contractors, Tarmac, have a new toy: a velocity patcher. This hi-tech bit of road repair kit cleans out potholes, then blows in a grit and fill mixture, which has a finishing coat of grit applied afterwards. It does a good job.

They’ve been using such a machine in South Staffordshire for ages, and the repairs are long-lasting and good for what they are. They certainly take the nasty surprise out of potholes.

However, just a wee complaint. The crew in Walsall clearly aren’t quite as proficient as those in Staffs, and in the otherwise nicely repaired Scarborough Road in Pleck is awash with loose grit. It’s like Chesil Beach, and very unsafe for cyclists and anyone braking suddenly.

The repair is great, much better – but that loose stuff is going to cause, or exacerbate an accident. Please sort it out.

December 8th – A shock today, commuting on a cold, hard morning with the wind against me; I noticed today that the leaves had gone and winter was truly here. It was chilly, and I felt it in my bones.

The sun shone, though, and passing on the Ring Road, I noticed the site of the proposed new cinema between Tesco and Stafford Street in Walsall had been cleared of scrub and it looks like work might be about to start here.

It’ll be interesting to see what develops.

December 2nd – Every time I pass this in The Butts, Walsall, I pray the shop is really run by a bloke nicknamed Butt. It has to be, doesn’t it?

The alternative is too horrific to contemplate.

December 1st – I keep passing this, and often wait at the lights looking at it – and every time I do it irritates the hell out of me.

On the Pleck Road junction in Walsall, where it meets Ida Road and Rollingmill Street, there is a new build block of apartments. Blessed with an aesthetic only a mother could love, it’s not the physical ugliness that bothers me – but the finish of the woodwork, external plumbing and hardstandings.

If this is what the outside quality is like, one can only wonder about the inside…

November 29th – Feeling better, we headed up Church Hill for a spot of atmospheric stuff. Taking photos in a solitary fashion everyday makes the process mundane; I’d forgotten the joy and mischief of working with someone else. And up on Church Hill at night, you really need someone else for security. It’s bloody dark.

Yes, there is a Late Night Feelings thing going on – well spotted. That’s for Pedro Cutler.

Go on, I dare you, tell me this place isn’t beautiful;. Just try it.

Eager to see the results, we got on our bikes, and rode home.

November 29th – ‘Go into town, they said. You’ll meet other geese, they said. Seems to be working.’

Not much nous in your average Canada Goose.

You wouldn’t believe how many shots I had to take of this before I got one where the bird hadn’t moved.

November 29th – I’d been in Brum late afternoon with a mate, and returned via Walsall. I was feeling down, and decided to try and take some decent photos to cheer myself up. I’d never explored the Town Wharf area at night. I felt much better…

November 27th – A difficult day. I had to dash back from Walsall and I’d forgotten my camera, so had to use the phone. This one doesn’t take too bad pictures, to be fair.

As I left work, the sun was trying to come out, and it caught the glass of the Walsall Housing Group offices on the ring road, and made it golden.

A patch of beauty on a hectic day.

November 25th – Further on, near Bentley Bridge, a narrowboat passed me going a fair lick. Unusually, it was decorated in an eye-catching indian style, replete with Ganesha motif fretted into the hatch door. Equipped with a canoe, this looked like a home as well as a boat; it had that well loved but well used air that comes with such craft.

I love boater dogs. These two are clearly great mates, and I love the way the hound is wrapped, like his boss, against the cold.

A lovely sight.