Tag: Walsall

September 19th – Nice to see the housing project between Deakin Avenue and Watling Street coming along so well. A mixed development of flats and houses by Walsall Housing Group, it’s good that some social housing is being built here to replace at least a few of the huge number of dwellings that were lost in the slum clearance of the mid-2000s. 

These homes overlook the open heath at the top of Holland Park. Whoever gets the flats in the foreground will, in all probability, regularly get red deer visiting. Wouldn’t that be great? 

September 4th – It’s not often realised, but Walsall has a specific place to park motorbikes. It’s at the bottom of Tower Street, down past the entrance to the Gala Baths, right outside the Civc Centre.

Note that on the other side of the flowerbed, there’s a handy bicycle park. Both have nice rails to lock up your steed.

If you’re a local news aggregator in possession of a funky moped, you can use either, it’s been legally tested.

This has been a public information post.

August 13th – Returning from Darlaston, I took to the canal. From pretty much Great Bridge to Gostote, the footpath alongside the Walsall and Wyrley and Esiington Canals is a good as any in Walsall. Well surfaced with a self-healing, stone-blown aggregate, the path is fast, smooth and fine on any tires. If only the towpaths through Pelsall or Aldridge were this good.

Which makes the plan to upgrade the ones here all the more bizarre. Can the council not do the worst ones, rather than fudge about with the best we’ve got? Has anyone who made this daft decision ever ridden a bike anywhere, let alone here?

July 25th – Architectural perspective. I’d been to the night market at Walsall, and I came back down the Bridge. Walsall’s architecture is actually glorious in parts, and very, very handsome, but few ever look upwards and notice it. It’s also impossible to photograph without lens distortion and addled geometry, as you can’t get far enough away for a decent angle. 

Later on, passing through Walsall Wood, I noticed two thirds of the old St. Johns school, derelict as long as I can remember, still being carried to dust by the elements, wet rot, fungal deterioration and vandalism. Meanwhile, the recently refurbished southern gable is still a lovely looking home.

Never have worked that one out.

July 14th – Returning from the Our Big Gig event in Walsall Arboretum late afternoon, I’d had enough of the traffic and heat and headed for the Goscote Valley cycleway, for a traffic-free, shady alternative. There seemed to be a fair few cats about, who in the way cats do, studiously ignored me, or hid. Loved the little black kitten near Pelsall, although Mr. Whitepaws, at Harden, seemed every bit the cat-about-town.

July 11th – My dislike of the Arboretum Junction in Walsall knows no end. It seems difficult for most users – be they motorised or human powered. It’s particularly bad for pedestrians, who have to use multiple crossings to cross one road – so a simple negotiation can involve four or five waits. It’s horrid.

I noticed this lady yesterday evening. She was still negotiating the junction when I crossed, and I felt quite sorry for her – by road is the easiest way, but it’s very, very intimidating. Nice bike, though, and it looks well used.

The traffic engineers who thought this batshit crazy junction up should be forced to cross in on foot for perpetuity.

July 4th – I returned to Walsall during a glorious golden hour. The town was largely deserted, and I cycled through an empty marketplace. St. Matthews, up on the hill, looked as imperious as ever, but despite the demolition of the hated Overstrand, the view of the grand old lady of Walsall is still wrecked by far inferior architecture. But get close, and she still beguiles…