Tag: Walsall

January 3rd – This is the entry I wasn’t going to make. I really wasn’t going to continue. Then, I had my mind changed. You can read about that later today on my main blog.

So when it came to actually taking pictures for it, I was still wrestling with whether I should or not on the way home. So, with the gorillapod at the bottom of a tea-logged saddlebag (don’t ask) I headed for the industrial estate on Maybrook Road, Walsall Wood, and then checked out the rapidly decaying Wheel inn, nearby on Lindon Road.

There’s something about the actual act of taking photos I like. It gives me a buzz. I guess, in the daily grind, and terrible weather over Christmas, I’d forgotten that. The joy of the hunt. The pleasure in finding a really good photo.

Sadly, I think it rather eluded me today.

But hey, tomorrow is another day, and tomorrow never, ever knows…

December 7th – I keep seeing complaints on social media about the state of Walsall’s Christmas tree this year. Since the tree has faced a bit of an uncertain future in recent years, I’m surprised we’ve got one at all; and so I thought I’d take the opportunity to check it out. I don’t think it’s too shabby at all, to be honest. Sat in front of The Crossing at St Pauls – the church cum shopping centre by the bus station – it seems to fit well in what is possibly the only public square in Walsall that works architecturally. Seems decent enough to me…

November 29th – While we’re on the subject of architectural disasters, the new Premier Inn on the waterfront development near the art gallery looks better at night – mainly because it’s grim black colour and peculiar yellow window frames are muted by the darkness. Nearly ready to open, the lights were on and made for an interesting shot or two over the canal basin. Over a decade since development here began, the basin is still overlooked by derelict and unoccupied buildings. Not a great success story, it has to be said.

November 29th – Walsall Station is an odd, ugly place. The original, stunning and imperious victorian station was demolished in the 1970s and the current concrete and steel afterthought bolted into the then new Saddlers Centre shopping mall. Partially in a tunnel, visually the external aspect is very busy and jarrs the eye. To use, it’s grey, dingy and unpleasant, full of dark spots and blind corners, which multiply and threatenn at night.

An awful place.

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 8th – Walsall Station at night has an odd, other-worldly atmosphere. The view from the ramp has always been great at night, but sadly diminished since the BOAK building in Station Street was lost to arson. It’s a horrid place to wait at – particularly for those on platform one, here waiting for the Rugeley train, as usual delayed by ten minutes.  London Midland, the embattled operator of the station, have talked about removing the staff here and leaving the station unstaffed at night. If they did, I think the service would see much less use – I, personally, would not feel safe. Good old London Midland.

November 1st – I’m experimenting with long exposure settings on the camera. I did a little last year, but largely left the shutter and aperture to the camera. I’m beginning to get a feel for how there settings work now. 

I’m not a huge fan of the Walsall Wood Pithead sculpture as many will be aware. I resent the poor engineering and tokenism of it, and the shallowness such artworks always engender. But it does make an interesting subject at night. It’s interesting when it catches the floodlight from the football pitch nearby, it almost appears to be lit from below.

October 31st – I came back to Walsall as the Cross City was broken again, and it at least meant the wind would be at my back. The ride was as bad as I expected; people were driving like morons and the road conditions were dreadful. Still, I had good waterproofs on, and it was just a matter of mashing away until I got home. The arboretum Junction was spray-central: I don’t know what it is with the asphalt here, but it retains a layer of water that just doesn’t dissipate, resulting in a permanent traffic haze while it rains.

Winter. It came so quickly…

October 26th – Most of this week I’d be lucky, but on Friday it finally caught up with me. The rash of delays and cancellations to local train services ‘operated’ by London Midland – currently running at 411 lost services in three weeks – had caused me no end of grief the week before, but so far, I’d missed them. That was until I had to come back from Birmingham New Street to Walsall in a hurry at peak time. Great. Half an hour longer I had to wait, and even then the train barely limped in. Over the past few weeks I’l lost hours of time this way. It would be nice to think the train company actually gave a toss, but to be quite honest, I don’t think they do. A terrible situation for all who rely on local trains.

October 25th – The Night Market was much better than I expected. There were a good few stalls, decent live music and good street food (if a little pricey). The atmosphere was lovely and it was nice to see Walsall relaxed. The only dark spot was that I could see no shops open, which I find remarkable. Walsall was brimming with punters, looking for other stuff to do once they’d been around. Outside of the immediate market area, the town was lonely and shuttered. A missed opportunity by local shops, the money of these visitors was going out of town to the large companies that had nearby stores open – Asda, Tesco, Macdonalds. Really sad.