Tag: Walsall

July 18th –  * bonus muppet * (actually filmed on Monday 11th of July, but forgotten) – This just defies any explanation. Scarborough Road, Walsall, about 10am. The day is clear and sunny. Visibility is good. Driver made eye contact with me initially, and just ploughed on. I think she was half asleep, or just plan stupid. Half of me laughed at her, and the other half was horrified.

July 6th – 10 minutes after the storm, I was on my way again. I don’t know what this forlorn, decaying building was, but it looks like a mill of some kind. Like many industrial canal side buildings in Walsall, it’s original purpose seems to be lost. I’d like to see the edifice fixed up and used for something nicer. Buildings are like dogs – they don’t care if their owner is good or bad, just that they care for them.

At least this one hasn’t been burned down yet, the fate of many good building in the town.

June 6th – A day of short, sharp showers and sunny spells. Sadly, the wind, absent of late, seems to have returned. I was fortunate on my way to work to avoid being caught in this squall by taking shelter under the canal bridge that conducts Bridgman Street in Walsall over the canal. 10 minutes later I was on my way in warm, bright sunshine.

June 30th – Thursday took me into the Black Country. Returning via King’s Hill Park, making a call at the hated PC World in Axletree Way, I took a spin down Franchise Street. I noticed that the view from the town end was wonderful, across rooftops to St. Matthews, Walsall and beyond to Paddock. Tameway Tower is also prominent. The sixties were cruel to Walsall, very cruel indeed.

June 27th – On my way to work, I stopped on the Ring Road by the Leather Museum in Walsall for the pedestrian crossing. On this bright, T-shirt and sandals warm summers day, a breath of Copenhagen sailed gently and confidently over the crossing. A relaxed, normally dressed cycling mum, bag slung casually over her shoulder with a content, happy child in a seat behind her. No silly closthes, no fear, just  casual young woman out on her daily business.

Lovely to see.

June 27th – The hot weather of the weekend had clarified the canal water and the fish that normally dwell in the town’s waterways were clearly visible all around Walsall. I know nothing about fish, but there were some fine specimens visible on this hot afternoon. They seemed unsettled – I wonder if they were fearing their sudden exposure to fisherman and heron alike?

June 25th – Nipping into Walsall early afternoon, I returned on the cycle track down the Goscote Valley. Leaving the Butts at Mill Lane, I spotted this flytipping. Clearly thrown or tipped from the back of a truck, it would have fitted in a domestic dustbin. There is nothing anyone can do about this opportunistic, heartless vandalism: such a crime is over before it starts, and blights us all.

Some people are scum, and that’s all there is to it. I just pity the poor folks charged with cleaning it up.

June 20th – I had a number of pictures to choose from from today’s commute, but you can’t beat a good heron. This fellow waited until I was within a couple of feet of him to make his presence known, all feathers and flapping as he rose in panic from the Birchills canal bank. I love everything about herons – their size, their oddly dishevelled appearance, their Heath Robinson looking legs, but mostly, I’m always impressed by their size and unexpected grace in the air. A fine specimen.

June 8th – Cycling the old railway route up through Goscote to Walsall often throws up unexpected challenges – gangs of loafing youth, grass fires in summer, intemperate canada geese. By far the most frequent seems to be negotiating the wrath of often rather stroppy horses. This particular equine highwayman  casually stops me, presumably after a mint or food, receives a bit of welcome fuss and then lets me pass.

June 6th – Cycling home, enjoying the sun I took to the canal through Pleck, south Walsall. Passing under the bridge, I slowed to a crawl as I couldn’t see the towpath ahead. True to form, a prat hurtles round the blind corner, nearly ends up in the canal, and as he steers around me I notice he has a toddler in a child seat at the rear of his bike. The kid is strapped in. If he’d gone in the water, there’s a real chance the child would drown.

Moron.