Tag: wednesbury

February 20th – Wednesbury has a life-size, fake windmill, and not many people know about it. I have no information on the edifice, or its origins, other that in sits in a garden near the top of Church Hill in the centre of town, is only about a decade old and exists as a kind of modern folly as far as I can tell. I investigated it today – I spotted it a good few years ago, but I had to go to Great Bridge today and had time to spare, so thought I’d go hunting. More on the main blog in the next few days.

You can’t actually get close to it – it’s in the garden of a remarkably ornate, somewhat architecturally eccentric house, and is only really visible in winter when there are no leaves on the trees. I’m told the owners don’t welcome enquiries, and the property is shut behind very tall, secure gates. Anybody have any more information? 

January 18th – One of my predominate emotions regarding the Black Country, and Darlaston in particular, is that of loss. Looking from the Walsall Canal at the James Bridge aqueduct, right on the Walsall/Wednesbury/Darlaston border, the much improved but still grimy Tame picks its way through abandoned brownfield sites and wasteland, past the gas storage depot and into the hinterlands of Bescot and the shadow of the motorway. Once, it wound its slimy way around huge factories, refineries and metal mills. IMI, Rubery Owen, FH Lloyd, GKN. Between this wind-blasted canal bank and those proud twin churches, hundreds of thousands of men, women and children worked. In vile conditions, often uneducated. The noise would have been deafening, unlike the gentle lap of canal water and wind rush I hear today. Sometimes, it’s as if their improved standard of living killed the place. They destroyed us for wanting better.

It doesn’t matter anymore.

You can’t put it back, as an old mate used to say.

November 30th – Whilst sat waiting at the lights on the junction of Wednesbury Road and Corporation Street in Walsall yesterday, I noticed something I’d not really absorbed before – it’s evident just why this road was called Wednesbury Road. The twin church towers of the hilltop town are clearly visible in the distance. I must have come this way hundred of times but never noticed before. The Black Country is a whole lot more interconnected than we often think.

November 29th – hopefully, I’ve finished with the train commuting for a while and am now working in the Black Country for a few weeks… I miss these commutes. Today though, was hell. I was headed due southwest into a very strong, insistent headwind. It took 65 minutes to do a journey that usually takes only 45. I was fully loaded, and at full tilt downhill under Navvie’s Bridge on the A461 Lichfield Road I was topping a heady 8.5 mph. The weather was grim and overcast, but the rain didn’t arrive until mid afternoon. Setting out home after the rains, the sunset was incredible but very, very short. Here near Wednesbury, the light glistened off the wet roads and made everything precious.

August 3rd –  The twin churches of Wednesbury are a landmark for miles around. This view is iconic to me, and one I always remember when thinking of the Black Country. It’s a surprisingly hilly area, are there are many such spots throughout the conurbation, but none with such an old-world, English feel to them. I keep saying it, but man, I love this place.

July 22nd – Nipping into Wednesbury’s Decathlon sports superstore on my way home for a couple of bike bits, I was surprised by the quality and thought given to the bike rack. I don’t know anything about it, other than it appears to be French. It’s sensible, secure, and features a great way to park the bike without it toppling over. Big chunky cable anchors allow you to lock your steed in the manner of your choosing. I was so chuffed with it, I left my bike there while I popped in PC World. Decathlon haven’t got the best range of cycling bits, but in an emergency they’re fine, and with provision like that, I’ll certainly be returning. Nice one.