Galleries

February 2nd – bright and cold, I cycled to work in glorious sunshine, and for a change, pottered through Alumwell’s backstreets. On the corner of Ida Road and Scarborough Road, I’ve just noticed this old, empty building. The Edward Shelley School closed a while back, and the site became part of Walsall College, which later closed it when the institution moved to new premises. I don’t have specific dates, and I’ve only noticed it recently because the thick hedgerows have been cut back. It’s a lovely building, and in very good condition; I’d love to know more about it.

I hope the sudden grounds maintenance is a precursor to reusing this place…

February 1st – Just on the rough side of Brownhills Common, a handful of yards from Coppice Lane, there’s a deep void in the land through the trees It may be the remnant of early surface mining, or the later evidence of hamfisted mineral exploration (the coal here was evident on the surface, so it was said; the grey clay also highly prized by potters), but it’s been here for decades; the spoil is piled up around it in mounds with fairly mature trees growing from them, which must date from around 1977, as the year previously, the whole of this side of the common had been flatted by a grassfire.

Every landscape tells a story This one tells of an industrial, blighted past, which we now sort of revere.

Brownhills holds some of it’s oldest secrets closest, but in plain sight.

February 1st – Crikey, are we a 12th through the year already? How did that happen?

I passed through Ryders Mere in the morning, and expected it to be busy with twitchers for the latest rarity – a Great Northern Diver has been here for a few weeks now – but curiously, I was alone. This place is lovely, but I still find it a little barren. 20 years ago this was an opencast, and now, a peaceful haven for wildfowl.

One day, I might bump into the man of the marsh himself, Chaz Mason. That would be lovely. In the meantime, the gulls and grebes carried on as normal.

January 31st – A sunset return on a very cold evening, with little energy. I came from Burntwood with leaden limbs, but the wind behind me; the combination of sunset, street lights and traffic made me think of the cover of Green on Red’s ‘Killer inside Me’ – beautiful, but hard.

I found it so hard, I hopped onto the canal, and wound my way on that back to Brownhills. I couldn’t deal with my tiredness and the traffic.

January 31st – I noted as I passed in the afternoon that the conifer plantations on Brownhills Common west of The Parade are being thinned again, as part of the ongoing heathland restoration works. It’s good to see, but I must admit, I’d probably go further here. 

The conifers were planted in the postwar period, before we really understood the importance of the heathland habitat here; they have spread rapidly and grow so thickly that little lives beneath them. This harms the biodiversity, and doesn’t provide the best environment for the deer here, who like low cover.

Restoration will take years, but it’s good to see the progress, and the physical scars will soon heal. All the cut wood here is coniferous; deciduous trees are left.

January 30th – These images don’t look much, but click on them and take a look at larger versions. Fifteen second exposures over the canal to the east at Clayhanger, one catches orion in the sky beautifully.

These were an experiment I didn’t expect much from. They worked better than I ever hoped.

January 29th – I rode home in a heavy, but short snow shower, which left a light dusting of snow. Heading towards Clayhanger, I stopped on the bridge. I love the interaction between the streetlight and snow, and how the vehicle tracks define the landscape.

Wonderful. I hope we have more snow – I love it. Such an adventure!

January 29th – I love goats, and it seems we have a local herd now. In the field by Jockey Meadows in which I saw Mr. Fox in last week, I’ve been noticing the goats for a couple of weeks, but they’ve never been close enough for a good photo. Today, they were trying to get through the hedge at Green Lane. It seems there are seven adults and four or five kids, with a rather impressive ram. 

I have no idea who owns them, and I think they go wandering of their own accord sometimes; but on a grey, cold January morning seeing those little kids frolicking, jumping and having high jinks was a joy to the soul.

January 27th – It’s been over a year since I reported the brickwork n the local canals collapsing into the water – both on the bend between Pier Street and Catshill junction, and on the stretch between Catshill and Clayhanger Bridge.

The Canal & River Trust came out once, and erected safety tape, which the guys cutting the grass removed.

Since then, loads of other spots have deteriorated.

This cavity is large enough to trap a bicycle wheel or child’s foot. If you rode or stepped into it, you’d fall into the canal. 

Watch out folks – the C&RT don’t give a toss so you’d better be on your guard.