Galleries

#365daysofbiking A new muse:

November 30th – Passing Walsall Arboreetum on the way home I noticed that it was open – so I popped in for some night photos.

Sadly, they didn’t work out too well, but it turns out that Walsall’s premier park is now open every evening, and it looks like I have a new muse.

I will return.

dry-valleys:

“There is, probably, no word of the human vocabulary which brings a greater crowd of thoughts to the educated man’s mind than that blessed word library; for a library is one of the greatest causes, as it is also one of the greatest results of man’s civilisation”– George Dawson, at the opening of the first Birmingham Central Library, 1866.

“This great library, which is the biggest library in Europe, has educated the people of Birmingham for decades and it will continue to enlighten future generations.

“As one said, a room without books is like a body without a soul.

“And I say ‘a city without a library is like a graveyard.”

Malala Yousufzai, legendary adopted daughter of the city who like me came to Birmingham and fell in love, albeit in a slightly different way, opening the current incarnation of the library in 2013.

The library has existed in several forms since 1866, when the back to backs were still lived in and Joe Chamberlain had yet to become mayor, and th present building  dates from 2013.

From  the wonderful secret garden on the library roof, you can revel in views like the BT Tower, constructed in 1967, and the skyline of the city and further afield including (8) Turners Hill.

From  July 2016 and (2,4,7) December 2017, and from below in July 2016, (9, 10) the town hall, opened 1834.

#365daysofbiking Into the madness:

November 28th – Telford, that evening, viewed from the Euston Way.

Telford looks best at night. The station is crowded due to a cancelled train. The train I’m expecting is late. This is not going to be fun.

The lights, the steel and glass, the pretentions to being internationalist, commercial, vital and a centre for financial business work best at night.

In reality, Telford is an industrial and commercial sprawl, but it ain’t all that.

But it could have been a contender.

Oh well, into the madness…

#365daysofbiking Stationary traveller:

November 28th – Birmingham New Street, not long after dawn on a grey, wet, miserable winter morning.

Despite it’s faults, despite it’s awful turd-polishing in the Grand Central fiasco, despite it’s continual propensity to be host to disappointment and frustration, this subterranean station is in my heart and soul, and feels like home.

The lights, the people, even, no – especially the steel horse.

I love this city. I love this place. With all my heart. But often, it feels unrequited.

#365daysofbiking The daily grind:

25th November – A mechanical job that should have been easy was far from it. Replacing brake discs resulted in a struggle with seized fasteners, the failure of a brake calliper and the discovery that the parts I thought I had in the spares box brand new for this eventually were in fact the wrong ones.

The front disc was so badly worn it was starting to warp.

For a job I thought would take 15 minutes and leave me bags of time to get out turned into hours and I was lucky to get time for tea…

Perhaps I shouldn’t leave it so long next time.

#365daysofbiking Fade to grey:

November 24th – A grey , dark day with few redeeming features. A little maintenance on the bikes failed in the face of a more serious issue, and I headed out before nightfall for a breather. A full circuit of Chasewater and Chasetown offered little in the way of photo opportunities, and the images, apart from one, reflected the colour of the day.

The night, some what perversely however, was a bit more dramatic, as I captured at Anchor Bridge.

#365daysofbiking The last embers of the day:

November 23nd – Coming home from Birmingham on the train, I again alighted at Shenstone, but returned via the backlands on a misty, mystical and enchanting evening.

These were the last hours of the heaviest working week for a long time. But at home there was food, tea, warmth, cosiness, and peace, which made the last climb over sShire Oak Hill much easier.

#365daysofbiking Kissed by the cold:

November 22nd – Pleased to note there’s still some fungi about at the moment.  The earthstars seem to have given up for this year, but these ice-coated glistening ink caps were glistening with frost when I found them in Victoria Park, Darlaston this morning.

Such delicate, beautiful things, I suppose the frost must harm them but it does look lovely.

I doubt there will be much more fungi this year now. it’s been a much better season than expected, to be fair.

#365daysofbiking Rime and season:

November 22nd – First really cold morning of the year I think, with lurking black ice and hedgerows and verges adorned with a hoar frost. It was the kind of penetrating cold that hurts your throat and forehead, and even though I was wrapped up, on the morning trail, towpaths and cycleways the -2.5 degree temperatures were still a little raw for me.

Every year it takes time to re-adjust.

I was certainly glad of the ice tyres this morning.