Galleries

October 4th – Another enchanting golden hour, and I needed something important. Having had no luck at the big Sainsbury at Cannock the day before, I struck gold at Reedswood.

Progress was slow, but I wended up the canal and down the cycleway to north Walsall in the most gorgeous light, and back in a equally gorgeous but cold sunset.

The weather really is great at the moment.

October 3rd – From Bridgtown, back along the A5 to Stonnall, and up Barracks Lane over Springhill. Autumn really settling in now, the fields here are barren, there was quite a nip in the air, and the moon hung is a beautiful sky.

I felt dog-rough, but it was worth being out, just for this…

October 3rd – Bridgtown has my heart. I’m having a bit of a rough time right now, but had to nip to Great Wyrley on my way home, so took the chance to spin over to Sainsbury’s while I was there. That involved a shot through the backstreets of Bridgtown, the sleepy village-within-a-connurbation just off the A5. 

I adore the blue-diamond brick pavements, terraces and shops; it’s intimate, and proud street corner war memorial, and buried away behind the hideous modern hotel, wedged between terrace gable ends, a garden of remembrance I’d never noticed before.

It glowed in the golden hour, with ruby red rosehips, war mural and roses. It seems to have a rather proud caretaker, too. A lovely place.

October 2nd – The skies were dark and dusk was settling on Walsall when I came from work, tired and finding it hard to keep any speed up. I was loaded with shopping, and unwell, so it was a real drag; but as soon as I looked around me, I realised that I was entering the autumn dusk, and actually, it’s a thing of beauty.

I’m glad to note either my hands are steadier this year, or the camera is better in low light than previous ones, as none of these images was taken with a tripod.

The darkness isn’t all bad.

October 1st – Autumn is certainly coming to Catshill Junction and Clayhanger Coomon, as the deciduous scrub here turns golden. On this drizzly October evening, despite the murk, it looked beautiful. 

I note the building taking place on the former Bayley House site is coming on well, but the sculpture on the far side of the water is being rapidly claimed by the scrub.

I do hope it doesn’t get forgotten there.

October 1st – Spotted this bike on the train today. It’s a Cannondale, a brand I’m not keen on, mainly for their curious approach to design and resolute defiance of industry standards.

I snatched these images on the phone, as the owner was clearly happy with his new steed. The bike has an interesting feature – ‘Headshok’ suspension. Rather than conventional front systems, where both fork legs travel together and work in tandem,  this system is at the fork crown, and much of the mechanism – dampers etc. – is in the head-tube and between crown and fork.

Initially appealing, it means all the load in work is on one member, rather than two; the system is utterly proprietary, and requires frequent, expensive, short milage interval services. Finally, you only have to look at them funny and they stop working.

There are avid Cannondale fans out there, and many love Headshok. My experience was that it was a whole bag of hurt.

I wish my fellow cyclist all the best of luck with his new bike. I think he’ll need it.

September 30th – These guys crease me up. Often on my way home, I cycle down Four Crosses Road in Shelfield. A garden there backs onto the footpath, and these three tiny little dogs have the run of the yard.

When I go past, they always go bananas. Ferociously yapping, growling and snapping, they appear to loathe my very soul.

I’m convinced that if they could get out, they’d have a really good go at savaging me. But not one of them is larger than your average cat.

I think they imagine they’re actually wolves…

September 30th – Once you get used to the idea (and it does take me a good while to do so), Autumn is beautifully enjoyable. The colours are astounding. Everything from fallen conkers, to bright orange berries, to golden leaves and dew-collecting spiderwebs makes it beautiful to be riding right now.

All on one short section of road on an industrial estate.

September 29th – I’d nipped into Birmingham on what seemed like a reasonable afternoon, then got the train back to Walsall. As I got nearer, the skies darkened more and more. It didn’t look good.

I emerged from the station about 6pm, and it was like dusk, with almost biblically ominous conditions. 

I got as far as Rushall when the heavens opened, but it didn’t last long. It’s been the driest September on record here, and the rain was refreshing, and all too short-lived.