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arborlights:

Friends, our debut album Hatherton Lake is available now! You can download it for free, or pay what you want by clicking the artwork above of on this link below:

http://arborlights.bandcamp.com

This album is the culmination of our last two years together as a band, and we hope you enjoy it.

June 28th – I don’t often ride into Stonnall from Cartersfield Lane, but having hopped off the canal at Warrenhouse, then over Barracks Lane, it seemed a reasonable route. It’s actually a lovely lane, and on the outskirts of the village, I spotted this row of interesting old houses. Even in the rain, I loved the colours, textures, gables, and above all, the great chimneys!

You can know a place all your life, and still spot something fresh. That’s why cycling – even on wet, grey days – can be a joy.

June 17th – At Spring Road station in Birmingham, I overheard to travellers discussing the white plates visible on the the edge of the opposite platform, down beside the track. They often baffle station users, and their usage is a bit obscure, really.

These are merely a datum survey marker for when the rails are replaced and the track relayed, which happens more often than one would imagine. Before the old track is moved, a surveyor uses a laser level or theodolite to measure the exact position of the rails, and their tilt angle if they have one. The rail height – plus any required offset – is set on the sliding knob, and is used as a datum for relaying new lines.

The legend proclaims this plate no 3; it’s 1105mm to the nearest rail, on the Up Main (UM) line. The cant (or tilt between the two rails to enable safer dynamic cornering of rolling stock) is 2mm.

The (just visible) +474 above the slider indicates that the level set is 474mm above the desired rail height (vertical offset) and a green knob says this is the level the rail should be at as it was designed, and may not currently be at that level. A red knob indicates the actual track position when the plate was installed.

Geometry like this is essential to rail engineers, who obsess over it. Maintaining correct geometry is of prime concern, prevents accidents and ensures trains fit under bridges, alongside platforms and don’t foul each other on bends.

You can often see these marker plates fixed to line side structures or electricity and signal masts.

June 14th – Headed out to Lichfield late afternoon, and battled the wind, fully loaded, on the way back. Returning down the Lichfield Road, I noticed the cones were out at Springhill for the construction of a new island junction for Springhill Cemetery, currently under construction to the right of the picture beyond the houses.

This has been delayed quite some time now, and has been locally controversial. it’ll be interesting to see how the development progresses.

June 9th – Sad to note that like other towers in the backbone microwave network, Turner’s Hill mast in Rowley Regis is looking very bare now. The BT Tower in Birmingham now has next to no antenna on it, and No Man’s Heath and Pye Green are also looking sparse too. Turner’s Hill has only a few left, and like the others, are symbolic monuments to a past communications era, a lapsed cold war and the increasing ubiquity of the internet. I loved these installations, they fascinate and haunt me, but like so much cold war technology, their time has now gone.

June 5th – Glad I spotted this advert at the junction of Footherley Lane and Hollyhill Lane on the way back from Shenstone. Footherley Hall – a home for elderly ladies run by Catholic nuns – always puts on a great fete, and if you’re in the area on Sunday I recommend you pop in for a while. You couldn’t get anything much more English than this – tea, cakes,tombola, bric-a-brac and sunshine if they’re lucky, all in great, rural gardens. A fine thing.

June 3rd – Spotted on a sunny Monday morning in Brownhills, parked up outside the closed branch of Natwest: a fascinating 3 speed Elite ladies step-through, replete with Sturmey Archer 3 speed hub, dynamo lights, front basket and rear, homemade rackbox. A lovely, functional 80s-ish steed, in excellent nick (note the cottered cranks, bike nerds!). I have no idea to whom it belongs, but clearly a well loved, well-looked after steed of convenience.

Beautiful. Perhaps Cycle Chic has come to Brownhills at last?