Images

February 22nd – Recently saved from the bulldozer, Brownhills Business Park at night is an interesting combination of discharge light, shadow and angle. Partially consisting of some of the surface buildings of the former Walsall Wood Colliery, this is an interesting little industrial park which always has lots going on, and a wide variety of businesses operate here. Lurking on the corner of this site is a former mineshaft used for dumping millions of gallons of industrial effluent in the 70’s and 80’s, so perhaps it’s for the best that they didn’t get permission to build houses on this site. 

February 21st – There is a place in New Street Station, Birmingham, that is only known by a select few: those who use the lifts. This happy club includes cyclists, wheelchair users, those of limited mobility and service personnel. The platform access is so shambolic that only on two platforms do lifts connect to the concourse above; for the remaining five, you can only go downward to a connecting subway. This makes every platform change an absolute joy. If you actually want to get out, and land at, say, platform 2, you have to go down to the subway, and come up via tone of the two lifts connecting to the concourse through other platforms. These two lifts are very busy and the wait can be considerable. The connecting subway is dark, dingy and contains lots of horrid, dark corners. But never mind, it’ll all be better soon… and there will be jam for tea, too, I’m told.

February 21st – It seems I’ve got a change of scenery for a few days. Off to Telford early today, and the weather – after a distinctly wintery dip yesterday – seemed really springlike this morning. Heading to Shenstone station along Lynn Lane, I noticed this row of bare trees. Spring will be nearly over by the time they green up, but I’m sure, somewhere in those weathered trunks, sap has started to rise. I notice bulbs are coming up and growth is tentatively commencing for another year. This thought cheered me as I sat on the train…

February 19th – Here at Whitemoor Haye, near Alrewas, there’s an example of a hidden menace stalking Britain’s crops, but it’s rarely mentioned. Everyone loves swans, the graceful, beautiful white birds that populate rivers, canals and parks. However, they have a darker side. Aggressive and voracious of appetite, these large birds with no real natural enemy are multiplying in number at a huge rate. In spring, they gather in huge groups – this is just a tiny one – on fields of very young crops, then proceed to decimate them. Swans love the green shoots of fresh growth, and will gather on any flat field. Farmers will zigzag tape barriers over crops to prevent the hungry birds from landing, but success is limited. After all, you can’t be unkind to such gorgeous birds, can you?

February 18th – I had a blast around Shenstone, Wall and Stonnall, and really blew the cobwebs away. Reaching the tiny hamlet of Chesterfield, I realised how nice it looked at sunset. The architecture here really is understated and gorgeous. It’s a shame that a couple of houses further up the village to wards Wall seem to be unoccupied…

February 17th – Meanwhile, down in Stonnall, the village was as lovely as ever at night. By day, it’s plain, very modern-estate like, and somewhat redolent of Metroland; the village history utterly swamped by modern housing and unsympathetic pattern development, cashing in on the semi-rural cachet… By night, the character of the physical geography of the village comes out, and complex, historic buildings like the Manor House show their true imperiousness.

Taking night photos in Stonnall is odd. I always feel the twitch of curtains, and I never really feel that anywhere else. Beginning to wonder if it’s a Midlands Midwich, or possibly Stepford…

February 16th – There are some things that Wasall Council does very well. It’s countryside services and estates team are wonderful. Rangers, craftsmen and volunteers work hard to look after the acres and acres of common, heath, park and woodland that the borough covers – most of which remains unknown and unexplored to the majority of citizens, which is sad. Here, taking a spin round Brownhills Common on a grey Thursday I noted that someone is gradually repairing the boardwalk, and appears to be doing some coppicing. Excellent stuff.

February 14th – Hidden away in  back street of Walsall, surrounded by factories, sits a real gem. The New Inn – or Pretty Bricks, as it is known, is a real, bustling Black Country boozer. Offering a variety of real ale, a real fire and a lively bar, this pub has been a staple of traditional ale aficionados for years. In the late sixties and early seventies, there was a folk club upstairs where acts like Billy Connoly and Jasper Carrott gigged. It closed for a while, but the hostelry has reopened, and seems to have a good future ahead. The ‘Pretty Bricks’ name stems from the attractive, tiled frontage. This is a pub worth journeying to.

February 13th – I see the new offices for Walsall Housing Group – the hived-off housing association that owns almost all of Walsall Council’s former social housing stock – are nearly finished. This inelegant, six and a half million pound edifice has undergone a protracted construction; the glass units forming the frontage were faulty and fogged up soon after placement, the manufacture being faulty. It’s notable that some panels are still cloudy. This ill conceived building seems to be fully lit at night, presumably at no small expense, and is completely devoid of public transport support. This could be considered an oversight considering WHG’s tenant profile.

That money would have built a lot of decent homes.