June 18th – Village cricket is so much more thrilling than the professional game, there’s so much more at stake. Here at Wall, near Lichfield, sporting chaps in their whites were not deterred by the rain showers and battled for honour in the overcast afternoon, no doubt looking forward to a pint at the local afterwards.
In a coincidental nod to Roy Harper, notice the dog in the outfield…
June 18th – I don’t really want to think about what this valve does…
It opens and closes a drainage culvert from the M6 toll. Dotted along the motorway’s length are drainage settlement lagoons that catch surface water, and allow the pollutants (like road grit, rubber particles and debris) to sediment out before flowing into local streams and drains. In the event of a spill of serious pollutant, this valve would be closed to hopefully prevent the damage from extending to the local hydroecology. Sadly, the culvert it closes has a tiny capacity, and in a rainstorm would overtop into the lagoon anyway.
Cheap engineering lip-service.
June 17th – One for A Lichfeldian, curator and amateur historical whizz behind Lichfield Lore. She’s intrigued by a curious bell on Leomansley Vicarage, Lichfield. I pointed out at the time that there was a spurious bell fitted to the former council house in Brownhills, used to scramble the local fire brigade in days before the adoption of the telephone. I kept meaning to photograph it for her, but sadly forgot until today.
It’s a lot more grand than I remembered, and is now covered in netting to keep the pigeons out. I wonder how long it is since it was last sounded? Also in the picture is the wonderful town hall clock, the three-faced liar. Front face said a quarter to four. South face, pictured, said four o’clock. The time was actually ten to four. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that clock tell the correct time. It’s thoroughly symbolic of the town and it’s fortunes.
June 16th – This is a first for me – Red Deer at Jockey Meadows. I know I’m late to the party, since warning signs have been up for a couple of years, but these two young ladies are the first I’ve spotted close to Green Lane. They weren’t too timid, and seemed to be enjoying the lush grass and deep cover the meadow provides. I just hope the drivers on Green Lane take care. Hitting a deer is often fatal for the driver as well as the unfortunate animal.
June 16th – Jockey Meadows is an under-appreciated Site of Special Scientific Interest between Walsall Wood and Shelfield. Naturally wet, the grassland here is lush and verdant. There are many rare species here and it’s a vital green lung for the north Walsall area. Sadly, it’s often the prey of flytippers and scramblers, but on the whole it’s a peaceful oasis that’s well worth a visit.
June 14th – Returning that afternoon, I noticed this new roadster locked up near to the railings in Trent Valley car park. Obviously a beginner to commuting, it’s a very new bike branded ‘Real’ – it’s a knock-off Pashley copy sold by Halfords, I think. Sadly, the owner hasn’t invested in a very good lock and seems to have missed the fact that there’s a decent, CCTV-covered bike park in the dry under the footbridge steps on Platform 1. I’m not going to state the obvious, I’m really not. You work it out.
Nice to see someone having a go. Cycle Chic comes to Ye Olde City?
June 14th – Lichfield Trent Valley is an awful railway station. Jammed into the chord junction formed where the Cross City Line intersects the West Coast Main Line, it’s a collection of huts, cabins and rambling, exposed platforms. It’s very busy with commuters and has still yet to get a functioning public information system. One of the worst aspects is accessibility; both the Cross City and southbound mainline platforms are utterly unaccessible to anything with wheels. I’m lucky, I can pick my bike up and carry it. Wheelchair users are stuffed.
June 13th – What a difference a day makes – well, a working day. Returning that evening, from the top of Shire Oak Hill, one would know little of the previous day’s downpour. The roads were dry and dusty, and it was once again summery and warm. The old lady of the vale still looked worderful though, but not so much the warehouse on the Fradley plain behind her.
To be in England, in the summertime.
June 13th – out early to Lichfield, the rain of the previous 24 hours had only just ceased, and the roads and rooftops of Lichfield were still glistening. The weak sunlight caught them as I cycled down Pipehill and rendered them precious.
June 12th – Amongst the surprisingly large amount of odd historical curios in Brownhills, this decaying, cast-iron milepost occupies a special place in my heart. Sitting at the side of the A5 Watling Street, right at the top of the Black Path as it has done for decades, it points brokenly to Chester and Salop, marking their distances are 62 and 30 miles respectively. I don’t know what it pointed to in the other direction, for that side has always been broken in my living memory. This is the only milepost I’ve ever seen designed like this, most locally are four-sided low, minimalist monuments, whereas this was once semi-ornate and must have cost a lot of money to make.
I wonder who placed it and what it’s origins were. It would be nice if it could be restored, but I doubt many folk even know of it’s existence, which is sad. I can remember sitting on the sign as a child waiting for a relative to come from Brownhills Comprehensive, nearby…
BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking 