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November 16th – A particularly hard ride home, and I’ve no idea why – I was just tired, I guess. The Black Cock Bridge was a tough too – and taking a breather at the top, I realised that this was the first time this year I’d commuted in both directions in darkness.

Still, it’s little more than a month until the darkness stops closing in and begins to retreat for another year.

Just where has this year gone?

November 15th –  A long day and a late spin around Brownhills. The town was quiet, and there was no sign of the Christmas I’d seen in Birmingham the previous Friday. It was windy, but not too bad. Stood on a quiet traffic island, Morris Miner was still stood silent, metallic sentry.

Sometimes the most changeless things are best.

November 11th – As bike gear gets cheaper and the drive to reduce weight continues, lots of stuff is getting crappier. I’ve always liked Sigma bike computers – cheap and well engineered. However, the last one has a particularly loose twist-lock mount. Today, it spun from the holder on the bars in traffic, and before I had chance to recover it, it went under the wheel of a car. This is the result.

From lights to GPS units to bike computers, bike mounts are getting crappier. Can we stop weight shaving and cost cutting please?

November 9th – I’ve also been passing this advert in various spots around town, and it’s bugging me a bit.

No one should have no one at any time of year, not just Christmas.

We can all do something about this here and now.

Any time is a good time to take someones hand, smile and say ‘Hello, chum.’

Do it now.

November 5th – Off to Telford, and another wet, warm commute. That wonderful autumn has come to a very soggy, miserable end. I stood on New Street watching the people, signals and trains as the drizzle softened the light. I must have spent hundreds of hours waiting here over the years. This station is in my blood like the traffic fumes and air of the city, and although I hate the state of it, and what’s been done to it, I still love the place.

I find as I get older my relationship with urban spaces is getting more and more complicated. These are still my places, but I feel much more ambivalent about them now. I’m not sure I like it.

November 4th – In the afternoon, I again passed by these fascinating berries I recorded last week. Thanks to the genius of Susan Marie Ward, I can tell you that they’re actually a type of crab apple.

Yes, you read that right. A gosh-darned crab apple.

Read about this fascinating shrub here. Nature is amazing sometimes.

Thanks to Susan for that.

November 1st – Gentleshaw Church, like that of Kings Bromley, shows something that I think deserves wider attention, but makes me somewhat outspoken.

Victorian architectural hubris wrecked many fine churches with utterly horrible extensions – sadly an abomination that went on for another century.

(I know the extension is 1903 – but it was planned in the late victorian period).

There, I said it. What was the architect thinking here?

October 28th – Last commute by train for a while hopefully, and the morning wasn’t the wet one predicted – in fact, it was warm, and although damp from the previous night’s rain, it was a pleasant ride.

I stood and looked for my train, and noted a northbound one in the opposite direction. The trains haven’t been too bad of late and I remain fascinated by the exaggerated perspective and complexity of the lines, overhead wires and general machinery of the rail system.

Today wasn’t the worst weather, but it made me think about just how resilient these systems are – the engineering shouldn’t be underestimated.