April 21st - I didn’t get out until dusk. A problematic day, filled with frustration, irritations and hassle. I escaped late, and poured myself liquid along the canal to the old railway line trail near the Pelsall Road. Not having tried the new camera in the dark, I thought I’d give it a shot. I’m very impressed. t does well in low light conditions and generates far less noisy images than the TZ20, always that camera’s Achilles Heel. Only meaning to pop out for a short time, I messed around for an hour or more, just enjoying the absence of company. Apart, of course, from my old comrade the fox. He sat on the bridge at Clayhanger, as he often does, then retreated to the scrub to watch the mad human for a while.

March 2nd - Escaping a heavy afternoon of bicycle fettling, I skipped out on a new transmission at dusk. Enjoying the freedom, I headed up over Wyrley Common for a bit, out beyond the old level crossing at the top of Engine Lane. Heading back towards the factories at dusk, I jumped half out of my skin at the surprise of being greeted from the shadows of the scrub by a ne’er do well in a grubby anorak with the hood pulled up, emanating a strong smell of dope. The transmission got quite a test, there…

Catching my breath back near the Hussey Estate, I noted how desolate the site of the old garages at the rear of the Pelsall Road had become. When I was a kid there was decent street lighting here. Only the welcoming lights of the Activity Centre next door stopped it being utterly black. An unsettling ride, for sure….

February 28th - Returning very late from work, cresting the Black Cock Bridge (no sniggering at the back) I stopped to take a picture of the night-time view of Camden Street down towards Oak Park. When I turned around to climb back on the bike, I realised the view behind me was far more interesting. This footbridge (actually green in the daylight) was added to the canal bridge in the 1980’s, and is made from tubular steel, which, when lit by my rear light, looks quite stunning… beauty in unexpected places.

February 24th - Saint Matthews Hall - sometime church hall, Walsall County Courthouse and wine bar, has been turned in a specialist real ale pub by Wetherspoons, and by all accounts it’s a decent transformation. I’d not noticed before, but it’s lit with colour shifting, high power LED lighting. I’m not shire what to make of it; it looks gimmicky and cheap, but it is rather impressive. A curious thing…

February 24th - I took plenty of photos in the morning, as it was another wonderful morning - but sadly, I left the camera in the wrong mode and they were all awful. Luckily, I realised my mistake, and returning from Walsall at 7pm, I took some shots of a peculiarly deserted town. This seemed odd to me; when I was a youth, the euphemistically branded ‘nightime economy’ was normally well underway by this time, but it seems not to be the case now. Few were at the bus stands, and few outside the bars and pubs. Bridge Street was deserted, and the town hall looked imperious in the street light. An odd end to an oddly draining week.

February 23rd - Returning home late through Shelfield, I passed Bunker Service Station. I have no idea why it’s so named, but I noted diesel was now 1.43 a litre. People have often asked me how I can afford to keep buying bits for the bike and feed my  gadget addiction - it’s simple. I’ll run for days on a gallon of earl grey, marmite sandwiches and sweet treats like Haribo. I’m not spending huge amounts of dough to sit stressed in a car, watching my sanity and bank-balance wane with the fuel gauge pointer…

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 22nd - After a thoroughly awful day at work, I disembarked from the train at Walsall to find myself travelling home through a soft, pervasive drizzle. The town was looking particularly down-at-heel in the dusk, although, it has to be said, twilight at 5:45 is a wonderful thing right now. Walsall has never been blessed with architectural complexity, and on days like this, it really, really shows. I love this place with all my heart, but by jove, it’s very hard to on days like this…

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 17th - Riding down into Stonnall from Brownhills for a change, just to stretch the legs a little at dusk, I stopped to take in the view from the entry to Shire Oak landfill - what used to be Sandhills quarry. Watching the lights come on over this landscape is always captivating. I could waste hours here, watching the light change and daylight pass into evening. It’s sad that the view - which is excellent - doesn’t lend itself terribly well to photography.

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.

February 13th - It struck me as I returned from work late, that hospitals grow their own economic microclimate. All round Walsall’s new Manor Hospital, there are a range of convenience shops. More than average numbers of newsagents, cafes, taxi offices and even undertakers. Oddly, fast food outlets of varying degrees of healthiness also proliferate. I wonder if they’re serving the staff, or patients more? Here on the Pleck Road, business looked brisk, even at this evening hour.

January 26th - Returning mid-evening through Walsall Wood for a change, I stopped on the canal bridge. Even at 8pm, the High Street looks busy. Considering all it’s been through over the years, The Wood has stood up remarkably well in the face of change, and retains it’s pleasant, villagey atmosphere, despite the traffic.

January 22nd - Tesco may not care much for Brownhills, but it has us in a stranglehold. The same company that operate our scruffy, down at heel supermarket are also one of the town’s biggest employers. Tesco own the One Stop group, operators of small community stores, which they bought up from T&S Stores a decade ago. Large numbers of folk are employed at the warehouse here, and there’s a constant flow of traffic and wagons into and out of the site. Tonight, it seemed quiet, but I could hear engines revving somewhere in the distance.

In Brownhills Tesco will get you, one way or another.