Photos unconnected to the railway
- New photos added on Sunday 6th August 2017, after the rain...
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Gazania.
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Dwarf Aster.
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Dwarf Aster.
- New photos added on Monday 3rd July 2017...
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Alstroemeria, also known as the Peruvian lily.
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Malva.
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Coreopsis.
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Erigeron glaucus, also known as the Beach Aster amongst other names.
- New photos added on Saturday 24th October 2015...
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Cloudscape, Wednesbury. Mid-afternoon on Wednesday 18th July 2012.
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Buses unload at Dudley on the afternoon of Saturday 4th September 2010.
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Two firms with long-standing links to Wolverhampton are represented in this shot. A Goodyear blimp flies over the Chubb building on the morning
of Saturday 9th April 2011. Goodyear announced that it would close its Wolverhampton factory in 2015.
- New photos added on Tuesday 20th January 2015. Random stuff from the past...
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Ladybird. Saturday 1st May 2010.
- New photos added on Monday 19th January 2015. More Walsall buildings taken a couple of years ago...
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Watering Trough pub, in Ablewell St, Walsall. Saturday 28th August 2010.
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The New Art Gallery, Walsall. Monday 8th March 2010. Distinctive, but rather ugly.
- New photos added on Tuesday 6th November 2012...
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Autumn tree. Friday 2nd November 2012.
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Flowers. Sunday 15th July 2012.
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The clock tower in the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham. Tuesday 14th June 2011.
- New photos added on Saturday 10th December 2011. Birmingham city centre and the German market...
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Birmingham Council House and the city's flag.
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Carved figures on Birmingham Council House.
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The German market is a regular pre-Christmas feature nowadays, mostly selling food, drink, clothes, toys and trinkets.
Like these choccies and wind-up models.
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Russian dolls, and confectionary stall.
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Glass bowls.
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Christmas decorations.
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Model buildings.
- New photos added on Sunday 13th November 2011...
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Holly berries. Sunday 13th November 2011.
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Autumn foliage and berries. Sunday 13th November 2011.
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Autumn leaves. Monday 25th October 2010.
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Grey horse. Sunday 13th November 2011.
- New photos added on Sunday 2nd October 2011. Indie buses in the Black Country...
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National Express West Midlands (NXWM) is the dominant bus operator in the West Midlands conurbation, but
there are a number of smaller players as well. Midland
is one of the bigger independent operators, with just over 60 vehicles according to their autumn 2011
fleet list. Midland buses carry a smart red livery,
visible branding, and fleet numbers. This is 3869 (R869 MCE) seen on the approach to Darlaston
bus station at 14:42 on Saturday 1st October. Digital destination displays don't always register on a still
photo, so it's not clear from the picture which service this bus is working. Midland operate both 9 and
334 services which share a common route between Darlaston and Walsall, but the timetables suggest this will be
a 334, the 14:32 Bilston - Walsall.
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The Midland Bus Company is - as far as I can tell - unconnected with Midland. They're
a much smaller outfit, with only a handful of vehicles according to information available on the web. Typically
for operators of this size their vehicles are unbranded and don't carry fleet numbers. Or at least these
things aren't very obvious. This is H137 MOB, leaving Walsall Bradford Place bus station at 12:41 on
Saturday 1st October 2011.
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When I first saw this vehicle in the distance I thought it was one of the yellow IKEA-branded buses which used to
operate a Walsall - Wednesbury service via their store near the M6 at junction 9. In fact it's a Sandwell Travel
bus, registration number M458 LLJ, working the 12:55 route 334 Bilston - Walsall service. This is another operator
with just a handful of unbranded vehicles carrying no visible fleet numbers. The photo was taken at 13:13 on Saturday
1st October, and the bus is on the Darlaston Road approaching the Brown Lion at Pleck.
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This is another Sandwell Travel vehicle, seen crossing the railway bridge on the Wednesbury Road at Pleck. The
photo was taken at 13:42 on Saturday 1st October, and the Centro timetable suggests it might be a late running
13:25 route 334 Walsall - Bilston service. R470 LGH used to be a
London bus, and was new in autumn 1997. It still
carries its London fleet number, LDP 70.
- Photos added on Friday 23rd September 2011...
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Can't help but be impressed by this line-up at the Courtauld Gallery, seen on Friday 2nd September 2011. Having many of the most famous
impressionist paintings in the world is one thing, sticking a bunch of them right next to each other on the same wall looks like showing off, and
I felt the need to photograph this juxtaposition.
From left-to-right in this shot: Portrait of Emma by Berthe Morisot; then Le Dejeuner sur l'Herbe; Banks of the Seine
at Argenteuil; and A Bar at the Folies-Bergere, all by Edouard Manet. Sixth from the left on this same wall was Renoir's
La Loge. My favourite of this selection is the riverside view, with its lovely blues.
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Sunset over Wednesbury, seen at 19:44 on Thursday 8th September 2011.
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Roughly the same area of sky, photographed at 19:48.
- Photos added on Saturday 13th August 2011...
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Reflections on Hydes Road pool, Wednesbury. Tuesday 9th August 2011.
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Reflections on Hydes Road pool, Wednesbury. Tuesday 9th August 2011.
- Photo added on Tuesday 31st May 2011...
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Aquilegia. The stamens are half an inch long. Taken with Canon G11 plus Raynox DCR-250 macro lens.
- Photos added on Tuesday 3rd May 2011. Proper buses...
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My first visit to the bus museum at Wythall took place on Monday 2nd May. This is West Brom 248, or 248H as it became when West Brom's
buses were transferred to the WMPTE. These are the buses I rode most often in my primary school days, so I was especially keen to
photograph this one. However my timing was awry, and it was departing on a tour just as I arrived. This photo was taken when it returned,
but was a bit of a grab shot prior to the vehicle being parked in shadow.
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Midland Red D9 number 5399 was also operating on this day. I rode these less often than West Brom vehicles, but would no doubt have had
a few on the 245 Wednesbury - Stourbridge service while making occasional visits to Dudley Zoo.
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A bus I would never have been on was this Routemaster coach, RCL2219, in Green Line livery.
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Asymmetric electricity pylon photographed from below. Ocker Hill, Tipton.
- Photos added on Wednesday 10th November 2010...
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Autumn berries in Walsall town centre (Navigation St). Pyracantha I believe.
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Aerial photo of an autumnal leaf.
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Digbeth Police Station, Birmingham.
- Photos added on Monday 18th October 2010...
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Goosander. Sandwell Valley.
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My favourite duck. Sandwell Valley.
- Buses and clock towers added on Sunday 10th October 2010...
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518, a Volvo B6LE, runs along Ridding Lane, Wednesbury, with a 428 service from Wednesbury to West Bromwich via Hateley Heath. At the
time this photo was taken the Travel WM fleet list showed this
vehicle based at Acocks Green garage, which probably explains why it hasn't got the correct destination in the blinds. The clock tower
in the market place was built in 1911 to celebrate the coronation of George V. This picture was taken on Monday 4th October.
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4292 is a Volvo B7 ALX based at West Bromwich garage. It's seen here on the afternoon of Sunday 10th October working a 74 service from
Birmingham to Dudley. The bus is pulling away from a stop in Dudley St, West Bromwich. In the background stands the clock tower
in Carters Green, built in 1897 as a memorial to Alderman Reuben Farley
(1826-1899). It contrasts with the rather utilitarian street lights.
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Single deck buses rest between duties at West Bromwich garage on Sunday 10th October. Nearest the camera are 1582 and 1574, both
Mercedes 0405N vehicles.
- Photo added on Thursday 9th September 2010...
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Lighting towers, Bescot. Taken on Thursday 9th September. The garden spider first appeared around the 9th, and was resident for about ten
days, re-spinning its web at least three or four times during its stay, and surviving at least one bout of very heavy rain.
- More shots of Walsall's buildings, taken on Saturday 28th August 2010...
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This building in Bradford Place dates from 1888, and was originally a prep school. Now used as office space for rent. Saturday
28th August 2010.
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This building in Bridge St is now an electrical retail outlet. Saturday 28th August 2010.
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The Market Tavern, a closed pub. Saturday 28th August 2010.
- Photos added on Sunday 22nd August 2010...
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Narrowboats pass on the Oxford Canal north of Brinklow. The two facing the camera are conveying solid fuel in bags, and the first one
is towing the other. This picture was taken on Monday 16th August.
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A hover fly goes about its business on Saturday 7th August 2010.
- Walsall has many fine buildings, although you often have to look up above the shopfronts to appreciate them.
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The building at the near end of this block in Bradford St is now used by a firm of solicitors. However it's more notable as the
birthplace of the author Jerome K Jerome, hence the blue plaque. Nowadays the 404 bus to West Brom and Blackheath loads outside.
Saturday 24th July 2010.
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This is the now-closed Brown Lion pub at Pleck. It's a notable local landmark, used to identify the road junction nearby, and also as a
timing point for buses on the routes to Darlaston and Wednesbury. Saturday 31st July 2010.
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The tower above the Town Hall. Saturday 31st July 2010.
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Just around the corner from the Town Hall is this building, used by the Cheltenham & Gloucester Building Society. Saturday 31st July 2010.
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The Guild Hall, now used as a restaurant. A plaque on the nearmost corner gives a brief history of this building. Saturday 31st July 2010.
- Flower shots added on Tuesday 25th May 2010...
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Tulip.
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Reproductive parts of a rhododendron with ten stamens surrounding the red pistil.
- Photographs taken on Sunday 9th May 2010...
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Dandelion seed head.
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Dandelion seed head.
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Close-up of dandelion seed head. This is a near 100% crop from a G11 raw image similar to the one above.
- Spring flowers photographed on Saturday 1st May 2010...
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Dandelion.
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Sedum. This rosette is half-an-inch (1cm) in diameter.
- Spring flowers photographed on Saturday 24th April 2010...
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Mahonia.
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Mahonia leaf.
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Blue Anemone.
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Rhododendron.