Birmingham… “Decent housing for decent people” 13 Nov 2017 The Icknield Port Loop of the Birmingham Canal Navigations is one of those swathes of dereliction, just outside of Birmingham city centre, that shouldn't really exist anymore. It's a long,…
Birmingham… Clay miles: Henry Doulton in the Black Country 12 Mar 20177 Apr 2017 On the North Worcestershire Path, not far from Iverley, there is a broken water pipe lying to one side of the track. It's a bit forlorn, but clearly a very…
Black Country… “Slums” of the Black Country: Gold’s Hill, West Bromwich 23 Nov 201521 Dec 2015 The Black Country is constructed not just upon topography but upon geology. Mines can only be built where there's something to mine; other sorts of works require proximity to those materials; infrastructure is…
Black Country… “Slums” of the Black Country: Eel Street, Oldbury 2 Nov 201521 Dec 2015 The Post's next community is one I'm loathe to try and explain in detail. Oldbury was infamous as one of the most polluted towns in the country - so much so that…
Black Country… Put yourself in the picture 13 Mar 201513 Mar 2015 As you'll have probably gathered, I'm a map fan. However, I'm also aware of their limitations, and the main one is that in real life, no-one looks at or uses…
Black Country… Fens Pools 8 Oct 2014 One of the advantages of a period of limbo between formally starting my PhD and a first supervision meeting is that I can take a little bit of time to…
Canal… Oxford Canal 15 Sep 2014 Back in July I tweeted about a trip up to Stockport to collect some doors off an eBayer seller, and how I crossed no less than 16 separate bits of…
Birmingham… More miles of canal than Venice 12 Sep 2014 When talking about their home town, West Midlanders are some of the most self-deprecating folk you'll meet; try putting a Brummie up against a Scouser in a bragging contest and…
Canal… Saul Junction 1 Sep 2014 There must be very few places on the waterways network that demonstrate so clearly the complete shift in use from industrial to leisure as Saul Junction. We swung by (a pun for…
Canal… Pottering 12 Aug 2014 I'm just back from my hols from work, which mostly consisted of abortive DIY and collecting things to do the do it yourself myself, if you see what I mean. On…
