Andy Williams railway photos - Non-railway photographs (2)

Photos unconnected to the railway

New photos added on Tuesday 6th November 2012...
Autumn tree. Friday 2nd November 2012.
Flowers. Sunday 15th July 2012.
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...
Birmingham Council House and the city's flag.
Carved figures on Birmingham Council House.
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.
Russian dolls, and confectionary stall.
Glass bowls.
Christmas decorations.
Model buildings.
New photos added on Sunday 13th November 2011...
Holly berries.
Autumnal berries and foliage.
Grey horse.
New photos added on Sunday 2nd October 2011. Indie buses in the Black Country...
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.
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.
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.
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...
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.
Sunset over Wednesbury, seen at 19:44 on Thursday 8th September 2011.
Roughly the same area of sky, photographed at 19:48.
Photo added on Saturday 13th August 2011...
Three ducks and a coot on the pool at Hydes Road, Wednesbury. Tuesday 9th August 2011.
Photos added on Saturday 18th June 2011. Three shots taken in Birmingham City Centre on Tuesday 14th June 2011...
Colmore Gate building, Colmore Row.
Same building, reflected in a tower block alongside Snow Hill station.
Photo added on Tuesday 31st May 2011...
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...
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.
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.
A bus I would never have been on was this Routemaster coach, RCL2219, in Green Line livery.
Asymmetric electricity pylon photographed from below. Ocker Hill, Tipton.
Photos added on Saturday 13th November 2010...
4427, a Dennis Trident with Alexander ALX400 bodywork, heads along Colmore Row, Birmingham on Wednesday 10th November 2010. It was working a 22 service from the City Centre to Kitwell. In the background is the Colmore Gate office block, a handsome building dating from 1992.
4621, another Dennis Trident ALX400 heads south through Deritend on Wednesday 10th November 2010 while working a 957 Birmingham - Solihull service. There are three prominent buildings in this shot, the Rotunda (a city icon), Selfridges (an eyesore now that the novelty has worn off), and the new bit of South Birmingham College (lovely colour to the brickwork in the sun). The street-lamp fairy had to visit this picture and remove one on the left.
Telegraph pole.
Photos added on Wednesday 10th November 2010...
Autumn berries in Walsall town centre (Navigation St). Pyracantha I believe.
Aerial photo of an autumnal leaf.
Digbeth Police Station, Birmingham.
Photos added on Monday 18th October 2010...
Goosander. Sandwell Valley.
My favourite duck. Sandwell Valley.
World of Smarties.
Buses and clock towers added on Sunday 10th October 2010...
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.
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.
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...
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...
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.
This building in Bridge St is now an electrical retail outlet.
The Market Tavern, a closed pub. Saturday 28th August 2010.
Photos added on Sunday 22nd August 2010...
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.
A hover fly goes about its business on Saturday 7th August.
Walsall has many fine buildings, although you often have to look up above the shopfronts to appreciate them.
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.
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.
The tower above the Town Hall.
Just around the corner from the Town Hall is this building, used by the Cheltenham & Gloucester Building Society.
The Guild Hall, now used as a restaurant. A plaque on the nearmost corner gives a brief history of this building.
Photographs taken on Saturday 29th May 2010...
Close-up of peony flower after several hours of rain.
Flower shots added on Tuesday 25th May 2010...
Tulip.
Along the banks of the River Tame at Bescot.
Reproductive parts of a rhododendron with ten stamens surrounding the red pistil.
Photographs taken on Sunday 9th May 2010...
Dandelion seed head.
Dandelion seed head.
Close-up of dandelion seed head. This is a near 100% crop from a G11 raw image similar to the one above.