I spend a lot of time in a group office meant for 17 people but which currently houses me, another tech, 3 postdocs, 2 PhD students, and an MSci candidate. We moved into these digs mid March 2020 about a week before COVID Lockdownv.1 at which time there were also 4 emeritus professors stinking up the space — and, more importantly occupying all the prime real estate.
I was given clearance to hold a clearance of shit from the most privately situated of these desks and to take up residency there, myself, on Monday. The tree in the above photo seems to come with the squatter’s agreement so I’m glad my best efforts at starving it these past 19 months were for nowt.
It looks a mess — this photo was from 5 minutes after I transferred my items to their new home — but it is more roomy and organised than the one I left. I even have my own phone!
Finally, sad news (for me)…Mort Sahl died. A childhood hero and one of my early role models. Copied a routine of his for a family function when I was 10 or 11 years old and was very proud that it pissed off my dad who told me, “you sound like that commie Jew on Carson.” RIP.
Two posts into the Rail Run series and I’ve already gone off format. Instead of bundling, like the first 5 stations, this one targeting St Chad’s metro stop (below) seemed valid to stand on its own since it also tidies up a section of canal missed long ago due to construction.
I left home and headed across West Brom joining the canals a little before Galton Bridge. It has been ages since I’ve done this section of towpath and there were a few new graffiti additions but the only one I found compelling enough to add to the map is the massive “CHEM” behind the sapplings, here.
Once in town and certain I could navigate the few remaining segments, I was impressed at the density of distribution of the locks (coming off of or up to the wharf by this route would be an absolute motherfucker).
Locks 5 and 6, by my count, were my first two this run.
Yuppies refuse to put up something beautiful if something modernly ugly and poorly manufactured can substitute. Here’s the yuppie footbridge that next appeared:
My photos from this point are framed poorly but the paths were busy and I had to dash around people where I could. Apologies for the CAPTCHA like images.
Close to the far end of the tunnel under Brindley Place, it has modernised and opened up a bit but the lock under that end is still historic:
Neverending construction in Brum means the next building will extend the tunnel:
If you are looking back at the tunnel, the BT tower stands over you to the left. Turning back to the path, there is another lock:
And, the Ludgate Hill bridge with its asymetric arch and its Fire Brigade access ports installed as a response to Nazi air raids:
Lock #12 is the last on today’s trip and the last for a fairly long, flat section beyond:
I was pretty sure Livery Street was the last of the remaining items from the earlier runs but went through it to make sure. That’s the rail viaduct beyond it and I found no further locks or other original furniture so I sought a route to the surface. There’s an iron staircase tucked between the two bridges there and it is worth a look (map link to Livery Street takes you to the bridge and the staircase).
The actual goal, St Chad’s Station, was also photographed Thursday night in another CHEM related post. Livery Street runs parallel to these tracks just off to the left in this photo:
And, of course, it wouldn’t be a Rail Run without the route shown:
Jackie got her booster COVID vax and fancied the foodie comfort of a takeaway. I ran past Simla a few nights ago and decided to give it a go. In the appetisers, they had what I wanted for my main: mixed doner on chips with a naga chilli sauce. The chicken was just bog standard tandoori chunks but the lamb doner was sublime and the chips had a Peri-Peri spice that was morish. Yum.
We headed home after the Billy Bragg gig via St Chad’s tram stop. These photos of the Perspex walls are perplexing.
What is this chemical? Why is it here? Why isn’t there any information on the West Midlands Metro site (or anywhere, for that matter, on the interwebs)? Why has the attention to structural detail extended to shadow images to enhance the three dimensional effect? This has been bothering me for nearly three years, now.
A drenching rain settled on Brum and I had no hat nor brolly. With a half hour to kill before meeting Jackie at Moor Street Station, continuing to stroll around the city centre seemed ill advised and I ducked into the nearest Victorian arcade I could find for shelter.
I paced its length a couple of times taking in Tilt, the actual games arcade housed therein, eventually spotting beer taps. Ding-ding-ding: bonus ball.
As a teenager, I spent a lot of time at a neighbourhood bowling alley that had a wall of pinball machines that you had to be at least 16 years old to play due to some arcane Georgia law at the time. The bar would serve us but we would be ejected and barred if we tried to play one of the table games so, like today, I nursed a beverage and watched the wizards at work.
The denizens were what you would expect (Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons and variations thereof) but I have to say that the beer selection was outstanding.
Started a new running project. The idea is to run to or from all the train stations and tram stops usable with my annual travel pass — see the master map of these, above.
For a run to ‘count’ it has to either originate or end at West Brom (“home”) or the University (“work”) either to or from a single station. If the station is the starting point, it must have been reached on a Public Transport journey from home or work; likewise, if it is the terminus of the run, a rail journey must ensue. Finally, each run must be at least 5 miles long and reasonable effort must be made to avoid overlap. {Update/modification: due to the emergency shutdown of West Midlands Metro to deal with cracks in the vehicles, from one station to another will be allowed so long as the 5 mile stipulation is met and both stations involve a train journey.}
Next year I may do my longer runs to (or from) all the ones that I didn’t do from (or to) home or work but in this first instance I just want to get to every nook and cranny on public transport.
In London, I ran every segment on the Tube, Overground, and Trams as a way to see a bit of the city and keep the tasks at hand interesting. Back then, I averaged 5-10 new pubs per week and hope to go back to one or two per week during this exercise. With these first runs, however, I’m out of practice and just focused on making distance and seeing the sights.
Kings Norton Station, 19 October 2021 from University of Birmingham
The run to Kings Norton Station from UniBrum encompassed trails I’ve done many times before but haven’t been on since the first COVID lockdown. On the day, I only planned to pick up some new canal furniture segments and a fish and chips before catching the train back to work. But, I had to wait ten minutes at the station and decided to start this project with that run (originally conceived when we were still renting the house at Weoley Castle).
I won’t count any of these unless the run is at least 5 miles. So, University Station and Selly Oak will necessarily be done as commuter runs from home and the tram stops from Black Lake to Trinity Way will be commutes from work. I want the runs on this project to be entirely out or back, no loops.
Longbridge, though, was the perfect short shot for a Thursday lunch and marked the limit on the train line that passes back through University.
Longbridge Station, 21 October 2021 from UniBrum
It was sprinkling lightly Sunday as I alighted at Bilston Central to start an ill planned and generally aimless trot back to West Brom for groceries. I did not pass a single pub that was open, yet, despite the run starting well after noon. Tsk.
There are some planned rail works to be done here over the next several weeks and the northernmost station we can hit will be Wednesbury Parkway so I thought it wise to go ahead and tick this one now.
Wednesbury Great Western Street tram stop is a little less than 3 miles away from home but I reckoned to add a couple of miles by following the canal past it then looping down to the nearby Morrisons to pick up supper items and some Henderson’s Relish (also for supper, but several bottles so it might last a few days longer). A half hour into the run, there were no longer any shadows as dusk fell and I got almost hopelessly lost northwest of the town, eventually logging close to 8 miles on this segment (in red):
Number 5 is Northfield Station which was an early candidate for our first rental commute in Brum. Like Kings Norton and Longbridge, this station had formerly had four platforms with the middle section (Platforms 2 and 3) now derelict.
To minimise overlap and to see a bit of the old running paths, I swung out past the WCWMC and the Weoley Castle Pub on the way (in red):
So, the master map now has these fallen (now coal black, to be ash white):
Coming up on Northfield Station I spotted the Station Fish Bar and felt, rightly so, that a freshly fried hunk of cod is a fantastic way to end a hilly, lunchtime run against gale force winds.
I heard my train leaving behind me as I changed into my dry kit and knew I’d have a half hour to savour the repast before my next ride came along so it was spectacular to hear that they had to cook it up fresh for me. Wonderful.
In April 2012, I had a beer with an old friend who was then about a year into his new position as a professor at a major university here. He and some other people I know well were having issues extracting raw signal (the orbitrap transient) from an instrument and I told him I would figure it out and get back to him in a month or so. Cracking the problem a couple days later, I was put in touch with a guy I had heard of but knew nothing about and spent a week trying to get him to follow my fairly simple instructions finally opting to just write a step-by-step manual.
Thanks, <name redacted>! We will try this ASAP (the instrument is too busy at the moment), and get back to you either with a question or with a bottle of whiskey.
11 April 2012 13:35
Off the back of my help, this guy started a company and last week approached the professor in charge of my facility and one of her postdocs about selling them a product. I sent a note with the above snippet to this guy and copied in the other professors involved in the original conversation and less than 48 hours later he completed his payment (surprisingly enough).
Mileage this week: 24.3, a 20% increase on last week. This may work.
Endless British Pub Crawl (Part 3) 