My first, self-made up, cyclo-cross country ride

4 hours.  Yesterday, from the Lea south of Pontesbury.  Taking in public highways from road to narrow muddy footpaths and bridleways.

MY ROUTE: Shorthill, Sibberscote Manor, Plealey, The Radleth, Oaks Wood, Oaks hamlet at 222 m, Plealey, Halston, Hinton, Lea.

Steep-sided valleys, flat flood plain, waymarking post lying flat in the mud. I must resite it vertically at the junction of the footpath and bridleway between Oaks and Oaks Wood.  This was the start of having to carry Chrissie's Brompton a good long-distance - 150 m.  I had about half an hour 'sleeping' in a warm spot in the sun underneath Earls Hill whose trig point I could clearly see.  Then I met the mud across the whole width - for a rude awakening!

Great views from Oaks to The Lawley, Caer Caradoc and Long Mynd when every stitch of clothing had to go back on for the fast, cold descent in dropping temperatures.

A few minutes fast descent with 'peep peep' white van man stuck behind me until I waved him on to pass me at Halston Cottages.

Threatening and abusive incident on the Black Country Active Travel Route

I was using my phone to take photos of the four or five quad bikes trashing nature in the wetland habitat, southeast of the 'Sewage Works' and the lake marked on the Ordnance Survey map.  I had taken a few paces from the cycle-walkway towards all the noise of revving quad bikes trying to drive around through the shallow water and mud.

LOCATION:  Grid Ref: SO 90572 90433

Lat, long: 52.51171, -2.14034

Elevation: 96 m

When I was seen, one of the drivers of the quad bikes came over and was insulting by using a string of vile obscenities.  He demanded that I delete the photos from my phone.  I did not but turned and beat a hasty retreat, walking and running back to the car, about 1 Km away on Smithy Lane.

A few minutes later I heard the quad bikes chasing after me.  I had to get scratched by escaping into a hedge alongside the cycle-walkway to avoid being hit as they sped past.  The people on the quad bikes shouted 'Paedophile' and 'Paedo' throughout the incident, together with more extreme, foul abuse.  One man claimed that children were with them to justify my being a paedophile!

The Black Country Active Travel Route is, possibly, the UK's first and longest, urban-rural-urban cycle-walkway, dating back to the 1980s, perhaps.  It runs from Fens Pool Avenue to NW Wolverhampton where it connects with the canal towpath to complete the Black Country Cycle-Walkway loop, via the waterlogged towpath alongside the canal in the Netherton Canal Tunnel.

Someone threw something at me as I was escaping.  It hit me on the upper right arm but did no injury or tear on my coat.

Keep gas and go for instant electric water and space heating

You keep your working gas boiler, as we have done, and install instant electric water heaters (x2) to soak up some of the elecy we generate or have to import in the early hours of the morning in the winter, only.  The shower/bath hot water is now brilliant.  Wish we had done it years ago!  Put the instant water heater as near as possible to the outflow; ie, behind the shower, ideally.  We chose Steibel Eltron heaters.

No more gas central heating, either!  We use local heating to heat ourselves in the room we sit in.  Infrared heater panels from Herschel work very well.  But you do have to wrap up warmer - but that's no problem - both the house and yourself!

All sickening style over substance. Vanity over reality. Immoral Metro scandal

Remember, that the Digbeth tram is working out at £142 m/Km, including public realm improvements.  Still over 3x more expensive per Km for tram extensions in 46 places in the world!  

We are getting Metro because it is highly prestigious, over indulgent and wealth flaunting - all at the expense of worsening Climate/ecological impacts and the poor.  Despicable behaviour.

Their reply to you is not being truthful and they miss out that the 1.7 Kms Digbeth extension cannot be completed until the Curzon St station is ready to receive it at the end of the decade!

Vast expenditure to make for longer, more complicated public transport journeys

How does replacing/duplicating bus routes and train services with LR trams, VLR trams and Sprint bus services lessen the Climate Emergency and reduce human impact on depleting oil and gas reserves?

Will it mean more changes and thus delays between the different rail modes (High Speed, Heavy Rail, Light Rail, Very Light Rail, Ultra LR) and the two different bus modes of regular bus services and Sprint bus services?

The Slum Disgrace of a cycle-walkway, courtesy of Dudley MBC, in shock contrast to the other two councils

"I rode my railway walk route again today. I'm sorry to report that the Dudley section is now even worse than when we rode it last year. Someone is using the section by the quarry next to the water treatment plant as a 4x4, off-road driving route. It's an absolute mess. Utterly disgraceful."

MORE DETAIL:

This refers to the UK's most important urban-rural-urban Black Country Active Route, aka derisively but accurately, the Mudway and the "Smestow Valley Leisure Route".  This title downplays the importance of the route. It wrongly implies that it is a short, insignificant, unimportant route for walkers, cyclists and horse riders.  In fact, it is part of the UK's very first cycle-walkway for commuter, business and leisure use that, I believe, beats the more famous and prestigious Bristol to Bath Cycle-Walkway to that distinction.

It proves how our professional transport planners lack vision and are unable to see the bigger picture that is vital to be able to prioritise active travel spending.  They prefer fancy road schemes for cyclists rather than properly and professionally maintaining and upgrading the bridleways and cycleways that they already have.  They splashed out the money on a new scheme in the 1980s to link Brierley Hill with NW Wolverhampton and then, in the case of Dudley only, didn't bother to maintain and upgrade or, even to link it in to Russells Hall Hospital.

The Black Country Railway has similarly been broken up when it was officially called a railway "of national strategic significance" 

 "of national strategic significance".pdf

because, again, transport planners did have tunnel vision but lacked the rather essential, wider vision.

Your help to correct this misconception and to raise the importance of the 20 Kms route for business, commuting and leisure use is much appreciated.  It is one practical, positive way to fight the, equally forgotten, Climate Emergency and to be seen to be actually doing something about it!

What our war is about ... a certain imbalance but, why shouldn't we want more and more?

We are the King of the castle.  You are the dirty rascal!  Small children chanting this out at each other is so like what our foreign policy is all about, I think!

What our war is about is the containment of Putin to Moscow so that we, London, Paris and Berlin can have Kyiv and all of Russia's traditional territories of Ukraine. For centuries, Ukraine and Russia have been battling it out over land, much longer than the Jews/Zionists and the Arabs (from 1897).

In the process, all the domineering men and women of violence bring a nasty death to men of non-violence like me who couldn't care tuppence about sovereignty and territory and borders. Provided I'm allowed to live with my family in shelter, food and drink - all threatened by the killers, governments and arms traders as the mighty King of the Castle looking down on the nasty rascal Putin (which he is - but, then our own leaders can be like that at times, too!).

We should never have got involved by tempting, already very divided Ukraine, with European integration.

Tunnel vision but lacked the rather essential, wider vision.

Dear Ninette

Thanks so much for bringing this to my attention and for your help.  

Calling the major and the UK's most important urban-rural-urban Black Country Active Route, aka derisively but accurately, the Mudway and the "Smestow Valley Leisure Route", downplays the importance of the route. It wrongly implies that it is a short, insignificant, unimportant route for walkers, cyclists and horse riders.  In fact, it is part of the UK's very first cycle-walkway that, I believe, beats the more famous and prestigious Bristol to Bath Cycle-Walkway to that distinction.

It proves how our professional transport planners lack vision and are unable to see the bigger picture that is vital to be able to prioritise active travel spending.  They prefer fancy road schemes for cyclists rather than properly and professionally maintaining and upgrading the bridleways and cycleways that they already have.  They splashed out the money on a new scheme in the 1980s to link Brierley Hill with NW Wolverhampton and then, in the case of Dudley only, didn't bother to maintain and upgrade or, even to link it in to Russells Hall Hospital.

The Black Country Railway has similarly been broken up when it was officially called a railway "of national strategic significance" ​

 "of national strategic significance".pdf

​because, again, transport planners did have tunnel vision but lacked the rather essential, wider vision.

Your help to correct this misconception and to raise the importance of the 20 Kms route for business, commuting and leisure use is much appreciated.  It is one practical, positive way to fight the, equally forgotten, Climate Emergency and to be seen to be actually doing something about it!

On Sunday 9 March 2025: The UK's 1980s, First Seriously Engineered, 20 Kms Cycle-Walkway ...

 ... the Black Country Active Travel Route through three West Midlands boroughs, has been thoroughly TRASHED after decades of negligence by Dudley MBC.

I​NTERIM CEO, Balvinder Heran to reply as first responder, please.  What action will she take?  Absolutely nothing, as is always the case with both the 120 Kms Black Country Railway (in use until the 1990s but now wrecked) and the 20 Kms Black Country Cycle-Walkway (built in the 1980s) and never subsequently bothered about ever since.

My informant wrote ​to me:

"I rode my railway walk route again today. I'm sorry to report that the Dudley section is now even worse than when we rode it last year. Someone is using the section by the quarry next to the water treatment plant as a 4x4, off-road driving route. It's an absolute mess. Utterly disgraceful."

T​IM WELLER

The Sixsmiths: 'Putin and the Return of History'

Dear Tony

You wrote, "It seems to be why you do not value Central European autonomy!"

Every country has a right to make its own decisions, of course.  But when that country is split between its neighbours' sphere of influence to the east and the western side wanting to identify with NATO and Europe, it is the height of folly to exacerbate all those tensions by inviting it to become part of the EU, on its way to becoming part of NATO.  Read

 Sixsmith p 150.jpg

 Sixsmith p 151.jpg

This is why I maintain that although Russia was the aggressor in Feb 2014 in taking back Crimea and much more so in Feb 2022, the casus belli or the occasion or the excuse for the big falling out between ourselves and Russia was this.  The EU, in 2013, invited Ukraine, traditionally more Russian than Western Europe/American for 1,000 years, to become a member of the EU, eventually and, thus part of our sphere of influence.  No wonder Putin was not jumping up and down with joyous delight.  A little cheeky and insensitive on our part, I think.

However, for centuries we Brits have had Brittania ruling the world's waves to give us the biggest empire the world has ever seen and 300 years of slavery to make us even richer off the backs of the Black Global Majority (the Ramblers choice of phrase).  We then put our settlements in North America to give us an affinity with the USA and our much flaunted "special relationship" with them.  We remain the controlling and dominating top dog and the global Supreme Ruler.  Unsurprisingly, we remain thoroughly paranoid that Russia or China will take over.  We will never allow that to happen, of course (final last words!).

Exactly the same in the Middle East.  We have our Global White Minority (the Ramblers choice of phrase) Israel rep in the very heart of the Arab Middle East to ensure we remain Supreme Ruler in that region, too.  Thus we fund Israel to the teeth to exterminate tens of thousands of antisemites, anti Israel, anti Zionists so that our State of Israel remains in the ascendancy - and, remains our cuckoo in the Arab nest.

Ukraine is virtually a member of NATO now with all the death-dealing weaponry we 'give' them to ensure they remain on our side, as a perpetual permanent reminder to Putin who Really Rules the World - not him!

My thorough reading of the Sixsmiths' book, 'Putin and the Return of History ... ' with some sections read twice or more has further clarified and enhanced my history lesson of our Global White Minority foreign policy behaviour towards Russia.  What my side has done but not in my name, is unacceptable and we should have known better.  Far, far worse has been done in many other countries, too.  It really is a most despicable and shameful record and, over centuries, according to what I can gather.  But, still nothing changes and certainly not reparations or restitutions, e.g. not even for Loss and Damage over our prodigious finite fossil fuel burning.

Despite all this, we have the impertinence to point a finger at Putin and Russia, forgetting there are three fingers pointing back at us.  1:3 is the correct ratio, too I should think!  Of course, Putin is a nasty piece of work because of many of the things he has done, like right now with many of his killings continuing apace.  But our side has also attacked many other countries around the globe since 1945.  Stalin slaughtered millions of his own people; we slaughtered millions in all our wars, in regime change, and coups in weak countries since 1945 - the latest is the Gaza/Occupied West Bank/Lebanon slaughter of many tens of thousands in 15 months.  100s of thousands injured and maimed for life, done by the traditionally Christian, Righteous, liberal democracies, the freedom-loving Western countries, led by the USA.  Thus, I rarely can vote for the politicians who fund this murder and madness.

Who is the biggest bully?  Russia or, us lot? 

Which country is determined, by hook or by crook, to maintain global supremacy and exceptionalism and, "I Am The Greatest Nation in the World"?  No wonder Putin hates America and NATO for wanting everything, even all of Ukraine that is right up against Russia's own border.  Sharing is anathema to our side.

More questions for each of us to ponder over here:

 Your opinion is wanted, please

"Now history is back, with a Russian president's vengeance." (last line of the Sixsmiths' book that I think you should read, Tony)

Ukraine/Russia gets our Western treatment ...

 ... exemplified by interference and hypocrisy, according to the Sixsmiths. 

I have read ex BBC, Martin Sixsmith: 'Putin and the Return of History - How the Kremlin Rekindled the Cold War'. I am astonished by the triumphalism, arrogance, gloating, the stupidity, the complete lack of even sympathy, let alone empathy, by my side against Russia. USA is the leading culprit but with, always, the guilty silence of every UK government. In fact, active support under Labour since 9/11. How can I possibly vote for ANY of these useless politicians?

WW1 + WW2 = World War is mistaken

I am inclined to the view that one action often leads to another counter action or reaction.  So Versailles in 1919 was as foolish and as short sighted as an assassination leading to Britain going to war, far too soon at least and, on the side of the assassin, of all people!  My politicians are so hopeless, then as now, they can't even get that right!  And, to cap it all, they slaughter men and women of non-violence like me in their many wars around the globe as they so self-righteously and hypocritically stand up for peace, justice and the International World Order, regardless of the wishes of the General Assembly of the UN!  Always the iron first and never the velvet glove.  Always a rush to killings and never diplomacy.  Always thinking the worst of the other side, to lead to the paranoia of White Western Global Minority wars on Communists and other undesirables to get in quick before 'The Wicked Other' kills us! 

I heard on the 'Today' programme, years ago, Ian Duncan Smith saying that WW1 led to WW2.

Do read the Sixsmiths' book, 'Putin and the Return of History'.  Very fair and even handed with no side coming out at all well.  And reading about the mess all sides get themselves into is as entertaining as my chronicling the embarrassing blunders in the city that I came to as a fresh-faced student in 1968 - and lived or worked in ever since!

Someone actually on my side!

This is the 3rd letter I have sent to Mayor and Transport for WM over the last six months:-

'I would like to commend you for the two initiatives for free transport before Christmas and on New Years Day.  I was wondering if you would send me the statistics on the uptake and if there was an increase in usage, please. 

Secondly, I would really like the West Midlands to suspend the proposed expenditure on increasing our tram network and to plough some of the money into expanding the existing bus routes, providing more buses more frequently.   The six billion plus financial allocation could easily be diverted to improving the current bus network and then channelling it into other projects that would improve our carbon footprint.'

I do believe in your cause and will support you on it in public.

As for the motion I have put to UCU in branch and eventually nationally,  it is on FREE Buses.  I can't speak for the Ecosocialists but agree with you trams are an environmental disaster and I don't think we should extol their comfort, especially as they are so slow in comparison to trains. 

We are both on the 'same page', we just have to get our message across,

Babs

All Around the Wrekin!

Commuter trains from Snow Hill could reverse out of Stourbridge Jct up to Round Oak; then change onto the tram to Wednesbury; get the bus to Walsall railway station.  From there, cycle hire on the cycle-walkway on the railway built for intercity trains to Lichfield!  Change for trains to Derby and all points north via Nuneaton would you believe.  What a long winded, wasteful way to do it when, for 100 years that journey was done by regional/national TRAINS - the whole way from London!!

200 years ago we were turning tramways into railways.

Now, it's forward to the past - railways turned into tramways.

What colossal - not idiocy - PROGRESS, ever onwards and upwards!

Discounted ticketing scheme for bus travel

Transport for West Midlands Is encouraging businesses to apply for the latest discounted ticketing scheme for bus travel.

TfWM is working with local bus operators to get people back on to the network. The Government funded initiative provides free or discounted travel for a set period of time and is open to those who do not use public transport regularly or who are currently driving to their place of work.

By signing up for this support you will be offering your staff an additional choice of how to travel to work and you will also be helping to cut your Scope three carbon emissions.

Richard Parker's Bartley Green Lab Party meeting

It was brilliant to hear Richard speak last night.  He understands the scandal of project mismanagement with the years of delay, of mistakes, of work having to be redone, of unfortunate choices being made and of massive overspent budgets causing even more problems.  He told us that he is chivvying them along to better performance.

Richard also said he is wanting economic growth.  For myself, economic growth can only come with ecological growth to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The Biggest Scandal is this:-

"Light rail investment (tram extensions) provides the basis for restoring heavy rail services (railway trains) at the appropriate time."

Tom Magrath, Passenger Services Director,  Centro in a letter to me dated 18 September 2000. Yes, 24 years ago when speaking of the £1 billion Dudley Tram for 10.1 Kms on the 120 Kms half used railway between Worcester and Derby, between two UK capital cities!

Hence, the Dudley Tram destroying the UK's very last principal mainline railway "of national strategic significance", 

 "of national strategic significance".pdf

IN ORDER TO GET THE FREIGHT AND PASSENGER TRAINS BACK!!  What a bizarre way of reinstating urban railways in the West Midlands!  This is the unchanged railway map from 2003:

 Railfuture's full map.pdf

SAVE THE £6.1 BILLION to 2032 on tram extensions and the £15 billion to 2040 (2020 figure.)  Use the money in this way:-

Tram HQ, at WMCA HQ, themselves tell us that trams are "buses on rails". So give us electric and hydrogen buses without them having to go on railway tracks as trams.  Tram tracks are high in GHG emissions with all the steel and concrete.

Use the many billions to extend Fare-free Public Transport from my old codgers age group to the youngsters like you.

Use the funds to bring in:-

Car commuters FREE UP ROAD SPACE by being rewarded for leaving their cars at home and getting FREE travel on bus, train and tram to avoid the stinging CAR COMMUTING CHARGE.  Old geezers like me have had it for 17 years.  Why not you youngsters?  Speak up for yourselves!

Essential vehicle users must register to avoid the fine.

We have to argue our case, NOW - not wait for more elections, representatives and more layers of more local democracy!

Richard, There is NO interest, from even your good self, over engaging with the publicly elected people we do have who are meant to oversee what is going on in our local councils and the Combined Authority.

YOU, my friend must do what you say and engage, as I do with the people who are elected NOW!

And engage not just with them but with the officers, as I was once, who also have to change towards Climate Compliant policies that address the Climate Emergency effectively - NOT the billions for Metro extensions to rush us to Climate Chaos!

If you cannot even help me oppose the billions in both price and weight of GHG emissions going into Metro expansion THERE IS NO HOPE! Tim

Our side stopped humanitarian aid to Gaza and suspended military aid to Ukraine

Hasbury Community Church featured social justice and sharing on Sunday 2 March.  BRILLIANT LEADERSHIP - now, do thou likewise!

Dear Alex

Sharing friendship with Russia and Ukraine, NOT military equipment

I am not at all happy at my/our country being behind the times when it comes to more civilised values and doing good around the world rather than doing and supporting warfare, control, coercion and domination.

Last week, overseas humanitarian aid was slashed, again, this time to 0.3% to boost spending on warfare to 2.5% from 2027 and 3% after the next General Election.  It should be the other way round!

I am delighted that it has taken Donald Trump to whip the West, that the Ramblers call the Global White Minority, into trying to end the killings in our proxy war with Russia.

It reminds me of our tragic and warmongering ways throughout the last century:

It started with the South African War, World War in two halves, war in much of SE Asia with the USA doing the bulk of the heavy lifting with not a murmur of protest from the UK at the decades of millions slaughtered in Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos - and other countries.  We expanded our mighty military alliance to counter the USSR.  Our nice NATO, far from disbanding when the Warsaw Pact did, simply took over some of their former members!  To such an extent that, of course, Russia was not best pleased.  We added insult to injury with our nukes and military exercises in former Warsaw Pact countries!

Nothing quite like provocation to stir things up so nicely!

Putin changed his mind over becoming part of the American-led West Global Minority.  His offer to help after 9/11 was not taken up.  Our triumphalism at Russia ending the Cold War, not us was entirely misplaced, very wrong and simply fueled Russian nationalism.  The foolish West failed to keep Putin on board, we lost his friendship, failed to concede a single request that might well have improved relations.

Now, NATO is bigger and more powerful than ever.

Precious resources of oil, gas and other mineral wealth is less - all in the name of economic/military growth.  How stupid!

No empathy from the Wicked Witch of the West.  Only ultra-right wing nationalist Benjamin Netanyahu who is the epitomy of being devoid of empathy.  Our great friend and ally believes in nothing but coercion, force, whipping, warfare and the extermination of Hamas and all the other named enemies that Israel has also failed to wipe off the face of the earth in 77 years of massacres, horrors and intimidation to drive the Palestinians from their land.  Watch 'The Birth of Israel', the 2008 film by Jeremy Bowen - on iPlayer.

The British Mandate/Control over Palestine from 1917 to 1948 was a catastrophe.  We showed partiality to the Jews/Zionists and failed to honour our pledges to the Arabs - even to our very own Lawrence of Arabia who was crucial in our Mightiest Empire vanquishing the Ottoman Empire and giving us yet more land to rule over!

The biggest and strongest Empire the world has ever seen was driven out of Palestine by three Jewish/Zionist terrorist gangs, the Stern Gang, Irgun and Haganah.  Violence and aggression was rewarded with territory conquered being kept - war after war, decade after decade.  Still, to this day, by our Big Bibi pal.

No social justice, no Climate justice, no peace.  Instead, we know migration to Europe and America to finally know peace and some semblance of comfort and civilisation for the poor people who have been the suffering subjects of our control, domination and violence.  For many centuries, too!

to Mark Grady

Hi Mark

Thanks so much for your interest and help on that afternoon when you kindly looked at the potential for housing at High Plateau.  We met at the  National Brownfield Institute in Wolverhampton in December 2022

This is the Dudley Council plan of 2020 that shows High Plateau:

  WBHE plan for Merry Hill.jpeg

The Wednesbury to Brierley Hill Metro extension (WBHE) will be completed to Flood St via Dudley Transport Interchange (new bus station) by the end of the year but the section to Brierley Hill is Phase 2 and work began last month to take the trams to Merry Hill SC from Flood St.  Perhaps, £100 m for the 400 metre concrete and steel viaduct that lands on top of High Plateau above my guerrilla garden landscape enhancement scheme.  I am trying to save my 'garden' and High Plateau, so I do have ulterior motives!

Please would you be so good as to send me one screen shot that could prove to Paul Davis/Davies (and others) that the top one third of the site might well be contaminated from the Round Oak steel works and therefore brownfield.  I mistakenly told him, after first saying it was brownfield, that all of it must be farmed by Merry Hill Farm.  THANKS!

Or, could you ask the WMCA for funding for ground investigation with a view to building solar powered, low cost, highly energy efficient apartments for the most badly housed, including migrants?  This is always my top priority everywhere, to save nature.  The UK is one of the most nature depleted countries, I keep hearing on Radio 4 and LBC.

Or, do a FoI request for the conclusions of the ground investigation survey on the canal embankment on the north side of High Plateau (south of Level Street)?

Or would you meet me on site?  And the owner is all important, of course.

Four options.  I'm not expecting everything - just something, please!!

From Patrick Harley re bus franchising

Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) representatives told the committee the cost of moving to franchising would be £22.5m but Cllr Harley was quick to dismiss their figures.

Cllr Harley said: “I am bitterly disappointed, Transport for West Midlands failed to mention future costs in the region of £80m which the seven local authorities would have to underwrite.”

Cllr Harley said the TfWM presentation failed to take account of possible falling income from decreasing passenger numbers which would leave councils having to fill financial black holes.