WME Flickr Focus: February 2012

Can it really be that we are one sixth of the way through 2012 already? March has arrived and it will soon be spring, but before the onset of bunnies, lambs and cuckoos we'd better take a look back over February's contribution to the West Midlands Exploration photostream...

It would be a little unfair to say there was only one show in town last month, but the fact is that February was undoubtedly dominated by WME Dudley - of the 106 photos I released back online, 69 of them represented the borough. Buses, canals and local selections all made their presence felt as I dug deeper into my Dudley archive and brought what I could to the surface. The vehicular contingent included returning shots of the 636S at Quinton, a 210 at Fatherless Barn, an X96 at Wollaston and some evening views from Stourbridge. The canal stuff concentrated on the Stourbridge Canal (including the Town Arm) plus some of the footbridges near Coseley Tunnel, whilst local landmarks getting an airing were the Jolly Crispin at Upper Gornal, the Hadcroft in Lye and the Netto Supermarket at Daisy Bank, not forgetting a walk across Sedgley Beacon.

If Dudley did the bulk of the labour there were still a few shifts put in elsewhere. Wolverhampton and Walsall both returned to the coalface although there doesn't seem to be much more I can extract where they're concerned. I really had to graft to tease out what I could this time around, hence WME Wolverhampton receives views of Devils Elbow Bridge (Wyrley & Essington Canal) and a sign at Wednesfield Park whilst WME Walsall gains shots of Palfrey Park, Bradford Place Bus Station and a couple of Daw End Canal bridges. There might be the occasional nugget still in there somewhere but essentially I've plundered this part of my archive as much as I can for the time being.

That just leaves us with the Brum and Sandwell shafts to comment on. WME Birmingham was January's star miner but was altogether quieter this time, although trains at Witton and Tyseley, a shot of Hawkesley Square and a clutch of buses (17 at Tile Cross, 60 at Cranes Park) were still a worthy effort. WME Sandwell hauled in Black Patch Park along with some Tipton treats (Jubilee Park and the Red Lion pub), and I think that's where the dig will be concentrating most over the next few weeks. All in all it's been another decent month down the pit and I look forward to seeing what jewels might be coughed up in March...