PAGE TWO
Centre of Birmingham. Spaghetti Junction in background
Spaghetti Junction and two canals Spaghetti Junction and canals
Birmingham. Fire hose access.
The canals themselves are home to quite a variety of creatures that have got used to people walking along the banks, and either take no notice of you, or scuttle off out of harms way. We have seen various ducks, some with little families of ducklings, pottering about amongst the weeds and rubbish as well as the occasional goose and swan. Lots of flowers and Brambles and even the occasional Apple tree, probably grown from the remains of someones lunch,along the sides of the towpath. Underneath the towering columns that support the overhead motorways there are patches of wild-flowers where the sun manages to reach the ground.
The lower areas have some nice oldfashioned bridges with fancy brick-work and ornamental ironwork, and there are still lock-keepers cottages, some modernised and some derelict, but overall is the thunderous roar of the cars, buses and lorries.
To a photographer the roar is not important, but the contrast of reflections in the water and the shadows cast by the overhead roads is magical..
