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sundaymorningwalk · 3 years

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Hello readers, it's that time of the week again, up bright and early again now the mornings are getting lighter.

Lamb shank prepared and placed in the slow cooker (for me dad). Chicken prepared and placed in the warmed oven for the gaffer and me

With the time at 6.43am I'm off out the backdoor on another #sundaymorningwalk .

Overcast damp and miserable as I head off to the woods.

7degrees but feels cooler in the breeze.

As expected lots of noise from the bushes and trees this morning. Early birds catching their breakfast and singing at the top of their voices.

As I approach the Babbling Brook a jogger stumbles past dressed in bright lycra (no wonder she's out so early) scaring away all the wildlife within a 10 mile radius.... thanks, I hope she turns off at the underpass.

Taking it slow this morning trying to capture as many good shots as possible.

Through the underpass and thankfully there's no sign of the jogger, the wildlife returning to feed.

Round the corner I hear a woodpecker tap tap tapping.

I stand still, trying to find it above me, then I hear it... trainers rubbing on tarmac... it's only the blasted jogger on her return journey...all the wildlife scatters again, I give up.

I turn left at junction with our local The Village Inn to the right.

Slowly walking up the steep hill a couple of cars speed past, they must be going double the 30mph they should be travelling at.

Past the village hall, to my left I see at least five deer grazing, a lovely sight.

Up and over Beoley Hill, the Headless Cross water tower in one direction, Frankley Beeches to the other.

At the bottom of the hill a lovely thrush poses for me, unfortunately it's in shadow but you can still see his lovely spotted belly.

Back into the estate and down the black path to join the bus lane, past the newly built flats aptly name The Old Surgery as they were built on the old Church Hill doctors.

Taking a left past the school playing fields, I'm almost home.

Not the longest of walks today but some wonderful wildlife out and about.

If you've had surgery this weekend, hope you make a quick recovery.

A lovely meal with two of my newest #SMW readers yesterday (some of my bowling pals will know Matt Kelly-Walley, i was out with his uncle Phill, small world etc), hope you had a safe journey back to Stretton and see you in the sunshine in May

Whatever you're up to today have a great Sunday everyone and until next time.

Ta-ra for a bit

#walk #redditch #worcestershire #birds #sundaymorningwalk #clouds #thrush #robin #blackbirds #deer

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mavwrekmarketing · 8 years

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Image copyright Birmingham Irish Association

Image caption Spaghetti Junction workers in 1972

An appeal to identify Irish construction workers from a photograph at one of England’s best-known motorway junctions has ended in success.

The Birmingham Irish Association has identified all 24 men who worked on Spaghetti Junction in 1972.

“We had people contacting us about the Spaghetti Junction photograph the world over, from Australia and America,” said Yvonne Price, behind the project.

Their stories are now being told in an exhibition in the city.

Image copyright The Cowan Family

Image caption Fabian Cowan is lifted aloft by his friend Larry Miller during work on the Marks and Spencer building in Birmingham

Thousands of Irish immigrants arrived in Birmingham in the 1940s, 50s, and, 60s.

As the city was undergoing a huge post-war transformation, they worked on some of its most iconic structures, including the infamous M6 junction and the city centre Rotunda.

“The stories we found were very moving,” said Ms Price.

“People left home as 15-year-olds, living in bedsits and sharing beds, to make a better life for themselves. It was very, very hard but you don’t hear about them complaining.”

Image copyright Birmingham Live

Image caption The exhibition showcases photographs from the 1950s

Image copyright McNulty family

Image caption Workers toasting the end of a project – the foreman would take a barrel of stout up to the roof to celebrate completion with the staff

The appeal led to the discovery of many photographs and artefacts from the time.

The family of one worker Fabian Cowan, who was also a keen photographer, found a collection of his pictures in a tin in his shed, after he died in 2004.

They show him and his friends larking about, perched precariously on top of lofty building sites with the city behind them.

His daughter, Carmel Girling, said: “He was trying to emulate the famous pictures of the construction workers on the Empire State Building in New York.

Image copyright Cowan family collection

Image caption Erecting the flyover at Bordesley in October 1961, days before it opened to traffic

“I think they would have made health and safety go grey if they’d been around then.

“I hope what the exhibition does achieve is that people will remember the contribution these men made.”

The exhibition – We Built This City – showcases a host of other material.

It runs at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery until May 28.

Pictured on the rooftops

Image copyright Cowan family

Image caption Fabian Cowan in his “work clothes” – a tweed jacket with a nail for a button to keep it closed

Fabian Cowan was born in Dublin in 1927, the youngest of nine children.

His father was a cabinet maker, who is thought to have worked on the Titanic, and Fabian had a good education.

He arrived in England in 1952 with a brown paper bag containing his clothes and little else.

With no money, he slept rough in New Street Station, Birmingham, before he got his first building job.

Over the years, he worked on several landmarks, including Marks and Spencer, Frankley Beeches reservoir and Alexander Stadium in Perry Barr.

Although he had little else he managed to get hold of a camera – his family believe he may have bought it with one of his first pay packets – and took and developed pictures from the rooftops of Birmingham.