^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 10 November 2023].}

Phil - my friend and fellow photographer - and I have been plotting and planning a photo walk along the Birmingham canals for the last two summers. For various reasons, we didn't manage it.

We came close in mid-June last year, but the day I'd booked a train to head up there, rain was forecast, so we cancelled the day before. The forecast showed heavy rain on the day, so we'd made a good call.

But last weekend, we finally made good on our plans.

We coordinated to meet on the train at Warwick Parkway at about 10:43. However, that meant me waking at 06:00, getting out of bed at 06:30 and leaving my flat at 07:30. I arrived at Marylebone Station at 08:10, about 50 minutes before my train was due to depart, which was even earlier than I'd been aiming for.

We set out from Birmingham Moor Street at about 11:20 and walked along the canals from Livery Street Bridge to Spaghetti Junction (the M6/A38 junction), finishing shooting under the bridges at about 15:00.

We walked back to Aston Station, arriving there in time to get out of the rain that had just started and to catch the train back to Birmingham New Street to seek out some food for Phil and a pint for me.

Despite the rain at the tail end of the walk, we had perfect weather and a pleasant and creative day. Phil had technical issues with his camera but managed to work around them to a large extent. I had a minor anxiety attack in the last half hour, heading back from Spaghetti Junction to Aston Station, but it was an otherwise stress-free day as far as my body was concerned.

I shared my iPhone photos from the day on my Instagram on the day and over the following days.

These are just two of the over 300 photographs I took with my D700 in Birmingham.

Thanks to Phil for suggesting the walk and the wide-ranging and engaging conversation throughout.

We'll return in the spring (hopefully!) with some other friends of Phil's to revisit Spaghetti Junction and complete the ambitious circuit he'd set out for us that we didn't manage on Sunday.