About Round-A-Bouts...

A few years back a small printing company (BB Print Digital) were trying to come up with some ideas for a new calendar. They'd gone through all the normal gimmicky "Firemen with Hoses", "Womens Institute Cupcake Special" etc, and decided to go in another direction. 12 photos of the most boring rounabouts (traffic islands) to be found in Redditch. It was an international hit!
It got me thinking, and I noticed that roundabouts are far from boring. Here are a few from 'roundabout' me...
This statue resides on a traffic island in the former mining area of Brownhills. Aptly called "The Brownhills Miner" by John McKenna.
As you can see he's HUGE...
When it was first put in place it was completely shiny, but has evolved over the last 3 years, the lines of rust now highlight its construction out of thousands of polygons welded together. I only hope that this corroding is kind in its progression, we don't want any rust marks looking like he's had a 'trouser quake'!
"Does my bum look big in this?"
Spitfire Island... Celebrating the areas colourful history.
Before Elmdon became Birminghams main airport in the 1960's the country fields at Castle Bromwich near Sutton Coldfield were where anything aeronautical happened. From some of the first balloon flights in the 1780's to pioneering new fangled planes in the early 1900's. Prior to World War One there were air races and demonstrations. In the First War the field buzzed with Avros, Moths and Westlands.
With the coming of the Second World War the fields were used to produce military planes such as the Lancaster bomber (star of 'The Dambuster' film), the Hurricane and the famous, iconic Spitfire...
The powerful, agile Spitfire fighter planes had to be put through their paces after being built, and the test pilots pushed them to their limits over the nearby fields. There were even reports of daring low level flights (coming in one door and out the other) actually through the hangers themselves!!!!
'The Pegasus' by Andrew Logan.
Positioned high up on a hill, when the sun shines, the glint from its wings can be seen from miles away.
The statue stands aloft a velvet rusted block which reminds me of the 'Morlock' entrance from the film 'The Time Machine'. When you look into its eyes you can see the reflections of the clouds giving it a profound, dreamlike feel.
The effort that has gone into these island artworks is astounding.
Next time you're in no rush, don't take your usual exit, but complete a couple of laps or more and appreciate what's 'roundabout'...