Moseley: Where Tricycles Grow On Trees

Well, metal-lamp-post type trees.

It must be Mozfest because this is the kind of signage I'd expect as emblematic of good wierdness in the leafy lanes of Moseley. Alternatively it could be because someone knows I've been looking for a haulage machine for the bricks and bits of street furniture I want to retrieve from various places.

It happened like this: I was on my way to Sparkbrook, and turned onto Cotton Lane from Oxford Road, and there it was. Funny thing is that I have no idea how long it had been there, nor any idea why it caught my eye. I'm pretty good at spotting things on the ground, so maybe it works for lamp posts too. So there it was, this unbelievable Moseley thing, and I was so gobsmacked I put off going to Sparkbrook, went back home, got my camera, took a couple of snaps, took the trike off the pole (which was a bit tricky as the frame is very heavy, much heaver than any bicycle I've ever ridden), had a look at it and carted it to my back garden.

The tires were flat, and I later discovered that the rear two had been slashed right through, while the front was only punctured. The drive chain was rusted stiff, so it has evidently been in the rain and unused for quite some time. Months, even years. The trike has a rear rack built into the frame, and a busted wicker basket tied to the rack. The basket had a plastic legionnaire's shield in it plus a couple of other things, including a brass candlestick.

Of course, there's a mystery about it. Where did it come from? Was it nicked? Seems like it's a good idea to see if anyone has reported it missing. But as the chain was so rusty as to be rigid, I suspect it was sitting around somewhere and that it got hung up a lamp post for the same reason that I've been thinking about doing some banners: because it would be fun to decorate Moseley in a quirky and creative way.

Aside from that, with a bit of fixing up, the thing will be roadworthy. I'm looking forward to a voyage on the refurbished Spirit of Moseley.