Newport Canal
Lower Oulton
Post 1 - Norbury Junction to Maltshovel Bridge 3 - incl 5 locks
May 2010
Other posts in this series:
1. Norbury to Maltshovel Bridge - this post
2. Maltshovel Bridge to Oulton Bridge
3. Upper Oulton to Sutton
4. Forton Village
5. Forton Aqueduct and Skew Bridge
6. Meretown
7. Newport
8. West Newport
9. Edgmond to Buttery Farm
10. Kinnersley Junction
11. Wapenshall Junction
Follow this link to posts covering the Shrewsbury Canal.
Well, the sun shone from a blue cloudless sky with the thermometer topping 29 degrees when we finally set out on our much delayed expedition of the eastern end of the Shrewsbury and Newport Canal.
Newport Canal to dry dock
This length is actually the Newport Canal, the final element of a whole network of canals in Shropshire and the one which joined the more distant disconnected elements to the main Shropshire Union at Norbury Junction. This expedition covered the first 10 miles as the crow flies (and as the canal runs) but the bicycles notched up an impressive 20 miles as we dodged back and forth along monor roads and farm tracks to try and stay as close to the line as possible and thereforte seeing all the remaining structures we could. We did a two car shuttle so we could make this a one way trip, parking up on the main road near Wappenshall Junction.
Maltshovel Bridge
We have to start at Norbury Junction and the short arm which remains in water leading up to the dry dock which occupies the first lock chamber on the canal's long drop down to the Shropshire farmland below.
Lock No 6 from bridge
We cycled round under the aqueduct to the south of Norbury and along the lane to Lower Oulton, with views across the fields showing the line of the canal stepping down. The view from Maltshovel Bridge in the village gave us our first surprise. We had assumed that the four lock chambers on the hill down from the dry dock had been filled in, but this isn't the case. The first two chamders remain in place and are structurally sound, althought the first is rather covered by vegitation. A walk through the stinging nettles (I was wearing shorts) gave good views of this lock which has had its top gate removed and replaced by a concrete dam wall. The wall serves no purpose as the water supply hs been cut off and the bed above is now virtually dry, dry enough for me to climb inside the paddle culvert and take a closer look at its inner workings.
Bump stop in Lock 5
Then the next lock up (number four) emerges from the undergrowth, even better preserved with all this masonry in place and given its remote location in a deep cutting is completely free of rubbish. It is just as it was left when it was abandoned 60 years ago. Between the two of them these are the locks that time forgot.
Sluice in Lock 4
Lock 4 chamber
Old top gate on bank - with tree!
I am not sure what lies beyond because the nettles got too bad and further exploration in the winter is called for then the undergrowth has dies back. Another thing for my to do list.
The above photos have been assembled from various sources, including those freely found on the internet. My thanks go to the many photographers alive and dead who have contributed to this collection and in so doing, are keeping the memory of these canals alive. These images are reproduced for ease of research are are not necessarily the property of this blog and some may still be subject to copyright, and as such they should not be used for commercial gain without the explicit permission of the owner (whoever that may be).
7 comments:
The dry dock is where Hazel from Middlewich Narrowboats was repaired after it nearly sank one night (with us on board!)
The undergrowth looks a bit tricky for bicycles. I assume you got as close as you could to a feature and then walked, returning to the bikes for the next bit.
Halfie
You are right, cycles were used for moving between features and then we explored on foot. The places were so remote I didnt even lock the bikes up. The area is well worth the time spent on it.
We got at far as Wappenshall and will return to do the second leg to Shrewsbury next month.
I have enough material to feed the blog for a couple of weeks whilst I am away - boating of course!
Hello Captain
The Norbury Local History Group are compiling a history of Norbury Junction, start of the S & N, and would love to use some of your great pictures. Could we use them please if we gave you an acknowledgement ?
Brimaxuk@aol.com
Hello Captain,
I came across your blog by accident. I spent my first twenty odd years of my life living next to this canal and your blog has brought back many memories. I was actually looking for the reason for the name of Malt Shovel Bridge at Oulton, as I have never heard that bridge mentioned by that name. It sounds as though it was named after a pub, although I never knew of one there and never had any of the older villagers mention it. I was actually born in the cottage next to Oulton Bridge, which I was always told was built by the navies who constructed the canal. From what I remember being told, it was somewhere for the navies to get some food/refreshments while work progressed. How true I don't know. You seem to have covered a part of the canal that the Bald Explorer missed on his you-tube video. Clearly he missed some gems. The lock next to Oulton Bridge used to have fish in there until I left Oulton in the early 1980's. There is now more water in there since the canal was filled in below the lock, so every chance there might still be some there, most likely Tench.
Gordon
Gordon
The locks are rather hidden and, it turned out, on private land. I received to most polite instruction to leave I have ever received tracking down lost cabals (and I have had a few!)
Andy,
Thanks for the response. Back in the day I could pretty much roam free, but Mum would always know if I had been up to no good.....even though we had no phone and few neighbours! I am going to lay claim to being one of the last people to navigate on the Oulton section of canal after its closure. I was with a couple of lads from the cottage next to Malt Shovel bridge, in the pound next to the bridge (which was still in water) in the upturned roof of an old car. I was about 7 or 8 yrs old! Luckily Mum didn't find out about that one. Reading your follow on blogs of Forton and Meretown I chuckled at your comment of the lack of a Mere at Meretown. I think the link is to Aqualate Mere about two fields away from the village. Newport is also named from the same water link. I am led to believe that the mere was much larger in the distant past, with Newport being at the edge.
Gordon
Gordon - at about the same age I was living in North Norfolk and behind our home my family business stored several acres of topsoil used to make compost. This area vas badly churned up in winter and some areas became great shallow muddy pools - which "boated" on firstly using a large drawer and later using a sheet of corrugated ion with the ends / sides turned up which I punted like a mud skimmer. I car roof sounds a perfect craft for my location too.
Thanks for the insights / memories.
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