Ogley Locks - Lock 5 revealed

Ogley Locks - Lock 5

Wyrley and Essington Canal

Feb 2013

Since my posts on the Ogley Locks I was told that I had missed one of the highlights, Lock 5 next to Barracks Lane.

The tragic remains of lock 5 in Jan 2013

I dont usually miss major objects of interest,  to I returned to the scene and the reason for my previous oversight became clear. It has virtually disappeared in the last few weeks.... Why didnt I visit in the Autumn?

Lock 5 coping stones

Lock 5 is indeed right beside Barracks lane, just behind Warren House Farm and immediately beside a new driveway which has been driven through the side of the lock. In fact, a couple of big coping stones are being used to block the roadway.

There is huge damage to this old structure, with just one lower wing wall standing, its old blue bricks emerging from amidst a sea of mud and rubble. The line of the canal upstream is now a driveway - surely a massive obstacle to the reinstatement project? 

Lock 5 looking towards Lock 4

So maybe not such a gem anymore, and more a tribute to contemporary vandalism. Surely the lock could have been retained as a feature? Anyway, I thought the restoration line was part of the local infrastructure plan and therefore known to the planners - or was this a renegade action by the land owner?

Looking east over sites of locks 6 and 7.

Turning east, the line of the canal is indistinct, but it would be mice to think it lan in the winding arc where the meltwater was sitting at the time of my 2nd visit.