Pelsall Common in the frost

November 2020

I ventured out to one of my favourite local destinations yesterday, as part of my filming for the next series of Canal Hunter, a trip which took me to Pelsall Common.

The morning was barely above freezing and for once the normally soft grass of the common was frozen solid, which allowed me to cycle from the Finger Post to Pelsall Works Bridge at the far end where my story was to begin.

The sun was just rising and I just couldn't resist digging my DSLR from the bottom of my camera bag and grabbing a few atmospheric shots:

Cannock Extension Canal

The start of a 5.5 mile canal built in 1860 to access the new Cannock Coalfield. Today just the first mile and a half remain as far as the A5.

Pelsall Common looking north

The three huge ironworks stood on the common ground on the left, but all traces were gone by 1900.

The same site on Pelsall Common in the 1860's

North from Pelsall Works Bridge

Pelsall Common Colliery was on the right with its basin, followed by the mine pumping engine.

Pelsall Common from Pelsall Works Bridge

Midland Spelter Works were on the left and Pelsall Wood Colliery with  its basin and mineral railway bridge on the right.

Slow Progress

Slow Progress

August 2020

2020 isn't a year when we are going to set any records for travel distances.

In fact our weekly tally currently averages less than 10 miles as we make sedate hops between canal side villages or junctions, cycling back after each boat movement to recover the car which we use to shuttle to and from Aldridge a couple of times a week.

As Scottie from Star Trek would probably have said "Its boating, but not as we know it".

If truth be told, this year's boating has more to do with keeping the preserve business alive than the pleasures of leisurely cruising. With all festivals and gatherings cancelled we find ourselves over-blessed with stock, particularly jams and marmalades, so we have turned our attention to informal towpath trading, a style of trade we have never really paid much attention to in the past.

That said, there is a lot of pleasure to be derived from mooring up for a weekend and passing the time of day with the steady trickle of towpath users, selling the odd pot of jam here and there.

This weekend (August Bank Holiday) we find ourselves at Alrewas, with the steady chimes of All Saints Church clock marking the passage of time. Next weekend (5th and 6th Sept) we will return to Fradley and then its back to Great Haywood (12th and13th Sept) before we make a return to the BCN and have the bottom of the motor blacked at Hockley Port.

These static weekends do mean we have scope for some planned socialising with friends using our boat as a destination for a days outing, and because we are to the east of the city, we have seen a lot of our grandchildren, which is lovely.

As we make most of our stock in the winter months we increasingly find ourselves looking forward to the 2021 season, and trying to figure out what and how much stock we need to make. At the outset of the current pandemic we optimistically figured it would be over in the summer and life would have returned to normal by July (festivals included), but clearly this hasn't been the case. As things are shaping up we are coming to the conclusion that 2021 could well hold limited scope for mass gatherings, and that will define what our season looks like.

In the absence of being able to provide tastings people tend to buy the more familiar and predictable flavours and our making plan will probably need to reflect this. As for the quantities needed, thats anyones guess. 

Like many businesses, our primary aim is to live to fight another day, and if that means new ways of selling and an altered product range, so be it.

Out and about

Out and about

August 2020

Who would have thought that our boating season would have started in July!

After a test run to Pelsall Common and back, we finally embarked on our 2020 travels last week.

Great Haywood Junction

The lack of boat movements on the Wyrley and Essington have resulted in some rather weedy conditions along its 25 mile length, but overall the passage to Wolverhampton took about the same time as normal and most of the submerged issues were addressed with some reverse gear rather than trips down the weed hatch.

Our summer 2020 will not involve any far ranging travel and so far we have pottered our way to Great Haywood, where the Staffs and Worcs Canal meets the Trent and Mersey and have paused for the weekend for spot of towpath trading.

The easing of lockdown has seen a massive surge of activity on the canals, with huge numbers of private boats out on the move and every hire boat away from their bases. It's my hope that the pent up demand for UK based holidays will see the hire fleets booked solid through till the end of October and that this will be enough to compensate for the losses they incurred so far.

All this canal activity served us well and we were delighted to see so many customers stop and purchase our preserves, especially so many passing boaters who saw us moored at the junction bridge, stopped and came back for their jammy treats.

We will be making a slow passage to the Athestone area and if you want to know exactly where we are our location will be on the Wild Side Website.

Anglesey Basin

Anglesey Branch and Walsall Wood

Strictly speaking Anglesey Basin remains navigable, but the short branch from Catshill Junction in Brownhills has such a rich lost heritage I cant resist including a page dedicated to images of the old coal loading infrastructure.

The channel was first built in 1800 to carry water from what is now known the Chasewater Reservoir to the Wyrley and Essington Canal. Later in 1850 the channel was enlarged to full navigable dimensions to facilitate access to the new collieries being sunk in the lee of the reservoir dam wall.

The coal trade continued from this wharf to the very end of canal carrying, only coming to an end in 1967.

1955 - Stan Heaton

Robert Aickman photo

Salvation Army Sunday School Outing to Norton Pool (Chasewater) in the 1940's

Before the construction of the M6 Toll this was a magical place to moor but these days the combined rumble of the M6 Toll and its cousin the A5 are always audible, dispelling some of the mysterious atmosphere which hangs over the site.

Probably the best picture of the 1930's old loading canopy at Anglesey Basin

1960's loading conveyor with Juniper Cottage in background

Robert Aickman view of loading chutes

Coal Chutes 1951

Tug Helen at Anglesey Basin

Aqueduct on Anglesey Branch


The Chasewater Dam valve 1961

Moving coal from Anglesey Basin in the 1950's

Element's Princess Anne returning to Anglesey Basin in 1955 Bob May Collection (BCNS Archive)

Daw End Branch from Lathams Bridge to Northywood Bridge with Empire Brickworks in Aug 1953

Aldridge Brick and Tile Works from Lathams Bridge August 1953

Breach Gates at Northywood Bridge (aka Horners Bridge) Aldridge



Coal on Daw End Branch taken from Riddian Bridge in1966: Charlie, Horace and Young Billy Foster carry small coal for GEC Witton on Princess Anne and two joeys

Click here to return to the Small Branches of the Wyrley and Essington index page

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 lost canals alive. These images are reproduced for ease of research are are not necessarily the property of this blog, and as such should not be used for commercial gain without the explicit permission of the owner (whoever that may be).

Oldbury follow on loops

Oldbury follow on loops

In the same way that we have various loops of canal to the north of Birmingham created by the construction of Telford's New Mainline Canal, the same is also seen in the Oldbury area. In addition to the long Oldbury Loop created by the 1820 shortening programme, there were three further loops to the north, snaking either side of the newly straightened channel.

Immediately to the north of the Oldbury Loop, and on the other side of the new canal, the original line looped around the Globe Brickworks and this remained a full loop till the southern section and the central basin was sold in 1918. 

There followed two more loops heading north, first smaller one linked into Hunts works on the west and then the old line crossed the new canal to the east into the site of Brades Colliery.

Whilst the central sections of these loops were eventually built over, the stub ends were generally retained as loading basins for the canal side industries. In may cases the lines of the old loop canals was reflected in the of the orientation of the new buildings erected.

The original line north of the Oldbury Loop

The Globe Brickworks (top) and the Rounds Green loops (middle)

Third and final loop (top) into Brades Colliery

Tividale Aqueduct with industry - BCNS Archive

Click here to return to the Titford ad Oldbury index page

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 lost canals alive. These images are reproduced for ease of research are are not necessarily the property of this blog, and as such should not be used for commercial gain without the explicit permission of the owner (whoever that may be).

Old Delph Locks

Old Delph Locks

Click here to return to the Parkhead area index page

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 lost canals alive. These images are reproduced for ease of research are are not necessarily the property of this blog, and as such should not be used for commercial gain without the explicit permission of the owner (whoever that may be).

Farmers Bridge to Digbeth area

Farmers Bridge to Digbeth area

Deep Cutting Junction 1978

Top of farmers Bridge at Cambrian Wharf with tug Bittell - Laurence Hogg slide collection

Farmers Bridge Top lock BCNS Archive

Farmers Bridge Top Lock with gas light holder

Farmers Bridge Locks 1913

Whitmore Arm 2012

BCNS Archive

Farmers Bridge Locks before redevelopment

Farmers Bridge Locks at Snow Hill

Withymore Branch 1913

Withymore Branch 1981

Widening the Snow Hill Bridge in 1971 - Birmingham Library

The Digbeth Branch and its Ashted Locks are far from lost but the rate of redevelopment in the area in the first couple of decades of the 21st Century have rendered the place almost unrecognisable. Only the line of the canal remains true to its origins and these images capture how the surrounds used to look.

Ashted 2nd Lock down BCNS archive

BCNS Archive

BCNS Archive

BCNS Archive

Banana Warehouse Digbeth - BCNS Archive

Digbeth at The Bond


1924

Click here to return to the central Birmingham index page

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 lost canals alive. These images are reproduced for ease of research are are not necessarily the property of this blog, and as such should not be used for commercial gain without the explicit permission of the owner (whoever that may be).