Saturday 29 October 2022

 Walsall Locks and Basin

For all their lack of traffic, the canals of Walsall have never been abandoned. However, the area has a rich canal heritage which has been lost and I thought a page devoted to archive images of the town's locks and basin would let me keep track of them and build a library.

Walsall Locks from above

Worseys Basin at Pratts Bridge 1955 - Stan Heaton

Worseys Basin 1955 - Stan Heaton

Worsey's Dock 1955 -Stan Heaton


Fire at Pratts Mill

Approaching Birchills

Birchills Power Station 1955 - Stan Heaton








Keays Yard above the Locks in the 1970's



Caggy Stevens negotiates the Walsall Locks in the 1970's using horse power

Walsall Town Arm Junction in 1974 - Jack Haddock







Walsall Boat Rally in the 1970's






Leaving Town Locks Walsall

Town Arm, Walsall 1968

End of Town Arm

Stan Heaton view of the end of the Walsall Basin




Basin off Town Arm, Walsall

An unusual view of the Darlaston Aqueduct, just south of Walsall


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).

6 comments:

John said...

Andy, Some very interesting photos, but for future historians would it not be useful for more up to date photos of the basin and the locks to be included on the same page. I would think comparison between what the basin looked like in the 60's and today would be useful.

Graham said...

Andy, Thanks for some very atmospheric pictures of a length of canal I used to know well many, many years ago.
You don't identify the picture of the two boats above the picture of Peter Keay's yard. I'm sure that you know it - but, just in case...............
The large modern buildings in the distance are Pleck Gas Works and the bridge in the middle distance is Rollingmill Street.
The truncated chimney in the foreground must be in the grounds of one of the white heart foundries that used to line that part of Pleck Road.

Andy Tidy said...

Graham
This run of photos were kicking about in a folder which one day will become a video of the Walsall Area and as I was at risk of losing them I added them to the blog so they are safe on line. Thanks for the insights.

Andy Tidy said...

John - a similar comment was made by Graham! This collection of images will one day we worked into a video but for the time being they are parked in the on line blog so I can find them again.

seadog said...

Nice to see you back on line. Have you done any trading this year

Andy Tidy said...

Seadog- yes trading is back to pre pandemic levels. Whilst the blog may appear inactive these days, its actually being updated several times a week! I have been using the old posts to structure my photographic archive - Have a look at the "Old Photos of the BCN" tab and then follow the links to the individual areas / locations.
My aim is to make the collection public to broaden the appreciation for the area.