Paulton and Timsbury Basins - Somerset Coal Canal

Somerset Coal Canal

Paulton and Timsbury Basins

January 2014

I started my exploration from Hanham Lane, just to the south of the site and off the Bath Road. There is no parking at the far end so leave your car up by the main roan and follow the footpaths - either one will get you there.

The site represents the first area of development of the canal back in 1795 and served the surrounding collieries via a network of tramways, each leading to its own area of the complex.

My favouite view of Paulton Basin

The WRG, the Canal Society and the local council have been working together to redevelop the site and its great to see it coming back to life. Paulton Basin has been dredged and opened out into a pleasing expanse of water occupied by a pair of swans and bordered by the site of an old dry dock / boatyard which is currently being excavated. Further up there is Timsbury Basin, now back in water but with just the outline of the northern and southern edges revealed with a raised finger of spoil sticking out like a finger in the middle (or maybe the upper pool is just flood water - its hard to tell!). Either way, it does offer a good interpretation of the scale of the place.

The two sides of Timsbury Basin

Although it was a busy terminus in its time, the area fell derelict in the 1860's and 1870's as the coal was exhausted and the associated iron works closed down. Now its a peaceful haven for wildlife and a much used local amenity. If you don't have tome to do any more of the canal its a good destination for a short walk round the basins and across the old entry bridge (collapsed) and have a look into the dry dock which is being revealed. I almost expected the Tony Robinson and the Time Team to leap out from behind the barrows!

Paulton Basin dry dock entrance

Taken with the next section of canal to Radford mill this could make a good spot for a trip boat.

Paulton Dry Dock excavation Jan 2014

Somerset Coal Canal - Introduction

Somerset Coal Canal

January 2014

Other posts in this series:

1. Introduction - this post

2. Timsbury and Paulton Basins

3. Paulton to Radford Mill

4. Radford to Camerton

5. Camerton to Dunkerton

6.  Dunkerton

7.  Combe Hay tunnel area

8. Combe Hay top end

9. Combe Hay - central section

10. Combe Hay lower locks

11. Combe Hay to Midford

12. Midford Aqueduct area

13. Midford to Tucking Mill

14. Juncton at Dundas.

I have had my eye on the Somerset Coal Canal for some time, or to give it its original title "The Somersetshire Coal Canal". This is an 10 mile narrow canal which branches off the Kennet and Avon Canal at Dundas and follows the line of the Cam Brook its valley and into the heart of the Somerset Coalfield. There was also the short lived Radstock Arm, but that is out of the scope of this exploration.

Its over 100 miles from home so too far for day trips, but at last my patience was rewarded. Helen was attending a marmalade making course at Vale House and I had a day and a half to kill. "What will you do with yourself?" she asked. A quick look at the map showed that the top end of the canal at Timsbury was within walking distance, so with only a few days notice a plan was hatched and a bare minimum of research undertaken to keep me on track.

The photos in this post offer a taster of the things to see on this fascinating route.

Paulton Basin - Somerset Coal Canal

My main source of information came from the maps on the Somersetshire Coal Canal Society's website, which are just about detailed enough to let me follow the canal's course all the way down the valley. Of course, Google Earth came in handy and it was soon clear that as there is no continuous footpath, a car hopping approach would serve me well. It would also mean that I could get back to Helen whenever I wished. My thanks go to the Canal Society and its website for much of the background information, and to their Chairman Patrick Moss who got me back on track when I lost the plot over one section!

Combe Hay Locks - Somerset Coal Canal

A very quick summary of this canal is that it was started in 1795 and largely complete in 1801 save the locks section. This makes it one of the later canals having been surveyed by John Rennie and helped by William Smith (father of UK Geology). The canal essentially runs on two levels - one at the K&A level (with a stop lock) and another 135 feet higher with the rise accommodated at Combe Hay. Most canals have a USP, and this one is no exception. Here it was achieving the climb which became something of an epic tale but more of that when we reach that point in the story.

Somerset Coal Canal below Combe Hay Locks - a "dry" section!

The canal linked the many collieries in the valley to an enthusiastic market in Bath and was very successful, carrying up to 130,000 tons a year for many years. It remained busy right up to the end of the 1800's when it was closed.  GWR bought the line in 1904 and reused much of its course, but this was abandoned in the 1960's and the two lines of communication are now merging back into the landscape. This development complicates the canal hunt and in places one has to refer to the old railway line to establish the location of the waterway.

For the purposes of this expedition I started at the top and worked down over a day and a half during one of the wettest periods on record. The local country lanes were awash, the passing places were quagmires, but the silver lining was that many bits of the canal bed contained standing water!

The Hatch is fitted

Fitting the new side hatch

January 2014

A few weeks ago I posted about the arrival of our new side hatch from Kedian Engineering.

Before we start

Over Christmas I have been preparing it in the workshop at home, painting, glazing and adding the furniture - basically getting it ready to install whenever time and weather came together in  favourable alignment.

Out with the old

After weeks of rain and wind today dawned clear and bright so, with things set fair for the day, the decision was made to get the hatch into the boat. First off there was a call into B&Q in Cannock to purchase some essential tools and some super strength silicone - the stuff which stick in the wet and is guaranteed against just about everything.

Square off the corners

First off the inner trim was removed and after the external screws were removed a gentle push saw the old window ease out of its hole. Just to be sure I checked the dimensions and it was clear I had over 10mm clearance all round.

Hatch installed

Then I squared off the rounded corners. Getting the line right is a bit tricky but the task is made easier if you have a hacksaw with a handle which swings out of the way.

Open and ready

Then the hatch assembly is located in the aperture and the screw holes marked on the cabin side with a felt marker and centre punched. The instructions said use a 4.2 mm drill bit but B&Q only had 4 mm or 4.5 mm, so I took both and cut the holes slowly using the 4.00 mm bit. A test with a self tapping screw showed that the holes were too small so they were re cut to 4.5 mm which worked a treat.

Two beads of silicone was added around the flange of the hatch and the whole thing was lifted into place and offered to the cabin side. Thankfully the holes were perfectly aligned and with much heavy duty twisting, all the screws were driven home and silicone squeezed out round the edges.

These frames are so rigid that the imperfections in the steel sides were pulled straight.

With the surplus silicone removed the screw heads and various paint chips were covered in undercoat and the unit was ready for a test.

The catches fit snugly in to their receiving holes and when pulled open the doors swung back to lie clean and smooth to the cabin sides.

I am really glad I went for the glazed option. When closed its 100% window and when open its 100% hatch.

The unit is far heavier than the Caldwell aluminium window it replaced and immediately altered the trim of the boat, so a concrete ballast block was removed to compensate. Now there is just the small matter of fitting some trim to the inside and a few dabs of Union Green gloss and the job in complete. Not bad for three hours effort.

Christmas gift with a boaty twist

Boating Presents - Christmas 2013
January 2014

And so we enter 2014 but before we consign 2013 to the history books I thought I would give you a quick look at my boating orientated Christmas presents.

All my family know and tolerate my boating obsession and to reflect this my bother and sister in law found a very suitable tee shirt:

Not content with this my sister in law and her husband figured that my strong home brews may render me incapable of remembering who I am so had my name etched onto a beer tankard:

Finally, not to be outdone, Helen found a 1961 copy of The Canal Duke. This is the story about the life and times of the Duke of Bridgewater, but you will have to wait for the book review before you find out more!

Society Index

BCNS Gauging plate

December 2013

And so we stand on the threshold of a New Year, 2013 and all its interest is now consigned to the history book. We now look forward to 2014 and all it has in store for us.

The future is a strange mix of planning and happenstance. Some events happen by design and others are completely unexpected - good and bad. But I believe that that whilst we can't avoid troubles, we can take steps which improve the chances of positive outcomes.

I therefore like to learn from the past and walk forward with optimism, mixing happenstance with planning and each year indulging my curiosity where possible.

Among the planned activities in 2013 we expanded Helen's Wild Side business - pushing out on a number of fronts including the decision to buy Montgomery - a 2012 dream, a 2013 action and a 2014 execution.

But this policy doesnt stop at boating stuff. I like to sample new cultural experiences too, so 2013 saw us at the opera (Rigeletto) and the ballet (Nutcracker), I am glad I experienced both but whilst the opera will see us again the ballet was a step too far!

So for my final post of 2013 I will leave you with a small gift to myself, bought at the  Black Country Boating Festival in September. It's a limited edition brass BCNS plate in the format of a BCN gauging plate which will grace the front of Wand'ring Bark.  Its as classy as it is heavy with black enamel flooding the recess and making the letters really stand out - worth every penny I paid for it. 

A touch of the past carried forward to the future.

I hope you have enjoyed 2013 and have a great 2014. Maybe we will see you out there on the cut?