Shropshire Canal - Ketley Canal East

Shropshire Canal

Ketley Canal

March 2012


Other posts in this series:


1. Ketley Canal East ( this post)
2. Ketley

We left the Shropshire as its remains emerged from the southern end of Wrockwardine Wood, and that's the last we will see of a real trench for a couple of miles. 

 Junction of the Ketley Canal

The canal bed was recycled into a mineral line which has since been built on for housing, industry and roads which all makes for slim pickings. Undaunted, we switch to "lets find the contour" mode and this takes us down Willows Road and over Station Hill as the Silkin Way carries us to the Queensway where the A442 carves its was through the area using the line of the redundant railways which converged on this narrow neck of low land and forms a local watershed. The canal cut through the Snedshill Tunnel at this point, 279 yards long and 10ft wide at the waterline.

At this point the various lines of communication squeeze together, with a live railway tunnel burrowing through the bottom. This was also the site of the Shropshire Canal's downfall in 1855 when it breached into the lower railway tunnel followed by it disappearing down a nearby mine shaft! There problems were patched up but when a further seven breaches happened in 1856 the Shropshire Union Canal (who has leased it in the 1840's) called it a day and shut the central section down - a working life of little over 60 years.

 On the course of the Shropshire Canal / mineral line

 Sweeping curve of Ketley Junction an Oakengates

 The Greyhound Inn at the junction

Site of Snedhill tunnel and ironworks - canal lands in the trees in the distance.

Suddenly, we find ourselves in mid air with the line of the canal lifting off an a gravity defying leap to the junction with the Ketley Canal on the far side of the road, its level still visible in the trees till it sweeps found a play area to head west close to the Greyhound Inn, now the local Domino's Pizza franchise.

Ketley Canal runs beneath the gardens

If the mainline was getting indistinct, the older 1788 branch to Ketley is almost invisible! You need an old map to work out the line and the road  crossings and then, with a lot of imagination, it is just about possible to follow its contour as it winds its way out to the Ketley Ironworks a mile and a half to the west.

This route has to be followed by inference and traces form 100 years ago, but its not all gone.

And beneath Holy Trinity Church

The canal by and large follows the old Holyhead Road which was itself an old Roman Road. Now the Romans knew a thing or to about surveying roads and their path faithfully follows the canal contour,  or maybe its the other way round! The canal wind around a bit but is never more than 50 yards from the tarmac, sliding right under the foundations of Holy Trinity church  and its Vicarage before swing away a bit to the north and crossing Hartsbrige Road at - Hartsbridge! There is a curious snail shaped bit of masonry which is reputed to be one end of the bridge parapet.

Hartsbridge parapet

The canal then hugs the line of the road slicing through the middle of a modern roundabout before crossing beneath the Holyhead Road opposite Farm Foods. On the old maps this is shown as a sharp kink in the canal and a scout round the area throws up a steep footpath descending down the hill, paved with very old and worn shaped stones. I cant be sure but this looks very much like an access path from the towpath to the road above. 

Holyhead road crossing

From here the canal ran under what is now Farm Foods car park before veering to the left and burrowing beneath Potters Bank. As we could see nothing from the car park we skirted round the area via Shepherds Lane and guess what we saw.....?

Approach to Potters Bank

Well, as I used to tell the children at an exciting point in a tale - that's another days story.

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). 

Shropshire Canal - Wrockwardine

Shropshire Canal

Wrockwardine Wood

March 2012

Other Posts in this Shropshire Canal series:


1. Wrockwardine Wood (this post)
2. Central Section - modern Telford
3. Radlay Reservoir
4. Stirchley
5. Aqueduct 
6. Madeley
7. Blist Hill
8. Hay Inclined Plane
9. Coalport

Finally, after two hard days of walking the line of the northern section of this long lost network of Tub Boat Canals we can turn south and start the eight mile trek to the River Severn, taking in a couple of detours along the Ketley Canal and Horseferry Branch as we go.

Shropshire Canal north of Telford 2012

Northern Worckwardine Wood 1902

Having completed the Wombridge Canal and also its sister the Ketley Canal just to the south, William Reynolds decided to connect the whole thing up in 1792. Like us, he returned to the junction between the Wombridge and the Donnington Wood Canal at Wrockwardine Wood as a starting point.

Wrockwardine Inclined Plane

Wrockwardine Incline 1967

During our last visit to the site I mistakenly assumed that the Wrockwardine Inclined Plane ran up the path beside the Methodist Chapel. Whilst this looks a likely route it is slightly off and the foot of the plane was reached by a short arm which extended to somewhere under the road embankment which has covered the site. Just beyond this road the plane emerges as a perfectly straight and graded incline running for an impressive 316 yards into the trees at the top of the escarpment 113ft 2" above us.

Top of Wrockwardine Inclined Plane and the canal bed leading away to the south

This plane operated with a "hump" at the top over which the boat cradles were hauled by steam engine, and set into the pound beyond. This earth bank remains and with a  bit of imagination and a sprinkling of snow you can still see the shallow depression which contained the canal till it ceased operating in the 1830's. The initial days of this plane were troubled, with subsidence causing a crack 3" wide in the floor of the engine house in 1795, a forerunner of what was in store for the rest of the canal as the years and mines progressed.

Shropshire Canal in Wrockwardine Wood

The site also contains an unusual wall near the top of the incline and it would be nice to make it part of the structure built over 200 years ago, but sadly this is probably nothing more than a later boundary wall. However, careful inspection of the plane route itself does reveal a robust brick wall which is probably an original  retaining wall on the northern edge

Shropshire Canal in the back gardens

The most frustrating thing about this particular canal hunt is the lack of photographic records of it in operation. We have images of the Trench section which continued till the 1920's, but these other sections were abandoned in the first half of the 1800's, and photography only emerged in the 1830's and even then the new and expensive technology wasn't to be wasted on a utilitatian transportation system. So that leaves us with a handful of descriptions and some fragments on the ground, plus some maps and our imaginations which is all we need really!

Southern Wrockwardine Wood 1902

Canal emerging from the gardens and running alongside the Silkin Way

The northern extremity of the Shropshire Canal skirts round the western edge of Wrockwardine Wood, now a pleasant place to walk but wind back 150 years and the place was riddled with mines shafts and spoil heaps covering the whole area. Initially the line of the canal is clear in a trench before it becomes covered by the gardens behind the houses which skirt the woodland. Footpaths cross the line at several points, which eventually becomes part of the Silkin Way, a long distance path which follows the line of the canal quite closely all the way to Blist Hill. This section can we covered on foot but given the well maintained path it would be equally suited to a cycle expedition.

Last remains of Shropshire Canal emerging from Wrockwardine Wood

At times the trench is visible alongside the path but in other places mining has thrown great piles of debris across the canal bed. These tips are apparent on the 1902 map near Oakengates and remain in situ today, although the remnants of water shown 100 years ago are long gone and we are now left with a dry depression which hugs the countour and provides excellent views out over the Shropshire plain a couple of hundred of feet below us. Such a contrast to the smoky hell hole this place must have once been.

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). 

Wanderlust - film review

Wanderlust 

Film Review

March 2012


I saw a trailer for Wanderlust and thought "there is a film to avoid" - I should have listened to my instinct. The film was only out on general release yesterday, but word of its shortcomings seem to have preceded it in Derby and only a handful of viewers were present for its afternoon showing. In short,  its a clunker.

I had an afternoon out with Tilly and with the weather putting paid to a canal walk, we looked for some inside entertainment. The options at the Showcase were not terribly inspiring and the normally bankable Jennifer Aniston in a rom-com looked about right to engage a 19 year old girl.


The film is about a George and Linda, a pair of married yuppies from New York who fall on hard times and have to give up their cafe culture and micro loft / studio apartment, driving to Atlanta to take up a job with George's brother, one of the most engaging characters in the film.


Along the way they stopped off at a B&B which turned out to be a hippy commune, only to be confronted by the nudist wine maker who ran after them with his tackle out in all its glory, a sight which raised the first of many titters of embarrassment rather than the full blooded belly laughs which were being looked for.


After a mind expanding night they move onto Atlanta, returning when they decide that the commune life is for them. Sure, there are some amusing moments but the commune is depicted  in such a stereotypical way - 1970's vegan hippy dippys with shared ownership and free love a way of life. The commune's elder is Alan Alda who adds a certain Alzheimer's crazyness to the undertaking, which is led by the manic but charismatic hippy called Seth. His apparent commitment proves to be flawed and in so doing he brings a layer of instability to this alternative  Elysium.


Whilst the whole seems implausible, the story is to some extent redeemed by the exploration of the relationship between George and Linda. They entered the film stressed and in disharmony and whilst they were both attracted to the commune, it was only Linda who really engaged with it.  So it was disengagement, to engagement followed by separation as they went their own ways only to find themselves again as a couple and they use their experiences and relationships to realise their ambition and those of the people they meet.

All in all its a film which fails to work on most levels. I don't know about Wanderlust, more like Interest-lost if the truth be told. 

One has to question why Aniston became involved with this project. Maybe she just needed the money!

Top tip - stay away.

Moon Over Soho - book review

Moon Over Soho
by Ben Aaronovitch
March 2012


This book is every bit a sequel to the Rivers of London, so don't be tempted to read it in isolation.

We pick up the tale Peter Grant, apprentice wizard and PC in the Metropolitan Police force's little known Magical Enforcement Division, otherwise known as The Folly.

Its a small department comprising just Peter, our erstwhile hero, and his boss / instructor Inspector Nightingale, a man of indeterminate age but who was around in the first world war. This episode finds them investigating the sudden and unexplained deaths of Jazz musicians in and around Soho. The more they look the more the headcount rises and when the usual passage of time dosn't apply, they can find themselves investigating cases which are at the sub zero end on cold.

As the adventures of this unlikely pair unfold so the scope of wizards, vampires and magicians grows and grows. Like Harry Potter before him, the central character finds himself in a battle for which he is ill prepared. Not only is he an apprentice wizard, he is also developing a taste of sexual encounters with  supernatural seasoning - with unexpected consequences.

All in all its a very good follow up to Rivers of London, building on the existing characters and painting a believable parallel magical world around us everyday folk - teeing us up fur the next installment due out later this year.

Did I like it? well, lets just say that I already have it on pre-order with Amazon!

Donnington Wood Canal - Pave Lane (Pt 10)

Donnington Wood Canal

Pave Lane - Part 10

February 2012

We are fast approaching the end of this canal, and like any journey's end it comes with a tinge of sadness. But before we arrive at the bitter end, its route offers a last architectural treasure as it burrows under Pave Lane.

Bridge under Pave Lane

From the road you can't miss this bridge. The road is narrow and kinks across the bridge at an acute angle which makes impact with the balustrades inevitable from time to time. These regular collisions are probably the reason for the new sides to the bridge but a closer inspection reveals an original arch beneath. Its a wonder that the bridge has not been demolished and the road straightened over the years.

Into the gardens beyond Pave Lane

Pave Lane Bridge 1965

The bridge and the canal bed have been much improved by the owner of the garden through which the canal runs. Its all private land to any exploration has to be undertaken from the margins.

Pave Lane Wharf

The thing which strikes me as odd is the width of the last two bridges. Way back beyond the Lilleshall Plane the bridges were low and narrow - little more than 7 ft - but here they are broad, wide enough to carry two boats side by side. Could this last section to Pave Lane have been built to broad beam dimensions, and if so, why? Answers on a postcard please...

Lost section to the south of Pave Lane Wharf

The OS maps indicate a footpath along the canal's route to Pave Lane Wharf but there is no sign of this on the ground. Instead we drove on and had a look from the Pave Lane end. 

If I am honest, after the narrowboat at the end of the Pitchcroft Arm, I had high hopes for Pave Lane. In the event it was something of a damp squib. The fields between the last bridge and the wharf bore no traces of the canal, and the route through the farmyard was similarly devoid of remnants - including a stop lock which existed in the area.

Canal route through Farm at Pave Lane Wharf

Whilst here are no built remains, the final basin area has remained as an open area - running up to the pub which stands across the end of the line. The yard also contains an old sawmill but that is about it. We were out of canal and out of daylight - journey's end.

Site of Pave Lane Wharf

Pave Lane Wharf @1961

Fear not, whilst we may have completed the Donnington Wood Canal thee is still lots to explore to the south. The next section will start at Wrockwardine Incline Plane and probably run round to the end of the Ketley Canal.