toll house at smethwick

[Astoness]

hi all..i picked this postard up at the gift shop at fradley junction on sunday...sorry if its been posted before but i thought it may be of interest....

inland toll house smethwick..circa 1940

lyn...

 

[Heartland]

What happened to that image, I wonder
The toll house was placed at the top of the three locks on the old main line with a path down to the New Main Line and the Gauging building.

 

[Lloyd]

The more recent toll house before it was vandalised. It is to be demolished I understand, soon if not already done.

 

[Astoness]

hi all..i picked this postard up at the gift shop at fradley junction on sunday...sorry if its been posted before but i thought it may be of interest....

inland toll house smethwick..circa 1940

lyn...

the image was lost when the forum was hacked in 2011..sorry i dont have it now

lyn

 

[Richard Dye]

The more recent toll house before it was vandalised. It is to be demolished I understand, soon if not already done.


View attachment 180348

Any idea when it was built?

 

[Lloyd]

Any idea when it was built?

No date, but a reference says "It was built as a project when Sandwell MBC (created in 1974) operated a building and construction training facility in the nearby Galton Valley centre."

 

[Richard Dye]

No date, but a reference says "It was built as a project when Sandwell MBC (created in 1974) operated a building and construction training facility in the nearby Galton Valley centre."

Looks quite old, given the building style..........

 

[mikejee]

I think this may be the original picture. Date looks about right and title is the same (inland toll house c1940)

 

[Lloyd]

Well, that answers how they got ontp the islands! The original one at the site of the later replica was quadrilateral, though.

 

[Astoness]

the chimney is a mystery to me....what building is it attached to ? as it is showing in both photos..both buildings look the same to me except the roof is different and the porch has been removed..

lyn

 

[Lloyd]

the chimney is a mystery to me....what building is it attached to ? as it is showing in both photos..both buildings look the same to me except the roof is different and the porch has been removed..

lyn

The one on the toll house? There would have been a fireplace in there for warmth (and possibly cooking or warming food). The wall furrthest from the door seems an obvious place for it.

 

[Astoness]

yes thats what i thought lloyd...think i have miss understood a little as i the way i read the posts i thought that the photo on post 8 was another toll house built in 1974 but then i thought they must be the same building as the chimney is showing on both photos

lyn

 

[Lloyd]

Here is a page on turnpike toll houses, I expect canal ones would be similar although many now equipped with living accommodation.

http://www.turnpikes.org.uk/Tollhouse%20design.htm

 

[Lloyd]

yes thats what i thought lloyd...think i have miss understood a little as i the way i read the posts i thought that the photo on post 8 was another toll house built in 1974 but then i thought they must be the same building as the chimney is showing on both photos

lyn

I think it was the pattern of tollhouse used for the modern (vandalised) one.

 

[Heartland]

The replica toll house at the top of Smethwick Locks was constructed as a memorial to the island toll houses along the New Main Line, by British Waterways, and there were those in the Birmingham Canal Navigations Society who were keen that it was done. Sadly there are troglodytes in our world who care nothing about heritage or any representation of it and choose to vandalise structures and cover them with their tribal inscriptions.

 

[Pedrocut]

25 July 1983, Evening Mail.

 

[Heartland]

These excavations refer to Engine House foundations that were examined. The main engine is now in the museum at Millenium Point and can be seen there.