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Canals In Wartime

Viv, the pill box that looks like a factory chimney at 1:20 and 2:15 is on the Birmingham and Worcester Canal by Lifford Lane.
 
Thanks both. The pill box looks barely noticeable - as was intended I suppose.

And the use of the canals in WW2 must have been invaluable. I know some places along the canals received hits by bombs but had assumed it was usually to target manufacturers along the canal side. Would canals have been targeted in the same way as railway lines were? To break supply lines etc. Viv.
 
Well strangely enough if you walk under the bridge under the railway and canal aqueduct in Bournville Lane, you can see the concrete repair where a bomb scored a direct hit and drained the canal into Bournville Lane.


What I find interesting about this photo is that this canal has no locks between the BCC Bar at Gas street all the way to Tardebigge, Worcestershire. It contained a lot of water, maybe 20 miles or so.


The hole is also almost dead entre of the canal, so it was a shot and a half to hit it that accurately. I do sometimes wonder if it was a piece of industrial espionage maybe done under the cover of a bombing raid.


Apologies but I cannot remember where this photo came from to give reference.
 

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Not sure if this was an earlier or later picture, more earth, less water
 

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Morturn said:
Well strangely enough if you walk under the bridge under the railway and canal aqueduct in Bournville Lane, you can see the concrete repair where a bomb scored a direct hit and drained the canal into Bournville Lane.


What I find interesting about this photo is that this canal has no locks between the BCC Bar at Gas street all the way to Tardebigge, Worcestershire. It contained a lot of water, maybe 20 miles or so.


The hole is also almost dead entre of the canal, so it was a shot and a half to hit it that accurately. I do sometimes wonder if it was a piece of industrial espionage maybe done under the cover of a bombing raid.


Apologies but I cannot remember where this photo came from to give reference.
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There are reports of quite a number of incidents in 1939 concerning Irish Nationalists. For example at Hams Hall. Later it may not be reported.
 
Morturn
I seem to remember that after the bombing it was made easier for the canal to be divided, because of that length of water, but cannot find the reference. However there is a "gate" (presumably slots in the side of the canal to enable boards to be inserted) marked by the bridge on Maryvale Road on the c1956 map. which is not present in the c 1937 map. Further north the narrowing by the footbridge, which was previously there, would have been a suitable point to block it also.
 

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Mike, sounds about right. I cycle the canal quite regularly and there are some old stop locks under a few of the bridges on the way into Gas Street
 
Well, there was a lot of it about then! I do know they used it on lakes so maybe I'm getting mixed up....stopped the bombers using the water as a guide.
 
mikejee said:
Morturn
I seem to remember that after the bombing it was made easier for the canal to be divided, because of that length of water, but cannot find the reference. However there is a "gate" (presumably slots in the side of the canal to enable boards to be inserted) marked by the bridge on Maryvale Road on the c1956 map. which is not present in the c 1937 map. Further north the narrowing by the footbridge, which was previously there, would have been a suitable point to block it also.
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The 'gate' would be known as stop planks or stanking. This, as will be realized avoided a severe loss of water and allowed a breach to be repaired.
 
Pedrocut said:
View attachment 111613
September 1939
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Maybe this is the boat, or one of them assuming there were more, shown in Post 3. Most cities with large rivers or harbour/ports had a fireboat (or two) or vessel converted for fire fighting purposes. Birmingham, though not having a large navigable river or coast was blessed with many canals with industries alongside so it made good sense for the fireboats.
 
A cargo of steel which has been transported from London is unloaded from a pair of canal boats at Tysley quay on the Grand Union Canal in Birmingham. The wife of the boatman can be seen holding her baby as she waits for the unloading to be completed. The original caption states that normal discharge time is between two and two and a half hours. These boats will then travel to Coventry to collect a load of coal from the colliery to take back to London. According to the original caption, here at Tysley "over 18,000 tons a month are handled. 75% of the goods inward from London are steel, but copper and aluminium also come through".1944.
(IWM)

IMG_1405.jpeg
 
This is another picture from the IWM and is also for sale on Alamy. On Getty images it is £150-275 !

“With Miss March, dressed in overcoat and head scarf, at the tiller, the 'HEATHER BELL' heads for the collieries through the industrial Midlands to collect a fresh cargo. The smoking chimneys of various factories can be seen in the background. They are probably travelling up the Cotterill Colliery Branch of the Birmingham Canal. 1942.”

IMG_1412.jpeg
 
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