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Im sure a lot of you members have seen this, but if you walk along any stretch of canal, when approaching a bridge or tunnel,have a look at the edge of the brickwork. You will notice a few grooves cut into the brickwork, caused by the bargehorse ropes rubbing against it over many years.
 
Bridge#49, Stratford-Upon-Avon Canal

Bridge number 49, to the south of Preston Bagot, is a split bridge. This is a design typical of the Stratford-Upon-Avon Canal. The towpath ran beside the bridge, rather than beneath it; the towrope was passed through the slot in the bridge, eliminating the need to unhitch the horse
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Bridge#49, Stratford-Upon-Avon Canal

Bridge number 49, to the south of Preston Bagot, is a split bridge. This is a design typical of the Stratford-Upon-Avon Canal. The towpath ran beside the bridge, rather than beneath it; the towrope was passed through the slot in the bridge, eliminating the need to unhitch the horse
View attachment 160649
Pate, that is a wonderful picture! And the slot in the bridge is a clever idea.
 
we used the cut every weekend in 1950/60 fishing before pleasure boats took over,. it still was used by horse drawn boats. as i remember some of the bridges were all brick with a gap for the rope. i think some of thse bridges have been changed to iron. anyone remember a all brick bridge?

modified example below
No.51 Green Lane Bridge SOUTH STRATFORD CANAL PRESTON BAGOT. Split bridge. c1812-1816, with later restorations. Brick abutments and walls, partly stuccoed and scored in imitation of ashlar and with stone copings, cast-iron rails and decks. Abutments support two cantilevered decks with x-framed integral handrails and are split for tow ropes. Splayed parapet walls,
 
Bottom lock of Factory 3 at Tipton is a sort of split bridge, albeit cantilevered, but with gap to allow rope through
There are quite a few of these 'rope bridges' across the canal networks, ground movement has allowed some abutments to move slightly and close the gap.
 
December 1957 Coventry Evening Telegraph...

View attachment 136349
My friend's sister in law also Elaine is a Narrow boat person. A water gypsy? From around Coventry I will try and get in touch with her. One of her relatives passed away and they scattered the ashes and the flowers in the canal.I have been on barge trips which stop at Sutton Stop. The pub the Greyhound is ancient. We saw a bearded lady once hailed to be a boatwoman. My Black Country Nan said they worked the horses till they dropped. As a little girl she saw one collapse and it really upset her. And white horses were a rare sight. If you saw one you spat on your shoe for luck.
 
Bottom lock of Factory 3 at Tipton is a sort of split bridge, albeit cantilevered, but with gap to allow rope through
How do you pronounce Tipton? Nan said Tip'n. Where you going Nan? Arm gooin' ta see Tip'n run. I never knew what she meant. Nan was a lover of canals, she said they were meeting place. A Sunday afternoon stroll when she was a coo ar tin, Grandad, whose house backed on to it. In the winter it froze (fruzz over she said) and they skated on it, with bones strapped to their boots or just their boots, to music sometimes, a hurdy gurdy man or with hot chestnuts, it painted a pretty picture for me. Gandad's first job when he was 8, eight! was to take pigs to the slaughterhouse along the canal, in Stourbridge,. He had the pig by the ears but he was sensitive and the pig bunted him and itself in to the canal and he got the sack.
 
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