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Swimming in the canal

A

Anne Jessel

master brummie
Canal Query

Officially which Canal flowed under the aquaduct (Newton Road) just approaching Great Barr. My sister used to take me for walks along there and sometimes for a s-w-i-m. Anyone else swum in Canals? The things we got up to.
Anne
 
Yes Anne I swam beneath the Newton Road bridge in the Tame valley canal when a nipper. During one summer holiday it was favourite place for a bunch of us. It had a long straight stretch on either side where you could keep a look out for barges. leaving plenty of time to climb out and hide in the long grass's of the cutting. I remember doing this once and my friend David Proctor was crouching down in front of me as the barges passed; on his back was the biggest leech I'd seen since the film African Queen. We stopped swimming there that summer. We used to play in the spillways which took off the surplus water from the canal and drained into the River Tame. These culverts where lined with blue engineering bricks. Theyb were glazed and very shiney and slippery. How we managed to survive childhood is still a mystery.:)
 
My Gran's house was close to the viaduct on Old Walsall Road, Hamstead and my Uncle always swam in the 'cut' :)
 
Di and Apollo

Well I wasn't the only mad person to swim in a canal, though I hasten to add it was NOT by choice. My sister bribed me by saying she'd get some iced buns for tea. I'd do ANYTHING for iced buns!
Anne
 
Anne, the point about swimming at 'High Bridges' was that when it rained heavily the natural sandstone from the very steep cutting washed into the canal making bottom sandy and fairly clean compared with other areas.
Growing up close to the canal I was able to see it daily, normally murky, and often green the water changed with the seasons. On rare occasions when all the algae had been depleted it would be crystal clear for two days and enable you to see shoals of Roach, Dace and Perch there was talk of Pike but I never saw one.
Did you get your iced buns from Firkins?:)
 
Thank you for the Info. Apollo

It's nice to know it was clear at times. I know I could stand up in the centre of the canal and it felt like knobbles of coal, and if I remember rightly I did have a sooty taste in my mouth from the odd splash. I didn't put my face right in however, I couldn't see the bottom at the time so I did my best not to stand up.

REGARDING THE ICED BUNS. QUITE POSSIBLY MY SISTER DID! Though I remember she shopped at Wrensons near Scott Arms
Thanks for the info. very interesting.
Anne
 
I almost said that the Newton Road Bridge was always known as High Bridges:)

I walked from The Hamstead pub at the top of Hamstead village to High Bridges three or four years ago, it's a very quiet walk with barely any traffic and I could almost believe it was the Hamstead I knew in my childhood, most of the old houses are still there amongst the rows of new ones. The canal is a long way down in a deep cutting, all cleaned out and looking great.:)
 
My aunt Ada learned to swim in a canal over in West Brom somewhere. I will sort a photo out of her in her swim suit with the cups she won later on. Perhaps that's where my love of the sport came from. Jean.
 
Nice one Jean,
I look forward to seeing the picture of your Aunty Ada's swim suit and her cups.
 
Re: Thank you for the Info. Apollo

Anne Jessel said:
It's nice to know it was clear at times. I know I could stand up in the centre of the canal and it felt like knobbles of coal, and if I remember rightly I did have a sooty taste in my mouth from the odd splash. I didn't put my face right in however, I couldn't see the bottom at the time so I did my best not to stand up.

REGARDING THE ICED BUNS. QUITE POSSIBLY MY SISTER DID! Though I remember she shopped at Wrensons near Scott Arms
Thanks for the info. very interesting.
Anne
Click to expand...

What was Wrensons?, I have been doing some research on the shops at Scott Arms and get lots of confusing recollections of which shops were where. Wrensons was in the first block I know (in Kellys 1963) but any recollections would be helpful.

Picture at https://b43.co.uk/cms/shops/scott-arms-walsall-road-929-939a-shops.html
 
My Mother taught us how to swim in the local canal by the old BSA. The swimming was easy - it was getting out of the sack that was the hardest.
 
Thanks for the link to the shop posts about Wrensons. I have recently found another picture of the Scott Arms area showing a Wrensons in Newton Road about 1954 so it would seem they moved at some time to the main Birmingham Road block by 1963.

My memories are more about Masons - down Coopers Road Handsworth Wood. Most of the shops were Co-op but the very end one was a Masons. This seemed very up-to-date and introduced self service - i remember the confusion of having to pick up a wire basket and do your own shopping - this would have been in the late 60s probably.
 
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