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Tunnel Cottages Kings Norton

That's good - I wasn't sure.
This thread has quite a bit of information about the cottages/house in general. What other sort of information were you looking for?
 
peterh said:
I was working on tunnel at the time of the collapse.
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As a former BWB worker I always travelled through Wast Hills on a workboat with a bristling of the hair at the back of my neck. I knew then about the collapse so if you can enlighten me any further maybe we can swap experiences?
 
Pedrocut said:
I think quite a lot of history has been brought to light about the cottages.

If you look back to Mike’s post number 10, which gives info about the cottages, it can be seen that two pairs of semi-detached cottages were built around 1878. This is about 80 years after the tunnel was built. One pair on the hill above the portal, and the other above the cutting at Masshouse Lane/Primrose Hill at High Bridge. The two pairs can be seen on the map, post 14, from Janice.

Historic England mentions cottages 1 and 2, Masshouse Lane, Kings Norton. It shows them just south of the Tunnel entrance, which would correspond to those seen in Mike’s picture post. The other pair at High Bridge could well be 3 and 4 “Tunnel Cottages.” We can see that Alfred Boulton was living in one of the "Tunnel Cottages" in 1901 with his wife and 8 children, and one of his daughters, Asenath, died there in 1967. There are 3 other “Tunnel Cottages” mentioned in the 1901 census, two tug Steerers and tug driver and their families.

The cottages would be quite remote, and as the occupants were involved with tunnel, their history would be linked to it. There is a lot of history that can be found connected to the Tunnel.
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Unfortunately Historic England are not interested in the High Bridge cottages as regards listing. I spoke to them and referred to Alan White's book, but to no avail. Maybe someone else could have a go?
 
Pedrocut said:
This is interesting, did Albert actually move to King’s Norton to pull the narrow boats through the Wast Hill Tunnel?

In the 1911 census Asenath Jane Boulton was a Card Box maker and 30 years old. Working in a chocolate and cocoa factory. She was living with her father Alfred Boulton who was 62 and a steam tug engine driver, Canal Co. Worker. His address is given as (Machine House) Worcester Wharf, Bridge St, Birmingham.

The thread starts by mentioning Tunnel Cottages in Masshouse Lane, just where are they in Masshouse Lane?
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Did anyone locate Machine House on Worcester Wharf? My Gt x 3 Grandfather Rowland G Long was the Public Wharfinger living at Machine House in the 1871 Census
 
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