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Rivers: River Blythe.

Pedrocut

Pedrocut

Master Barmmie
We don’t have a thread for the River Blythe.

Is this the River Blythe ? It is labelled Keeper's Bridge, Marston Green, Warwickshire
description: 1900s. View creator: Thomas Taylor.
(Birmingham Archives and Collections)

I believe it to be Blythe Bridge nearer to Coleshill. Can anyone verify ?

IMG_6342.jpeg
 
I recon your right. If it’s the one on the bend of the B4114 Blyth Road I have stood in the same spot as that lad in the picture.
 
looks like blyth Bridge, Shustoke bridge which has its origins in the Medieval period but was widened in the 20th century. No part of the original bridge remains visible. It is situated on Blythe Road, 1.5km north east of Coleshill. fishing was private fishing club i think

1761814370433.jpeg
 
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i fished the blythe regularly on a sunday if your coming down maxtoke lane from the high st the first stretch is cuttle cottage day ticket water.
 
In 1950's I would find my way to R Blythe on two fronts, From Coleshill down Maxstoke Lane to the "lido" at the bottom of the hill by the bend.(picture) And to Packington ford for minnow fishing, using bottles with indented bottoms. Not sure where they came from we certainly didn't have Champagne! What freedom our bikes gave us to roam from the council estate at Garrett's Green
 

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Hold our horses !

I don’t think that the first bridge (Keeper’s Bridge) is Blythe Bridge which now carries the B4114 Coleshill–Shustoke Road.
There is another picture, Bridge over River Blythe at Shustoke Road, Coleshill, Warwickshire. J.H. Pickard, 1890s.
(Birmingham Archives and Collections)
This has 4 arches and the first picture has three.

IMG_6365.jpeg


There is a picture here from Geograph…Blyth Hall packhorse bridge, not far away in the Blythe Estate.

www.geograph.org.uk

Blyth Hall packhorse bridge © Richard Law cc-by-sa/2.0

Grade II listed https://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101226397-blyth-hall-packhorse-bridge-over-river-blyth-shustoke#.Wniw19SLTGg in 1988, the main structure of the bridge dates to the 18th century, although the brick parapets and, sadly, the insensitive concrete bridge surface, are 20th...
www.geograph.org.uk www.geograph.org.uk
 
Here is Duke Bridge, (on the Blythe) a little further South on Coleshill Road.

www.geograph.org.uk

Duke Bridge © Richard Law cc-by-sa/2.0

Shown as Duke Bridge on most maps, but situated at Duke End, this is a Grade II listed structure https://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101115758-duke-end-bridge-maxstoke#.WVZwC9QrLGg which dates from the 18th century.
www.geograph.org.uk www.geograph.org.uk
 
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If you follow the River Blythe there are so many bridges marked - some named, some not, some just footbridges. I wondered if "keepers" was a local name for a bridge used by gamekeepers from one of the big houses.
 
you could be right Janice
The name Keeper's Bridge over the River Blyth in Warwickshire likely comes from a former gamekeeper's cottage or a lock keeper's cottage that was situated near the crossing... there was a few keepers around that erea from packington estate they chased me a few times:grinning::grinning::grinning:
 
The title on the first picture gives Keeper’s Bridge, Marston Green. The river at the bridge looks a reasonable size, yet the Cole is North of Marston Green and the Blythe to the East.
Could the Archives be wrong in choosing Marston Green ?
 
If you look at the modern map and the GE view you will see the Blythe and Cole meet each other some way above Pete’s Keeper’s Cottage near the Old Mill.

Back in 1902 the maps show that the Cole meets the Blythe below the old Mill and then flow on together to join the Tame.
 
The Blythe Mill was a watermill on the River Cole, which is sometimes confused with the River Blythe.
It is located near the current Blythe Mill Farm Supplies company at Blythe Road in Birmingham.
  • The original watermill was operational into the 1970s, and parts of its machinery, including an internal undershot wheel, remain.
  • The nearby River Cole was diverted in the 1960s, which ended the mill's water-powered operations.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Blythe
1761835678851.jpeg
 
mw0njm. said:
The Blythe Mill was a watermill on the River Cole, which is sometimes confused with the River Blythe.
It is located near the current Blythe Mill Farm Supplies company at Blythe Road in Birmingham.
  • The original watermill was operational into the 1970s, and parts of its machinery, including an internal undershot wheel, remain.
  • The nearby River Cole was diverted in the 1960s, which ended the mill's water-powered operations.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Blythe
View attachment 212523
Click to expand...

This I think is a confusion of the rivers Cole and Blythe. Blythe Mill was always on the River Blythe according to the old maps. The Cole joined the Blythe below Blythe Mill and added to the flow, and after the Mill the flow continued on to reach the Tame. The Cole’s diversion in the 1960s ended the head-water supply route and because people associated the mill with the Cole corridor through Coleshill.

December 1956 the Coleshill Chronicle is reminiscing on old mills of the area. “Situated on the Blythe, shortly after it received the waters from the Cole was Blythe Mill the premier mill of the district.”

Hams Hall flood alleviation and drainage works in the 60s diverted the Cole and it would meet the Blythe further north.
 
The mill's machinery stopped being operational in the early 1960s because the River Cole was diverted, making it impossible to operate the water-powered mechanism. The River Cole itself is a tributary of the River Blythe, with the Cole flowing into the Blythe near Coleshill.
Two water mills were ‘conveyed’ to William Blythe in 1587 and this mill appears to have been part of Blythe Hall estate ever since. Information on ownership exists for the 19th century and 20th century and the building was in use until the 1970s. It is now in use as a store. The mill building is a three storey brick structure with a large lucam. A datestone on the central section reads ‘1754 R & G’. Additions were made in the mid 19th century, notably the full height wheelhouse. The internal undershot wheel, 5.9m in diam, was installed in 1861 by Robert Summers of Tanworth in Arden and much of the machinery remains. In the early 1960s the River Cole was diverted and it became impossible to operate the machinery. Electrical motors were installed.

as far as i know the mill was always on the blythe the cole was a long way from the mill there was a small run off the main river to power a wheel it was there in the 60s overgrown though then it rejoined the main stream and went under the rd to maxtoke

very confusing
 
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