Canals of Birmingham

[guilbert53]

Wish I hadn't asked now *sniff*.

The James Brindley Pub has been closed for a number of years (at least 5 or more).

The trouble is it was rather isolated, with little passing trade.

Once all the other pubs opened on Broad St and in Brindley Place I think its trade fell right off.

 

[ellbrown]

Returned to the section of the Worcester & Birmingham Canal from Selly Oak to the University of Birmingham.

Found it full of puddles on the towpath, and muddy!

 

[Vivienne14]

I might regret asking this too Charlie. Anyone know if the Tow Rope is still going? I somehow expect not. Viv.

 

[Astonian]

top of the mornin to you viv ;do you mean the old tow rope on broad street if you are its sdly long gone but not for gotten beleive me
i am sure alot of our members can give us some memories from it ; i know i can certainly
and recall its all its characters thant used and hung around in there i expext charlie can recall barry parker and his partner [ wife ]
whom was the true celebritarys whom frenquenty the old place they was both well travelled celebs far a field of this country from one end to the other including manchester
barry was the glizz well dresses female artist with all his dangling diamonds and dresses he was the dame of brum just like dame edna;
i hope we can get stories from our members on this one have a good viv best wishes alan astonian;

 

[Vivienne14]

Morning Alan. Think that's it, it backed onto the canal. Think I only went in there once. If it's the place I'm thinking of did it have a restaurant? Viv.

 

[Astonian]

hi viv
i have just had a second thought may be you meant to say the long boat and not the tow rope
it was a pub as i rcall it at the top end of king ewards rd and more or less it was opersite the king edward pub that was run by the newburys as i recal them whom eventualy moved down to the turf pub oppersite springhill libary then moved down to the big atkinsons house i think it was the queens hotel during the fiftys
the long boat was a half decent pub at the time i ran the blaney stone in the bul ring there was alot of well known market traders used to use it at five in the morning and one of them well known on the market along with ancestors father used to work the bul ring market and up until afew years back he was a member but he may havedied
as about ten years ago he lived by the long boat and i was told then he was in a bad state so i think he died is name was cowboy
so if there is any old market traders still around and on this forum and recall cow boy please let us know
when you said it backed on to the cannal it is definately the long boat and not the tow rope but even as i have previous stated on the last thread about the parker couple they also frequented the long boat i think its phil whom some years ago said he knew of them as well but i know it was a member years ago whom confirmed that there address was king heath end of mosely where they once lived barry was the queen bee of drag is costumes were woth a fortune
have a nice day viv and keeep us going on this great site we have best wishes alan ; astonian;

 

[Speedy23]

The Longboat was on Cambrian Wharf, Kingston Row facing Cambrian Basin at the top of Farmer's Bridge locks. I believe that it was reincarnated as The Flapper some years ago.

 

[Charlie]

The Tow Rope was a cafe on Broad Street, as Viv says it backed onto the canal.
Long gone I'm afraid ... it was a bit of a place of "ill repute" though, drug dealings and the like I'm told. Wouldn't have fitted in with the planners idea of Broad Street nightlife anyway. On second thoughts .........

 

[BernardR]

Should these posts about Pubs not be in the section for Pubs? Just wondering.

 

[cookie273uk]

BernardR, here is a painting of Cambrian Wharf to put the thread back on subject. Eric

 

[Phil]

Viv & Charlie,

Being a one time user of the Tow Rope I can tell you that it is no longer with us and that it didn't back on to the canal, it in fact backed on to Bingley Hall and was at the junction of King Edward Place & Broad Street. Marked with a blue "X" on the map.

 

[Vivienne14]

Thanks all. Must have been the Longboat, only went the once and maybe I'd had a few too many to remember it clearly.

Out of interest who owns the remaining canals in Birmingham these days? Do canal companies still exist? Viv.

 

[guilbert53]

Out of interest who owns the remaining canals in Birmingham these days? Do canal companies still exist? Viv.

They used to be owned and maintained by the British Waterways Board

https://www.britishwaterways.co.uk/

But that was closed down and replaced by the Canal and river Trust

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/

 

[Vivienne14]

Thanks Guilbert. What an amazing amount of work the Trust does to keep the canals and rivers well maintained. Just had a look at their accounts and they're Defra funded but an almost similar amount of revenue comes from moorings. Looking at the website they seem to be incredibly well organised. A great example of maintaining our heritage, as well as a a major contributor to improving wildlife habitats. Viv.

 

[Smudger]

Re: Canals of Brum

With regards to the lousy weather & flooding in many places, why don`t canals flood? Is it because of the different heights, & what about the canal at the end of the system. Where does the water go to from there.? This is probably a stupid question, but if you don`t ask you don`t learn.

 

[mikejee]

They probably , in most cases are properly dredged. In fact they do flood sometimes . I have seen the Oxford canal from the train, which runs close to the oxford-leamington railway line, flooding the fields on several occasions.

 

[mike jenks]

Hi

normally Flooded water runs off via series of run off points to larger pools (earlswood lakes for example)
These have run offs to streams and rivers.
In reverse supply in dry climates top up water is supplied from these souurces. Dredging is common on working canals due to low depth.
Well designed and engineered nearly 300 years ago.

Mike Jenks

 

[postie]

Someone sent me this .

 

[Speedy23]

They probably , in most cases are properly dredged. In fact they do flood sometimes . I have seen the Oxford canal from the train, which runs close to the oxford-leamington railway line, flooding the fields on several occasions.

Dredging...if only.......1 1/2 mph up the North Stratford in an old boat with its rear end on the bottom all the way, anyone :sorrow:?

The reason that canals do not seem to flood is that most canals, being artificial, were designed so that levels on the various pounds were (are) controlled by run-off weirs and weirs/paddles that could be drawn by lengthsmen (when these still existed!) that divert the excess water into other watercourses such as streams and rivers. Older canals, such as the Oxford were often constructed so that rivers (in the case of the Oxford the River Cherwell) were actually incorporated into the canal to provide a source of water. Unfortunately, this also provided a source of flooding in wet weather! Canals so affected often have flood gates that can be closed to divert the excess water where it will not cause (too many further) problems. On the Oxford, there is such a gate at Shipton-on-Cherwell. It's a single gate that holds the water in the pound behind it back slightly so that it spills harmlessly over into the adjacent fields rather than letting the canal further down overfill and flood Thrupp.

Reservoirs such as Earlswood Lakes and Edgbaston were designed almost primarily as water sources to accommodate surplus supplies from the sky, not the rest of the canal system. As the flow of water in a canal is from the summit (highest) level down the locks to the lowest point, the reservoirs were generally fed into the higher levels of the canal so there would have been little opportunity to use them to store water from elsewhere.

Not that the old canal engineers always got it right - there's been many a wet towpath at Delph Locks owing to people not operating the locks in the preferred fashion........

(Edited for spelling and cross-post...)

 

[mike jenks]

Yep

Got the run off s this time

mike jenks

 

[DavidGrain]

Re: Canals of Brum

With regards to the lousy weather & flooding in many places, why don`t canals flood? Is it because of the different heights, & what about the canal at the end of the system. Where does the water go to from there.? This is probably a stupid question, but if you don`t ask you don`t learn.

At the side of each lock on the canal you will usually see a weir where any surplus water in the higher level can be run off bypassing the lock to the lower level. In dry weather there will probably not be any water running over the weir but in wet weather this can be running quite fast.

 

[Dave M]

Re: Canals of Brum

At the side of each lock on the canal you will usually see a weir where any surplus water in the higher level can be run off bypassing the lock to the lower level. In dry weather there will probably not be any water running over the weir but in wet weather this can be running quite fast.

Like this one

 

[guilbert53]

Normally Flooded water runs off via series of run off points to larger pools (earlswood lakes for example)

I live near Earlswood Lakes and walk round them often.

But I thought the lakes were higher than the local canal so not sure how the water from the canal would flow into them.

I thought the lakes fed the canal, but I am not sure it is the other way round (but willing to be proved wrong).

 

[guilbert53]

Re: Canals of Brum

With regards to the lousy weather & flooding in many places, why don`t canals flood? Is it because of the different heights, & what about the canal at the end of the system. Where does the water go to from there.?

Long explanation but it gives some explanation why canals don't (often) flood.

First you have to realise that rivers are "natural", are always flowing, and will take the easiest path. They are nearly always at the bottom of valleys, or certainly at the lowest point in an area, so water in a river (plus all its feeders) will all flow to this lowest point. And if there is too much water the river will flood as it has nowhere else to go.

But canals are man made, and often "above" the lowest point (if you walk along some canals you often find yourself walking above the land either side of the canal).

But the key thing is that most canals are FLAT, at least for much of their route, so the water does not "flow" like a river.

One important thing to consider with canal design is that every time a person uses a lock the water flows out the lock from the high point of the canal to the lower point in the canal, so water is constantly being lost from the highest point.

So when people designed canals they knew that they had to have the highest point of the canal as long as possible (with no locks) to "store" the maximum amount of water to help feed the locks at either end. This long stretch of canal was called the "summit pound".

The summit pound always needs to be topped up with water as it is always losing water when people use the locks at either end. This is why areas like Earlswood Lakes were created, by damming a valley and storing water ready to top up the summit pound.

However if the locks are not being used much (like in winter) then the summit pound does not need to be topped up, and hence has far less chance of flooding.

So I think the main reason canals don't floods is that they are "flat", and don't flow like a river.

As others have said, there are also various outlets built in to canals to send water off the canal to nearby rivers and lakes.

 

[BernardR]

Hi Guilbert. You are confirming what Speedy said above. A point I agree with having known the Lakes since I was knee high to a Daisy.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[ColinB]

The Lakes are about four foot lower than the canal, supplied with water from the River Blyth, feed water from Earlswood Lakes is pumped into the canal feeder arm, known as Lady Lane Wharf, on the other side of the road, in the case of the canal overflowing it is returned to the Lakes along the leat in front of the Engine House, the level of water in the Lakes is controlled by an overflow which allows excess water to flow into the river again about forty foot lower.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earlswood_Lakes

Colin

 

[BernardR]

Even at my age I am still learning.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[ellbrown]

Weir and sluice on the River Avon in Stratford-upon-Avon - site of Lucy's Mill.



[url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/ell-r-brown/4983409511/]





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[Astonian]

hi guys
do we have any members on the forum whom of today ever walk the canals and can any body say anything about the bridges they walk over
for instance does any of the bridges show signs of wear and tearing of the old leather strap marks that ground into the brick work of the days of yester years
when the old barges used to be pulled along by the big huge shire horses as i recall them as almost every bridge along the canals all had the bearing marks of the thick leather straps ground into across the edging of the bridges as a kid i used to spend all my time along the canals and venture one end to the other of the grand union canal to the other and used to go to the stables i have alot of experiences of the canals and the early years of the gas street basin when the boat people and familys lived in those little houses at gas street and when the gas street bidge was so low you had to bend your head to walk through it even as a kid and it used to be pitch black in those days you could not see your hand in front of you we used to dragg the canal our selves up by monument rd and sherbourne street and up by ledsam street with a home made hook of steel and a thick rope which reached one side of the cut to he other side and drag it back and we used to have a ton of metal and also stolen bikes
even a raleigh motor cycle it was covered in muck and then we took it around top the old lady wood police station thinking we might get a reward but never did
but we gathered up the scrap metal and took it around to clarkes scrap yard in ledsam street ladywood to get our school trip money as we was only poor kids
but they was fun years lifting the barges from it mooring and floating down the cut on it these would be the old coal barges and as silly kids we would open the locks
there was a gang of us we was just like the film of the london kids of yester years called the dead end kids i got in touch not so long ago through a member of this forum
whom is a cousin whom used to be one of the gang whom i have never met in forty or fifty years ago and when we met up at is house we remiss about our days down on the canals [ the cut ] i am hoping to go and see ronnie again but spend more time with him on one day as ronnie lives alone and never married he as a couple of sisters
left now whom live across the country and never sees them his parents and brothers are all dead
any way geting back on subject if any body does walk the canals of today have a look on the bricks as you are walking ove to see if there are any imprints of yester years
onthe enbedded strap marks done by the old horse pulling straps but there again as the british water ways have spent alot of money doing up the canals and worked on alot of bridges you may not see them its a very interesting place to walk the canals i have yet to meet up with morton a i think it was last year we was going to do the worcester canal walk still we will see ; best wishes astonian;;;

 

[paul stacey]

Great story Alan, thanks for posting , good read.paul