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Canals of Birmingham

  • Thread starter Thread starter O.C.
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Re Cov Road
Hello Heartland, it is definitely not a reference to cyclist’s who use the towpath in fact if you look at some of the reported anti social behaviour on tow paths around the canals in inner city BIrmingham you will see cyclists, runners, and , walkers have become targeted by individuals / groups who congregate at towpath junctions (by access from road to the towpath bridges mainly) for strange reasons!!!!
I am currently working on an infrastructure project in Birmingham where parts of the existing canal network is being utilised for some enabling works for the project. The amount of objects we remove e.g. sharps, canisters, cans,etc from the sites is appalling.
That is why I used the term ‘no go areas’ in my earlier post, and the term was used with sadness as it is not the Birmingham I enjoyed as a child.

A useful clarification. I trust the new infrastructure project will be of benefit to all. The targeting of towpath users is of concern naturally, and it is also an issue as to how it can be policed. Yet it should be a discussion that includes the boaters who use the waterway. Propellors can become fouled by the detritus that is thrown into the canal. They can be harassed by the antisocial behavior mentioned and are most vulnerable when working locks.
 
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A really interesting video Pedrocut but didn't finish it as too much buffering over the last part, but thank you for putting it on
 


At 9:13 on the first part (post 1657) we see the Engine Arm Aqueduct and a challenge question. The clue was, “what did Thomas Telford think of bricks, on the Engine Arm Aqueduct ?”

As far as I can see the answer was not found, so what is the answer ?
 
My wife and I are watching Great Canal Journeys with Timothy West and Prunella Scales, so we are now long distance experts! BTW we also watched Cruising the Cut :)
 
DavidGrain said:
University Station has just been rebuilt so I have not seen it yet which has a new bridge across the canal into the University. I was there briefly a few weeks ago but I had a tight change of trains so went across the old footbridge not really seeing anything.
Click to expand...

“The 10.23 Manchester Piccadilly-Plymouth with No 50.032 Courageous at its head is reflected in the still waters of the Birmingham Canal near University station on 24 March 1982. Geoff Dowling.”

West Midlands rails in the 1980s by Glover, John, Publication date 1984.



IMG_0897.jpeg
 
Not sure but I think that might have been the train I caught for work (not that extract one !) from Bournville to Brum. Seem to remember the canal. Would have been a few years before this photo. Viv.
 
IMG_0863.jpeg

“A gaggle or flock of 'Joey' boats lie underneath the shadow of Alfred Hickman's Spring Vale Blast Furnaces in the early 1920s. To the right the underlying cause of many day boats having crumpled sides is all too apparent. The rather surprising thing is that these craft had a life of 30-50 years, although like the Irishmap's knife, very little was left of the original towards the end! Traffics carried included coal and iron ore in, and large quantities of pig iron produced in the furnaces (and seen in stacks on the left went out, both locally and much further afield. The furnaces in the background (numbered left to right, 4, 3. 2. 1 and 5, 6) were reduced to three by Stewards & Lloyds shortly after their takeover in 1920. Again modernized in 1954, the whole new complex - virtually nothing remains of the items shown here - may be seen alongside the Birmingham Canal Navigations Main Line.”

W.K.V. Gale
 
The view of Hickman's furnaces ( which were soon, if not already Stewart's & Lloyds) shows the blast furnaces, a canal basin (there were others into this vast site), and railway tracks. These furnaces had replaced other previous furnaces on the site which can be traced back to the first furnace being built in the late eighteenth century. These furnaces were replaced by Elisabeth which was there when British Steel had the works.

The late Keith Gale summed up the nature of the day boat, if made of wood, as they needed regular maintenance and gave employment to the local boatyard for regular repair and maintenance. With iron-sided craft, the life of the boat could be longer.

The colour image of the push tug looks like it was taken during the environmental dredging program of the early 1990s
 
Pedrocut said:
“the sign on the bridge was spelt as Tunstall.”

The plaque says Tunstall, but the sign on the southern side has for many years read Dunstall Water Bridge. There are numerous references to Dunstall, so it would be better for the Canal and River Trust to decide which is better.
Click to expand...

Picture I took of the S side of the bridge in 2010, if you zoom in it reads Dunstall Water Bridge.

Compton 019.jpeg

A better picture from The forgotten heritage of the Midlands canals by Shill, Ray, Publication date 2011.

“Dunstall Water Bridge was built to convey the Smestow Brook over the canal. James Brindley took particular interest to ensure that this
'aqueduct' was completed to his specific instructions. (Author)”


IMG_2346.jpeg
 
Yes, the Dunstall Water Bridge formed part of a group of pictures that were part of the research for Silent Highways (History Press) to show the stream crossing over the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal, nearTettenhall, as well as being reproduced in an Amberley Book. The naming Tunstall and Dunstall have been discussed before in other website correspondence.
 
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