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Grand Union and Olton Mere

F

Frank come

master brummie
Olton Mere was created in 1799 as a reservoir to feed the Grand Union Canal. It is situated on the border of Solihull and Birmingham.
The Mere has suffered from the drought. I took this photo on Saturday. It took me 40 minutes to walk round it and only saw one heron and very few other birds.

Olton Mere.JPG
 
Frank come said:
Olton Mere was created in 1799 as a reservoir to feed the Grand Union Canal. It is situated on the border of Solihull and Birmingham.
The Mere has suffered from the drought. I took this photo on Saturday. It took me 40 minutes to walk round it and only saw one heron and very few other birds.

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Well, that’s coincident. I was driving past yesterday and noticed Olton Reservoir on my navigator map and wonder why it was there. I intended to look it up today. Thank you.
 
It seems that the term reservoir was used from 1799. The first use that I can find referring to mere is 1903, more frequent use in the 1940s. Mere would probably be a better description for Solihull.
 
Thanks Pedro. You could be right. In 1900 five residents of nearby St Bernards Rd got together and leased the Mere from the canal company for sailing, fishing, and shooting. However, the shooting was stopped in 1926 due to lack of wildfowl. (Must have been good shots.)
 
Lived in the area for many years but never been near the mere, which judging from the pictures
seems a pity...
 
Interestingly, the 1886 map shows the reservoir labelled Olton Reservoir, but a small community of houses to the west are labeled Mereside. The only remnant of that community is a new road called Mereside Way

ScreenHunter 5973.jpg
 
Thanks Mike. Great map. Interesting to note Dovehouse Farm in the bottom right of the map which is now Dovehouse Parade.
 
Frank come said:
Thanks Mike. Great map. Interesting to note Dovehouse Farm in the bottom right of the map which is now Dovehouse Parade.
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Dovehouse Farm is a stunning Grade 2 listed building and well maintained, it's about 300m down from the A41 Warwick Road where the Dovehouse Parade shops are located.
 
Lower map showing Mereside, one of the first houses to be built in St. Bernards Road, facing south it had vast grounds down to what became West Wawickshire (sports) Club ground. Top map around mid 1940's, marked up are 3 grand houses that all backed onto Olton Mere, that were demolished in the 1960's and repaced by several flats of it's era. These were part of my Local History Exhibition held annually in October at Olton Library, showing boards 4 of 8.
 

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This picture may have been taken at the same time as the one above…

Richmond Road Canal Bridge, Olton, Warwickshire. (Photographer in 1937)
“View from canal towpath showing workmen at work below bridge and local people looking over bridge.”
(Birmingham Archives and Collections)

IMG_4956.jpeg
 
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