Tag: aqueduct

May 5th – One of the reasons I haven’t been this way much in the last few months is that the canal aqueduct over the railway between Leamore and Harden has been closed so the structure can be refurbished, and has only just reopened.

I do hope that this loose, non-compacted shale isn’t the final preparation for the towpath surface – it’s uncomfortable to walk on, dangerous to ride on and just a plain shoddy job.

Take care if you’re riding this section – the loose nature of the surface steels wheels.

June 16th – Thanks to whoever tipped me off (I think it might have been Dave Fellows), but my complaint about the lack of handrails on the steps down from the canal to (the still closed)  Bentley Mill Way on the Darlaston/Pleck border were, it seems, premature. 

This week, a new rail has been installed – and jolly nice it looks too.

Have to say though, the steps – implicitly on a cycleway – are still awful to negotiate with a bike, but at least we have something to grab now.

It’s a shame the shallower, easier to negotiate access the other side has been removed…

June 8th – I hopped off the canal at Bentley Mill Way to check out the work on the aqueduct from ground level; as the road is still closed, I was curious; it seems there’s work on the north side that can’t be seen from the canal. 

I’m sure whole canals were dug by hand faster than this project has limped to completion.

One of the first things I noted was the new towpath surface ends at the top of the steps here, so I guess the intention is you get here using the shared-use path, then hop on the canal for Walsall. 

Only a non-cyclist could have thought this was a good idea. The steps, even for a fairly strong bloke like me, were a nightmare with a bike. There’s no handrail. No wheeling channel. The steps are at an awkward pitch, and overgrown. This is lousy, and I strongly advise cyclists not to use it.

Off the bridge, the roadway has been lowered considerably to accommodate taller vehicles, but I’m not sure that’ll help much as the width is very restricted.

As I said before, I hope the pumps hoovering the water from those drains are reliable.

I don’t want to dislike this – but this has cost millions, for no real improvement and it stinks of being someone’s pet project.

Dire.

June 1st – A grey morning crossing the still inexplicably closed Bentley Mill Way viewed from the aqueduct on the Walsall/Darlaston border. The roads has, over many months been lowered beneath the bridge to allow taller vehicles, and new signals added. In such a wet area, I hope the drainage pumps are capable and reliable, otherwise we could be in for fun. 

The road has been complete for about a month now, and remained closed as some brickwork was pointed on the bridge, but now seems closed with no activity ongoing. Considering this whole show was due to open ‘Autumn 2015′, it’s all a bit of a puzzle.

April 11th – I spotted him near the Bentley Mill Way Aqueduct, perched in a tree. I haven’t seen many herons of late, so it was nice to see this neat, healthy looking specimen looking for a meal. This was very near where the swans are currently nesting and I couldn’t help but wonder if he was hoping to bag a cygnet for lunch.

As is usual with these wonderful birds, I scared him and he flew 30 metres or so down the canal, landing well away from me.

I love these wonderful, eccentric-seeming birds.

March 1st – Another grey day, but it felt warmer. At dinner time, I had to venture back into Walsall from Darlaston and took the canal, which was a mistake: the works to relay the towpath have made sections not impassible but hard going.

Passing over the Bentley Mill Way Aqueduct, I looked down at the works below. Running three months late, the road has been closed and totally relaid – but the main bottleneck that is the narrowness of  the bridge I’m standing on – has not been touched. I’m at a loss here to understand how anything other than the footpath and possibly drainage has been improved.

Sometimes it’s hard to see the benefit in road schemes until they operate in practice. I hope that’s the case here.

November 10th – Passing the narrows on the canal between the M6 flyover and the Bentley Mill Way aqueduct on the Walsall-Darlaston border, I note someone is preparing to drain a stretch of canal – presumably for the works near the aforementioned aqueduct.

Theses just-delivered, fresh cut planks – stout, and carefully profiled – will be dropped into the slots in the narrows, sealed with plastic sheeting and a similar dam built on the other side of the worksite. The dammed section is then drained.

It’ll be interesting to see what work is done.

September 6th – A bright but quite cool day with plenty of sun. I had the need for a good blast, and did 40 miles in three hours – out via Stonnall, Canwell, Hints, Fazeley, along the canal to Alvecote and back through Seckington, Clifton, Harlaston and Whittington.

The countryside glowed in it’s pre-autumn splendour, and the riding was fast and easy. A huge swan family at Tamworth were clearly in rude heath – 8 cygnets in all, with two on the other side of the canal. 

Great to see the new wind turbine at Hademore, too. Elegant. Wonder how long it’s been there?

The boat is for the Mad Old Baggage. She knows why.