Tag: canal

September 25th – The fungi season is upon us. This fine example of Fly Agaric – the classic white spotted red toadstool – grows near silver birch trees and these were no exception, on the canal bank just by Wharf Lane, Brownhills. Widely considered to be poisonous, they are eaten in some cultures and are considered psychoactive.

After you, Dylan…

September 23rd – The old boatyard and basin at Ogley Junction have a chequered history, really. Once the home of a commercial boatyard, the truncated stub of the closed Lichfield and Hatherton canal is now being rented out for private narrowboat mooring, and is also in use as a work yard for British Waterways maintenance crews. Hopefully one day, the canal will once again extend from here to Huddlesford, near Whittington, but for now it stops at The Long Pound. Quite what’s going on with the half-car on the trailer is anyone’s guess…

September 16th – Pottering along the canal near Stubbers Green, I stopped to study the remains of the railway bridge that used to carry the spur line into Leighswood Colliery, later the site of Duckham’s Lubricants. It’s an interesting remnant, and several bridges crossed this canal in the space of a mile or so, all carrying railways into coal yards for loading. If one looks carefully, large sandstone capstones can be found in canal side undergrowth. I was intrigued to note that this bridge had a similar wooden plank insert under the deck as the Black Cock Bridge. They look of similar construction and age. The wood must have been as a cushion, I guess.

September 11th – I noticed a week or so ago that a gate had been erected at the Wharf Lane access to the canal bank in Newtown, Brownhills. I speculated then on how long it would be before it was damaged – not long, so it would seem. Passing it today, I noticed that the latch peg had been bent out to defeat the lock, and someone had refasten it with a cable tie. One may speculate that the lock was broken by anglers who often used to park there, but I couldn’t possibly comment…

September 3rd – out briefly in the late afternoon, I shot out to Chasewater, but the security fencing from Anglesey Basin had been secured again and there was no way through. Doubling back, I headed off the canal at Wharf Lane and noticed that a new gate had been erected to stop cars getting down by the canal. This is probably a good thing – there’s been a lot of flytipping and some antisocial behaviour there – but I do wonder how long a wooden gate will last before some rogue sets light to it. I wonder who erected it?

September 3rd – The old flour mill on the canal at Catshill, Brownhills, was converted into flats a long time ago. I keep meaning to research the history, but never quite get round to it; I know it milled flour for years, and then was a factory for a while. I think it made some kind of pressings which were sprayed, as I remember the extraction vents having different coloured paint around them when I was a kid – sometimes red, sometimes navy blue. The house nearby, just visible beyond the fence – looks really quite old.

August 28th -This is one of my favourite canal runs anywhere – from the junction by the ICC (Old Turn junc.) to Aston junction. Fast, technically tricky (cobbled sections very challenging, to say the least), often busy with people and other cyclists. When relatively unobstructed, as on this quiet, sunny Sunday Evening, it’s a joy to the heart. Only brief edits of the boring bits – whole journey only takes a little over 7 minutes if you crack on.

August 4th – Heading back home, having avoided the promised rain all day, I stopped at Moat Bank, on the A461 near Muckley Corner, to look at the old canal bridge. This was one of the three bridges over the now disused Lichfield and Hatherton Canal between Shire Oak and Lichfield. One was at the Boat Inn, near Summerhill, and gave that pub it’s name. This was the second, and the third was a double bridge with the railway at Pipe Hill. This particular canal arm – now subject to a lengthy and sustained campaign for reopening – linked Ogley Junction, at Brownhills, with the mainline at Huddlesford, Near Whittington. It was a tortuous journey with many locks, the remnants of one can be seen here in the undergrowth.

I wish the enthusiasts working to restore the line well. It’s a huge task.

August 1st – The canal looks odd at the moment. This phenomena occurs two or three times a year, and people often comment mistakenly believing this film to be pollution of some sort. In this case, it’s fibrous matter shed from nearby plants, but can be anything from airborne pollen to seeds. In areas of high boat traffic, it often gives the water a swirly, stripy appearance.