Tag: Tame

February 12th – Still tacking into the wind into Brownhills, I hopped onto the canal at Clayhanger Bridge. The towpaths, of course, were sodden and hard going. The overflow here was working at full capacity and to a degree I’ve never seen before. This certainly made me think; this water is heading to the Ford Brook, which becomes the River Tame, and meanders through North East Birmingham, then Tamworth to Alrewas, where it meets the River Trent. The water from Chasewater will find its way to the Tame, too, via the Crane and Bourne Brooks. This is serios flow, from just one overflow. 

The Trent must be very full at the moment…

December 26th – The dirty old river Tame that gives it’s name to Tamworth and doubles the Trent by draining Birmingham, was in impressive form yesterday. I’m interested in the flood pattern of this river, which runs in a natural channel from Minworth to Cat Holme, near the National Memorial Arboretum. heading out when the sun was shining, I looped through Lichfield and Whittington as the rains came. At Elford, I surveyed the path of the recent flood, and the houses on The Beck – which are so attractive in summer -looked vulnerable. The old Elford bridge, however, looked as steadfast as ever. Following the river down through Tamhorn, I viewed it again from Hopwas, where it’s natural flood channel can be seen. That shallow berm is more than enough to protect the houses of the village, as to the eastern side, the plain is wide. It’s interesting to note anti-erosion work going on there. 

The waters look brown, angry and filthy, and they currently are. Undoubtedly contaminated with all manner of pollutants, including possibly sewage, it will take a few dry weeks to settle before returning to it’s  clear, glass-like self. 

There’s no avoiding the spirit of the water.

July 8th – When the summer floods come, I head for the floodplains of the Tame, Trent and Mease. Around the National Memorial Arboretum and Croxall, the Tame always bursts its banks and spills onto the A513. Between Edingale and Harlaston, the Mease floods. Back at Elford, the Tame reclaims the nearby farmland. 

I love to ride through these floodwaters. Very challenging, it’s a fun, demanding thing to do. On this Sunday evening, in sandals and shorts, the water came above my wheel hubs, but wasn’t as bad as 2007, when almost the entire bike was submerged. An impressive, destructive thing.

June 10th – Returning for a while up the challenging hill from the Tame crossing at Hopwas up the A51 to Packington, I stopped to admire the former Tamworth Waterworks pumping station. Sitting in red-brick splendour in the lee of Hopwas Hays Wood, the former pump house has been converted into attractive dwellings. I love it when old buildings are repurposed in such a sensitive manner.