Heartland

I was working for BR at Curzon Street then when parcels trains came in the depot often at night when it was a tad cooler One local MP became the Minister for Drought and typically for Birmingham inventiveness, it then rained and rained!

Yes that is the easy part But the image dates from the first day this (as one of 32 Lions) was put into place Perhaps somebody could enlarge on the detail But this Lion will only be here till 14 September

Ma Pardoes is the only place were a group of us carried a chap into a pub, usually it was the other way around. It was railway booking clerk Fred Gaskell! And now for something completely different Where and when might this be? There is no witch or wardrobe, but there is a boat called Tardis. Now the Doctor had a Tardis that was a police box but other time lord Tardis's could change shape and it would seem that this one has become a narrow boat. May be the Master has come back to Earth to wreak havoc again and has enlisted the usual nasty aliens to help him, this time the "Polit Itions"

What about the Ariel Aqueduct on the Worcester & Birmingham Canal which is named after the Ariel Motor Cycle Factory, but had complicated early history connected with the cycle component trade and even the making of motor cars

So now not by the ICC and no doubt at Woolva Ampton The Capponfield Furnaces were on the old main line that went to Bradley and there were separate ironworks nearby and the Oxford, Worcester & Wolverhampton Railway crossed by a bridge which was metal but might have been timber originally, and is now gone The BCN also had a reservoir here which was north of the ironworks complex, but only briefly supplied the canal. it had a pair of pumping engines that helped to drain the mines.

It is interesting to see the response so far But to answer this It was true and Jos Hateley was prosecuted at Worcestershire Sessions in December 1847 His employer was W H Dawes and a watchman observed him drop of 30 pounds weight of coal He was found guilty but clemency was requested and he was only fined a shilling

Some very detailed explanations and so quickly The caption was given as "State Barge" but these explanations seen more valid

A boatman was charged with stealing coal in 1847 when he followed the custom of leaving a quantity for the boatman's hovel at Dudley Canal Tunnel If true Was he found guilty? Who complained? And what happened to him?

And now it is an 1860 engraving at Oxford, but what are these craft?

The Alan Faulkner extensive collection

The Wikipedia entry for Earlswood Lakes, the reservoirs for the Stratford upon Avon Canal states that Prisoner of War from the Napoleonic Wars with the French were used to construct Earlswood Reservoirs as this first happened between 1821 and 1823 it is less likely to have been the case and the reference is given as from the Earlswood Craft Centre. By 1821 it would be reasonable to assume that the prisoners had been repatriated. Authority to make the reservoirs was made first by the 1815 act, but the act of 1821 also dealt with water supply and it seems that was the act that led to the principal work commencing and the reason for that was the anticipation of additional traffic travelling to Stratford and onto the Stratford & Moreton Railway/Tramway. There also another bill in 1836 which mentioned improvement of the reservoir. The engine house was completed in 1823 and the bulk of water from the reservoirs were pumped using the beam engine there.

Apparently Phil Wild has been scanning some of the collection.

The Canal History Workshop is now scheduled to take place at the BCN Titford Pumphouse on Saturday 8th November details from Martin O Keeffe or Ray Shill 10 30 1630 The £10 fee is retained and those who paid in 2020 will have their tickets honoured Details will be supplied to those interested

The aerofilm image is useful as it shows the branch and line along the quays Yesterday was out planning the RCHS West Midlands Group walk on 13th September from Foregate Street to Diglis along the canal and River which comes back to the Butts I posted a marker one the Britain from Above website recently to show the Butts Branch.

Yes D J Norton died young and he was principally a railway photographer. Peter Norton was from Warrington and it is said his negatives are with the Warrington Library

This image from 1860 shows the extent of the North Quay then and is seen from the original railway crossing.

I believe that bridge was part of the Butts Branch which was a line that connected with the Worcester & Hereford line and descended down to the Severn where there was a reverse point and the track followed the Severn to the South Quay. Well done Francis this is Worcester and the image was taken from a train on the Bridge. D J Norton took images from unusual vantage points on occasion which included the climbing of signal posts or talking his way into signal boxes.

Putting aside China, the rest of Europe and the canals on Mars The Birmingham Canal as completed from Goldshill to Birmingham climbed up through 6 locks up and 6 locks down in November 1769 For the Trent and Mersey the progress to the tunnel mouth at Harecastle was still in progress and then they would have to descend from Kidsgrove to fit the condition of crossing the watershed.

Another view of the Chimney Bridge And other image to ponder on this time an image from the camera of the late railway photographer D J Norton

There are times when listing amendments are as futile as expecting HS 2 to be open next week, so if the wording is inaccurate the only solution is to publish comments on sites such as this and with waterways send copies to the owning authority.

The original Bridge was built to an amended design J Walker engineer Built with CI girders & floor plates (probably like no 13). Signed "Ja. Walker", "A.Burges", John Tredwell", "Francis Tredwell", "Hy Tredwell", "Thomas Jackson", "Wm Bean and "Thos Gerrard", note "Westminster Nov 21st 1840". Endorsed "Chimney Bridge Tame Valley Canal". The bridge in 1957 according to the Waterways Archive was seen to be, Scott Bridge is behind

The distance tables are some times a source as to naming and sometimes canal company minutes may mention them. There are also the map sources which include the parliamentary plans when an alteration is made and the canal engineers would often produce plans for alterations. It is quite a long list when it is looked into

As to Francis Herne James Walker CE was responsible for this canal

Yes 5239 is correct it is on the Shrewsbury Canal where the aqueduct shown crossed the Roden the nearby Tern flood demolished the aqueduct there which was rebuilt. Peter Brown has mentioned the Roden aqueduct was original, but Pluto might be correct as to a rebuild or strengthening procedure.

The Bond End Canal linked with the Trent and at first did not connect with the Trent & Mersey Canal but exchanged goods at a warehouse and was was owned by the Burton Boat Company who operated craft (Trent Boats) on the Upper Trent Navigation, They also had narrow boats that worked to Stoke, Spon Lane and Aston Birmingham. The Swarkestone line to the Trent was part of the Derby Canal. They are two entirely different locations