Heartland

Obviously the proof is in the answer. both have gunned down to the correct answer ...

Does a ford have a base of stone etc for the road traffic to cross? Fords were river crossings, which included navigations, and still exist in some places. Were there any cases of fords across canals. In the early times of canal development there was the belief that a ford might be a cheaper option. How deep the ford might be is a matter for discussion though. Some fords can be traced to roman times and others to medieval times. Oxford is said to have been Oxen Ford.

Another for the little grey cells

Unlike the Kelpies which is definitive art, this sculpture of Bella must be discussed as to value, art etc If the model is a fish could a sturgeon a likely candidate ? For those who know about the West Midlands Bella was given to a skull found in a Witch Elm in Hagley Wood whose murder has yet to be resolved although there was a facial reconstruction made in 2018.

With the redevelopment of the Tower Ballroom site, there has been recent talk of closing off the path to the dam making it private property. Is this an issue that CRT should have addressed, because it was a popular walk.

Read my Trent & Mersey Book Yes the intention was to go to the Potteries and to Lichfield. There are other copies of Brindley's report And this was a formative time for canals where fords were considered as a cost effective measure of construction

Fireless Locomotives were once a common sight at some industrial locations, made by firms such as Andrew Barclay and others.

The location seems to be the same, but there was a plan for single locks before the work was done.

Well that was good Glen

I am not sure where the reference of Shelton Bar Steelworks is directed. However for the present here is a map query which shows locks that were once a staircase, but not then as this is a part of a tithe map.

Work has gone on to restore the dam since the "emergency" of 2019. And it still goes on in what must be a very complex reconstruction project, When will it be finished?

There is a 1934 image from Britain From Above that shows the Pensnett Canal at Parkhead the cottage that was alongside it.

A 1935 view of Britain from Above shows the area around the two ironworks with Whimsey Bridge centre right.

Yes this image and where it is of interest and still needs clarification. Laurence Hogg suggested it was on the Cape Arm, but the Anchor Ironworks and London Works at Oldbury were suggested. Looking at the 1938 ordnance survey the Anchor works was on the Oldbury Loop near the junction and close to Whimsey Bridge, whilst the London Works was north of the Oldbury Railway Bridge.

This post received no further replies but the image of interest as it shows a now disused part of the BCN

The engineer name of Robert Henry White, engineer to the L & L, is also of interest he died at Litherland when only 48

The Tithe Map of Tipton shows the area painted at Tipton Green. On the right was the New Cut that went to the limekilns and there seems to be a stop there indicating that the New Cut had an independent water supply.

It is a J.M W Turner image with a view at Tipton Green at the BCN/ Dudley Canal Junction looking to the Pickfords warehouse and the Bissell Wharf on the right. Dudley Castle on the hill. Edward Paget Tomlinson did make his own interpretation of the Tipton Green Carriers Depot but the warehouse height was somewhat greater than what it was. Midland Canals lacked the large warehouses of the North, because the type of traffic was different.

At Spon Lane there were a number of different works and colliery basins, quite a busy area once and the glassworks dominated this area. The Stour Valley Railway was built by the contractor Joseph Pickering and involved making a tall brick wall to separate the track from the New Main Line of the BCN. Here is a view from a bridge that crossed the New Main Line at the Glassworks

Oh gawd LUPO that graffiti has appeared with dates 2022 and 2023. It is not street art just a form of tagging, damaging heritage structures and the work of a coward who hides from scrutiny and hopes to evade prosecution. Now returning to Glenns post Which shows a channel passing over a feeder has raised a question of when it was made. This a section of the map from the 1922 Ordnance Survey which mentions an aqueduct but one evidently part of the feeder access to the canal near Grub Street Cutting. And yes there was a toll house there in that Glenn post No doubt Glenn was en route from Whimsey Bridge may be ? What was the name of the railway interchange basin nearby and there are pictures of that basin in the Interchange Basin reprint!

The troglodytes get everywhere with their tribal scrawl

The view is from Whimsey Bridge with the Valentia Arm on right and loop canal (original route) on left, You can see the Phosphorus Towers in the distance . Well done Francis As to the Anchor location there is an element of Thomas Telford, the overflow channel extended for a distance to near the Water Bridge.

I wonder if Beer to the power of foive will provide a map for those who do not know the answer to his question, I wonder if the canal will prove to be of titanic proportions to the aqueduct, As to yet another challenge here was a canal shortening suggested by John Rennie Senior, but not completed after his death. Here you might need an Allen Key .

As to my question some interesting suggestions for a canal that was filled into make a car park and where a TV Studio existed for a while. Most pictures of that location feature the Birmingham Canal Navigation offices and coal boats, but this was a later image with Bridge Street on the right. It is of the Paradise Street Basin. I believe the Curzon Hall, as it was, and later a cinema is seen beyond the basin. The Metro stop is called the Library and the Hyatt Hotel is nearby

The parliamentary application of 1758 for the Calder Navigation mentions the poor quality of the lock gates on the Aire & Calder then. How did this compare with contemporary navigations?