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A Thames Tributary Query


Heartland

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William J J C Bond  (1833- 1926) painted a barge on the Wandle, Surrey, which shows a lock in a rural setting. Yet this area became a busy industrial area with mills along its route.  Whilst there was  a short canal adjacent at the junction with the Thames at Wandsworth. The query is was the Wandle navigable, is this a case of Mr Bond recreating a scene of the past, or is it artistic licence?

 

 

912201.jpg

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It was recently possible to do the lower parts provided there was enough water to get over the half tide barrier which often failed to work!

 

SPCC NOTES ON VISITING
THAMES CREEKS

BELL LANE CREEK 
and RIVER WANDLE
The creek is best tackled on a rising tide. The journey from Limehouse takes around one hour. High water at Bell 
Lane Creek is 30 minutes after High Water London Bridge. The creek is accessible for around 2 hours either side 
of high water. The optimum time to leave Limehouse is 2½ hours before High Water at London Bridge. This 
ensures adequate time to visit the creek and continue upstream to Brentford. Remember to keep to the right
hand third of the river on your passage upstream to Wandsworth Bridge.
The Creek, which is at the mouth of the River Wandle, was once used by lighters and sailing barges to service
Wandsworth Town Wharf . This was particularly so after the adjacent MacMurray’s canal lock was closed in
1923, subsequently the Creek was used by pleasure craft. The entrance is in the southern bank of the river,
one quarter of a mile upstream of Wandsworth Bridge and is located just beyond the western boundary of the
West London Waste Transfer Site and Wharfs which are easily recognised by the lighters with the waste
containers and the large mobile gantry cranes!
Some ten years ago an impounding weir was constructed at the Creek Mouth. This acts as a ‘half tide’ sluice. The 
gate, situated between the Red and Green Marker Posts, which define the navigable channel ten metres wide, 
can be raised automatically when the tide falls to weir level to impound the remaining water in the Creek The 
Gate remains in the lowered position during high water to facilitate the transit of craft. The aim is to use this 
window to enter and leave the Creek.
Navigators may wish to note that the Crest of the Weir is at 1.90 metres above OD, but the Cill level with the Gate 
Lowered is at 0.00 AOD, giving a minimum depth of water over the lowered gate sill of 1.90 metres in relation to
the crest of the weir. The actual depth of water above the sill at any time is indicated on the gauge board 
attached to the river wall.
By leaving Limehouse 2½ hours before HW LB, by the time you reach the Creek, there should be adequate
depth over the gate to make the transit into the Creek. However, it is always wise to proceed slowly over the gate
itself!
The Creek is less than ¼ mile in length and follows the Right Hand Fork just upstream of the entrance. Proceed 
slowly under the railway bridge and turn to the left to reach the creek end at Bell Weir. Depending on the length of 
craft, turning in the creek is possible, but sometimes it is necessary to reverse back to the bend to facilitate the turn.
Proceed up the Creek, take your photos, and then return the way you came in, again taking care to slowly cross 
the gate area. The visit should take about 25 minutes overall.

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I doubt the was a NAV to Croydon on the Wandle. There is large drop between Wandworth and Croydon (123 foot) in circa 9 miles and over 60 odd mills at peak - must have needed numerous locks - some of which there must have been some extant historical evidence?

 

Interesting stuff.

 

There are still trout in the Wandle.

 

 

 

Capture.JPG

Edited by mark99
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The Croydon Canal branched off the Grand Surrey Canal at Rotherhythe. There was a thread earlier this year here. The white edged segment leaving the basin at Rotherhythe is the Grand Surrey Canal, and the blue flags and single black line mark the beginning of the Croydon Canal

2031893876_CroydonCanalatGdSurreyCanal.jpg.071283c5b7bde78a396a8bc6e7aaa5aa.jpg

 

1541860030_CroydonCanal.jpg.46ef174ce66139588e25b73c754e330b.jpg

Edited by Tam & Di
further
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5 hours ago, Loddon said:

It was recently possible to do the lower parts provided there was enough water to get over the half tide barrier which often failed to work!

 

SPCC NOTES ON VISITING
THAMES CREEKS

BELL LANE CREEK 
and RIVER WANDLE

etc etc

 

The SPCC guide is a little out of date now, as the half tide weir was removed two or three years ago. I think (but not 100% sure) that the marker posts are still there. I've  never felt quite brave enough to explore the Wandle....

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Wandle Lock

 

WAN_1492-650x444.jpg.198fb17ec1e69ac0ecd46a63e5236416.jpg   

 

Barges on the River Wandle c1915

WAN_1490.jpg.3d812abcd9fe9dc50270402a5340a43d.jpg

 

 

River Wandle- C1956 Canal dock gates by Feathers Wharf

 

WHS2147.jpg.8c4a15e71880e18b6c4260c15a2bea82.jpg

 

River Wandle- C1956 Canal dock being filled in

WHS2146.jpg.ace00b8dde657716feffbbe5351a5222.jpg

 

 

This and the rest of the Wandle images can be found here https://boroughphotos.org/wandsworth/category/place/wandle/ 

Edited by buccaneer66
pictures fixed
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30 minutes ago, Scholar Gypsy said:

 

The SPCC guide is a little out of date now, as the half tide weir was removed two or three years ago. I think (but not 100% sure) that the marker posts are still there. I've  never felt quite brave enough to explore the Wandle....

Walked it all (those bits you could access including those areas where access rights is more "wooly" and a private locked off part). I did it mainly in winter sometimes using waders. Winter = when the dodgey brigade are normally less active.

 

 

Edited by mark99
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1 hour ago, Scholar Gypsy said:

 

The SPCC guide is a little out of date now, as the half tide weir was removed two or three years ago. I think (but not 100% sure) that the marker posts are still there. I've  never felt quite brave enough to explore the Wandle....

It was a few years ago that I attempted it, however never got up there as it was winter IIRC and the sun was low and directly in my eyes once I had turned into the entrance so couldn't see where I was going. Bravery didn't come into it.

Edited by Loddon
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21 hours ago, Scholar Gypsy said:

The website where they are stored must be unhappy about copyright in some way, I think ??

More unhappy about bandwidth, usually. They're the ones serving the picture each time somebody loads the page, which costs them bandwidth. Equally as the pictures aren't ever copied from their website my understanding was there are no copyright concerns (I looked at this some time ago).

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On 15/04/2020 at 10:18, Heartland said:

William J J C Bond  (1833- 1926) painted a barge on the Wandle, Surrey, which shows a lock in a rural setting. Yet this area became a busy industrial area with mills along its route.  Whilst there was  a short canal adjacent at the junction with the Thames at Wandsworth. The query is was the Wandle navigable, is this a case of Mr Bond recreating a scene of the past, or is it artistic licence?

 

 

912201.jpg

That lock looks a bit odd - like there is a pier in the middle of it, or it's two smaller locks side by side. If the crew of the boat are to scale the boat isn't very big and the lock is even smaller...

Edited by magpie patrick
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5 minutes ago, Neil TNC said:

TNC Trip up Wandle/BellCreek in 2006. The half tide weir was inoperable then and kept in down position. Local TNC member had done reccy at LW, to check out obstructions.

http://www.tuesdaynightclub.co.uk/Tour_06/Tour06_Deptford_Creek_Wandle.html

Pict4102.jpg

 

I think the bridge -plus-one will be OK, but you are going to struggle with the one immediately in front!

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On 16/04/2020 at 01:21, Scholar Gypsy said:

The half tide weir was part of a DLRO project to open up Bell Lane Creek and the Wandsworth High Street to boats in the late 1970's. The project foundered on access problems created by the then CEGB and the local scrap metal merchant.

The lock pic's are of river end of McMurrys canal (see Londons lost canals) which fed the Surrey Iron Railway (the worlds first public railway) and Youngs Brewery with Hartford Malt.

I have seen documents which suggested that coal was moved on the Wandle between mills in much the same way as on the 

Kemmett Canal, and the Cambridge Canal built between the late 175's and 1763, from Framilode to Stonehouse. This became one of the country’s earliest successful planned canal schemes but as I recall it had no locks goods being transferred at each level change.

 

The concrete bridge (two bays) in the TNC pic was to be replaced with a new lift bridge which would give access to a small park at the High Street

Edited by oboat
TNC note added
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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi, I’ve joined this forum to gather as much info as possible on the Croydon Canal. I run a nature reserve that runs along the path of the canal between Brockley and Honor Oak. Aside from the reed beds, ferns and moss we’ve found no  physical remnants of the canal however today we unearthed the attached. Could it be linked to the canal structure somehow do you think? The reed bed area is protected from development due to its link to the canal so the history is key to this site. 

0BBBEAE6-8E1F-4E12-9509-000547ECD6A6.jpeg

28028ED2-79BE-4D19-909A-AC3BF812C729.jpeg

DE457551-B9B6-404A-934B-27F0D64EE6ED.jpeg

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Its a bit hard to gauge the scale or age. But it could possibly be a groove for stop planks. These were created where the canal narrowed - either a bridge or locks - and then planks were fitted into the slots to isolate a section of canal, eg for maintenance or if it sprang a leak. They obviously appear in pairs. Someone else will be along who knows that part of London better than I do.

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