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The eyesore that is Farmer's Bridge Locks


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The recent post of Lock 10 Farmers Bridge Lock does little to promote this historic set of locks built for the Birmingham & Birmingham & Fazeley Canal. The making of the Post Office Tower actually destroyed an important view looking up to the Science Museum building, which had been the Elkington factory offices.

 

At present any walk down from the recently painted, and open, Flapper pub, is past the hoardings of the new reconstruction of the old Scotland Works. Beyond Saturday Bridge there is the dismal sight of the scaffolding and tarpaulins that encloses the work on Islington Gates. When Islington Gates was made, like the Post Office Tower they built over the canal destroying heritage features such as a pen factory. On the towpath side there is the modern buildings  that replaced Tailby's Garage and the former Science Museum and opening up a space around the Whitmores Arm for residential, business and retail premises. The only heritage structures remaining are the side bridges for the towpath and one former Elkington Building beside the Whitmores Arm. The lamp bracket that was on the side of buildings now demolished is missing. That bracket was a reminder of the days when the locks were busy both day and night and the lighting by gas was provided to assist the canal trafic of that time.

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I've mixed feelings on this - urban canals are made by the environment around them and we can't expect the visual corridor of the canal to be unaffected by the radical changes in urban centres over the last 60-70 years. indeed we are fortunate, given the era, that canals such as the Rochdale at Rodwell Tower and The BCN at Farmers Bridge were not simply closed, a fate the befell the Forth and Clyde, and to me as a chartered town planner what we see now is an historically interesting era when developers used quite daring and expensive techniques as they were forced to keep the canal open - believe me, if they hadn't had to, they wouldn't. I would also observe with regards to Farmers Bridge that the view always has been severed by the bridge over a lock just above the Post Office Tower, and that is historic.

 

The Post Office Town probably wouldn't be built now, and if it was they would have picked a site that didn't straddle the canal, partly on heritage grounds, the fact it was built at all, and that it was built where it was, is a reflection on the history of urban development. 

 

That said, preserving the details of heritage, such as brickwork, gas lamp brackets etc is easier than trying to stop modern development, and also very valuable for interpreting heritage. I'd let the odd post office tower be built in exchange for all the historic paddle gear and other lock equipment that has disappeared over the years. 

 

As an aside, and again reflecting the history of urban development in this area, one lock downstream from the PO tower has the bottom gate hung on the non-towpath side, I understand that when the canal was built there was already a building in the way of where the balance beam would have been - canal and urban environment adapting to each other.

 

As a footnote, I've never found Farmers Bridge around the PO tower to be as oppressive as the Rochdale under Rodwell Tower, or The Rochdale nine generally. 

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1 hour ago, magpie patrick said:

The Post Office Town probably wouldn't be built now, and if it was they would have picked a site that didn't straddle the canal, partly on heritage grounds, the fact it was built at all, and that it was built where it was, is a reflection on the history of urban development. 

 

 

And in 50 or 100 years when the owners decide they want to knock down the Post Office Tower and build something else I bet there will be a massive canal society movement to prevent it, in order to preserve the unique and atmospheric Farmers Bridge 'under a building' flight. 

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11 minutes ago, Athy said:

There's a village three miles from here called Friday Bridge. I never knew there was a Saturday Bridge too. I wonder how they got their names.

Saturday bridge is where they got paid on a Saturday. So I was told. 
Whether that’s true or not I don’t know. 
But it’s ironic that the Dole Office happens to be on the other side of it. 

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Actually there was a Friday Bridge in Birmingham, this was where Friday Street crossed the Newhall Branch (and the original extension of the canal across the aqueduct) which formed the original terminus of the Birmingham Canal in November 1769. Friday Street became lost with the relocation of the old turnpike and when the Farmers Bridge flight was made under the turnpike it became known as Saturday Bridge. The plaque on the modern (Concrete) bridge mentions the practice of paying wages on a Saturday and there was an early BCN maintenance depot beside the pound north of Saturday Bridge.

 

Whether the naming of Saturday was to follow that of Friday has been given as another explanation. I have a recollection of walking across Friday Bridge in the early 1960's. That was of course before the College was made there and the road altered, yet again.

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  • 1 month later...
26 minutes ago, magpie patrick said:

Walking down Farmers Bridge today I realised that it isn't the Post Office Tower that straddles the canal. It's an adjacent office building - which is currently being refurbished 

20220528_091557.jpg

They are replacing the cladding on the buildings.

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On 14/04/2022 at 15:00, Athy said:

There's a village three miles from here called Friday Bridge. I never knew there was a Saturday Bridge too. I wonder how they got their names.

Youve also got Three Holes close by.

Wonder how that got its name 😀

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2 hours ago, nicknorman said:

I’m sure that when the canal and lock flight was built there were lots of people complaining about how the rural ambience had been ruined. Point is, things change with time.

Yeahbut......

 

I could do without all the, ahem, street art on the brickwork.

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41 minutes ago, Victor Vectis said:

Yeahbut......

 

I could do without all the, ahem, street art on the brickwork.

 

I thought that Magpie Patrick meant that was part of the refurbishment !

 

 

3 hours ago, magpie patrick said:

Walking down Farmers Bridge today I realised that it isn't the Post Office Tower that straddles the canal. It's an adjacent office building - which is currently being refurbished 

20220528_091557.jpg

 

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2 hours ago, PaulJ said:

Youve also got Three Holes close by.

Wonder how that got its name 😀

Even closer, yes. I go through it every time I catch the 'bus home.

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On 14/04/2022 at 15:00, Athy said:

There's a village three miles from here called Friday Bridge. I never knew there was a Saturday Bridge too. I wonder how they got their names.

There was a talk given some years ago in March library on local place names,  

 

Friday Bridge is Fridayesbrugg in old english, Frydaybrigge .fridai is the name of a fishery of the monks of Ely in 1086. There was also a Fryday lake in Elm. In Haddenham also was Frydaye weyr, Frydayeware, and near Whittlesey you have Fridaylake.

 

These probably associated with fishing by the monks for Friday fare as the The Catholic law of abstinence forbids the eating of meat (of mammals and birds). However, fish, shell fish, and all other cold blooded animals may be eaten.

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9 hours ago, Victor Vectis said:

Yeahbut......

 

I could do without all the, ahem, street art on the brickwork.

If it’s anything like through Leicester then CRT have probably paid for it…apparently being given money to deface canal infrastructure is now a thing….

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11 hours ago, Victor Vectis said:

Yeahbut......

 

I could do without all the, ahem, street art on the brickwork.

 

Correct. The vast majority of it is just a mess, including that shown in the picture above and that banksy rubbish. I think that councils have just given up the expensive task of cleaning it up and said just get on with it. We will endeavour to change the minds of the haters by calling it art.

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I'd rather have the Farmers' flight rather than the Aston - but that's probably because the former has become 'smart' and the Aston is mebe in the process of having its surroundings being rebuilt.

 

(Anyway turn rignt at the top of the Aston and get a view of the mayhem of HS 1 1/2.... 

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1 hour ago, OldGoat said:

I'd rather have the Farmers' flight rather than the Aston - but that's probably because the former has become 'smart' and the Aston is mebe in the process of having its surroundings being rebuilt.

 

(Anyway turn rignt at the top of the Aston and get a view of the mayhem of HS 1 1/2.... 

 

 

I have no problem with HS1.5, I LURVE to see trains passing as I am boating, the faster the better. The noise is temporary and gone in a few seconds to be replaced again by peace and quiet. 

 

Motorways on the other hand are deeply intrusive. The constant drone/roar of the traffic never stops on the south Oxford where it passes under or near the M40. 

 

 

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2 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

 

I have no problem with HS1.5, I LURVE to see trains passing as I am boating, the faster the better. The noise is temporary and gone in a few seconds to be replaced again by peace and quiet. 

 

Motorways on the other hand are deeply intrusive. The constant drone/roar of the traffic never stops on the south Oxford where it passes under or near the M40. 

 

 

! Duh - I meant the construction of  HS2 around the city. 

Lots of tired old factories being demolished to make way for new transport connections and 'the bits left over' will (I have a feeling) will / are being landscped sympathetically). As a boat visitor from darn sarf I'm impressed by what's happening to the city centre; making it pedestrian and boating friendly and pleasant to cruise!!

 

 

 

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