Where I am

[Goliath]

10 minutes ago, David Mack said:

The eastern end of the Oldbury Loop. Virtually no trace now remaining.

 

👍

just a bit of a curve into the towpath

 

the other end of the loop I couldn’t spot at all, no evidence at all to my untrained eye. 
 

 

Edited January 9 by Goliath

[David Mack]

15 minutes ago, Goliath said:

the other end of the loop I couldn’t spot at all, no evidence at all to my untrained eye.

Nothing visible from the towpath, but over the hedge there is still a very short length in water.

 

A lot of the towpath bridges over redundant arms and loops were removed in the late 60s/early 70s when as part of conversion from town gas to natural gas, trunk mains were laid along the towpath.

[Goliath]

I see,

I read that bit had been left to feed a factory with water for cooling. 

 

I shall look again tomorrow, I plan to pass back that way again. 
 

Another I looked for was the Toll end Branch.  I was thinking that came out at the 3 furnace bridge but it doesn’t does it, it came out at Caggy’s Yard. 
 

Edited January 9 by Goliath
Branch not loop

[Rob-M]

Junctions can often be spotted by the curve in the towpath you spotted or a change in the edging of the towpath and sometimes what appears to be an unexplained widening of the canal which would have been to have sufficient length to enter\exit an arm.

[Goliath]

3 minutes ago, Rob-M said:

Junctions can often be spotted by the curve in the towpath you spotted or a change in the edging of the towpath and sometimes what appears to be an unexplained widening of the canal which would have been to have sufficient length to enter\exit an arm.

Yes I was keeping a keen eye on the edging

but it’s been through so many changes it’s not easy. 
 

But that’s why it’s all so interesting. 
 

[Captain Pegg]

I didn't know one end of the Oldbury loop was there. Something to look out for next time I venture that way.

[Goliath]

Further along from Steward Aquaduct towards Smethick are these remains of a bridge. It’s too narrow for a train?

Ain’t it? What it for?

 

 

Edited January 9 by Goliath

[David Mack]

2 hours ago, Goliath said:

Further along from Steward Aquaduct towards Smethick are these remains of a bridge. It’s too narrow for a train?

Ain’t it? What it for?

 

 

I suspect that is the Oldbury Branch railway. Single track route which left the existing line at Langley Green Station, ran to Oldbury Town Centre and terminated at a goods station/ interchange basin on the west side of the Oldbury Loop.

 

Edited January 10 by David Mack

[Goliath]

On 09/01/2023 at 18:25, David Mack said:

Nothing visible from the towpath, but over the hedge there is still a very short length in water.

 

A lot of the towpath bridges over redundant arms and loops were removed in the late 60s/early 70s when as part of conversion from town gas to natural gas, trunk mains were laid along the towpath.

right 👍 found it, I was looking in the wrong place

 

 

there’s a concrete edging and culvert that gives it away. 
I’d read that it was to feed a factory for cooling, you can see the pipes and the back of the pump house. 
For the big Edwin Danks factory 

https://madeinoldbury.co.uk/articles/edwin-danks/

[David Mack]

8 minutes ago, Goliath said:

 

https://madeinoldbury.co.uk/articles/edwin-danks/

Nice aerial photo of the west end of the Oldbury Loop and the goods station/interchange basin in that link.

[Goliath]

I reckon you could pick a square mile pretty much anywhere on the BCN and there’d be endless work fathoming it all out over its 250 years of history 

Edited January 10 by Goliath

[Heartland]

The Bridge near Spon Lane carried a tramway from Kenricks Old Works across the canal to the new works which had been built on and near the spoil banks which by 1790 had covered over lock 8 and lock 7 of the original Summit Locks. 

 

Lock 9 chamber was at Spon Lane Bridge with the bridge "hole" bricked up.

 

 

[Ray T]

The elbow of water top LHS has since gone along with most of the rest of the arm.

[John Brightley]

5 minutes ago, Ray T said:

The elbow of water top LHS has since gone along with most of the rest of the arm.

That's the Griff Arm (or Griff Hollows Canal) at Bermuda Village, Nuneaton, picture probably taken in the late 1970's. The water seen in the photo to the left of the dual carriageway is still there, but enlarged into a bigger lake.

[Ray T]

Yep.

Edited January 11 by Ray T

[Ray T]

Another photo of the Arm end.

 

[John Brightley]

Ok here's one from me.

Clue: it's a basin which served a colliery which closed in the 1920's, but the basin wasn't filled in until about 1970. It is now an area of public open space and the houses behind are still there. Image from RCHS Online Media Archive.

[Ray T]

Looks a bit like Anglesey Wharf but I don't think it is, wrong shape at the end. 

[John Brightley]

1 minute ago, Ray T said:

Looks a bit like Anglesey Wharf but I don't think it is, wrong shape at the end. 

No, not Anglesey.

[Captain Pegg]

1 hour ago, John Brightley said:

No, not Anglesey.

Cannock?

[John Brightley]

4 minutes ago, Captain Pegg said:

Cannock?

No, not Cannock area. Another clue. It's in the West Midlands County (just) but not on the BCN.

Edited January 11 by John Brightley

[Captain Pegg]

12 minutes ago, John Brightley said:

No, not Cannock area. Another clue. It's in the West Midlands County (just) but not on the BCN.

Wyken

[John Brightley]

16 minutes ago, Captain Pegg said:

Wyken

Correct. Well done. It's actually Alexandra Colliery basin, off Deedmore Road, Coventry, which was accessed from the old Wyken loop of the Oxford Canal. The basin was used for the loading of coal from both Alexandra and Craven collieries, the latter closing in 1928. The basin and the loop were both filled in in c1970, but all the route can still be followed as it is public open space. The housing in the photo is in Orion Crescent.

https://maps.nls.uk/view/115634344#zoom=2&lat=5820&lon=8400&layers=BT

map.pdf

Edited January 11 by John Brightley

[Captain Pegg]

14 minutes ago, John Brightley said:

Correct. Well done. It's actually Alexandra Colliery basin, off Deedmore Road, Coventry, which was accessed from the old Wyken loop of the Oxford Canal. The basin was used for the loading of coal from both Alexandra and Craven collieries, the latter closing in 1928. The basin and the loop were both filled in in c1970, but all the route can still be followed as it is public open space. The housing in the photo is in Orion Crescent.

https://maps.nls.uk/view/115634344#zoom=2&lat=5820&lon=8400&layers=BT

map.pdf 195.92 kB · 2 downloads

 

Less than 2 miles from my childhood home but not somewhere I was aware of. I knew the Oxford used to run south of the M6 but didn't know there was a further colliery basin other than Wyken itself.

[Heartland]

RCHS image 210075 is simply marked on the RCHS website as Oxford Canal. The information is minimal as it comes from the Derek Hadley Collection, a friend of the late Edwin Shearing. However the society is keen to know the location so can John please give the reason why it is Alexander Colliery. apart from the map of course.

 

The Alexander Colliery was served by LNWR Wyken Colliery Branch Railway