Fire near Horseley Junction

[Jen-in-Wellies]

Looks like there is a big fire in Wolverhampton, near Horseley Junction on the BCN. Some derelict factories have gone up. They've closed roads near the junction and the railway line too, so the canal will perhaps be affected.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-63868475

 

Edited December 6, 2022 by Jen-in-Wellies

[wandering snail]

It's directly opposite Urban Moorings, thankfully the wind is blowing it away from them. Photo taken from one of the boats there. 

[Jen-in-Wellies]

There is a stoppage now.

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices/23844-minerva-wharf-wolverhampton-old-main-line

[Heartland]

The premises on fire look like the former Battery factory opposite Minerva Wharf and facing other warehouses off Walsall Street (once Pickfords depot)

 

The Junction north of the Bridge is Horseleyfields Junction

 

 

 

Edited December 6, 2022 by Heartland

[matty40s]

It's dark there...

[Heartland]

It is not dark now, but it was when this image was taken. 

 

The towpath is covered with rubble and there is a tug and boat in this view

[wandering snail]

Or in colour. 

[Francis Herne]

I've just gone around Horseley Fields junction. Main Line is closed south, there's a policeman at the junction warning off boats and towpath users. Access between Wolverhampton and the Wyrley & Essington is possible.

 

They're still spraying the fire from a large cherrypicker, big cloud of steam.

Urban Moorings and other things in that area are cut off by road currently.

Edited December 6, 2022 by Francis Herne

[Hudds Lad]

The cynic in me wonders if a developer has had planning rejected recently, not unknown for the odd old mill locally to come down with a mysterious case of arson in such circumstances.  

[buccaneer66]

5 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

The cynic in me wonders if a developer has had planning rejected recently, not unknown for the odd old mill locally to come down with a mysterious case of arson in such circumstances.  

standard practice isn't it?

 

Except for the developers that half demolished a historic London pub & got ordered to rebuild it as it was by the local council.

[Heartland]

There had been an ironworks on the site, but that was altered and the site redeveloped. Part of the buildings included a an early car factory and there was a blue plaque on the wall stating so. Suppose the plaque has melted now/

 

And there seems to be not a lot left !

Edited December 7, 2022 by Heartland

[Mike Todd]

Google Street View dated July 2022 for the same position shows a sign saying that the site is available as having 'development potential'. Obviously the demolition job has now be done - potentially enhancing the sale value. However, the state of the sign suggests that it has been on the market for some while. Will be interesting to hear what caused the blaze.

[Heartland]

Now what can be put there ?

 

Development had been given for the Union Mill site in 2021 and there is seemingly interest in the wider  area

 

The big question is what caused the fire and what was there to burn with such intensity?

[Mike Todd]

From Google, it seems that there is a paper business on the site but not at the end that the fire appears to be.

[Alan de Enfield]

Fire investigators have said they believe a major blaze which destroyed several derelict factory buildings in Wolverhampton was started deliberately.

 

 

Huge blaze which closed railway line started deliberately, investigators believe (msn.com)

[Jen-in-Wellies]

8 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Fire investigators have said they believe a major blaze which destroyed several derelict factory buildings in Wolverhampton was started deliberately.

 

 

Huge blaze which closed railway line started deliberately, investigators believe (msn.com)

 

No mention of the canal being closed in the MSN report. It's why you should read CWDF instead for proper citizen journalism!

Edited December 9, 2022 by Jen-in-Wellies

[ditchcrawler]

12 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Fire investigators have said they believe a major blaze which destroyed several derelict factory buildings in Wolverhampton was started deliberately.

 

 

Huge blaze which closed railway line started deliberately, investigators believe (msn.com)

Well thats a surprise 😈

[Sea Dog]

Is the stoppage south of the Junction lifted now?

[Jen-in-Wellies]

8 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

Is the stoppage south of the Junction lifted now?

No.

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices/23844-minerva-wharf-wolverhampton-old-main-line

Could be there for a while until the tow path side wall is demolished and any rubble in the cut dredged out(navigation stoppage) and the rubble removed from the towpath and a new boundary fence put in (towpath stoppage) is my guess.

Edited December 9, 2022 by Jen-in-Wellies

[Sea Dog]

29 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

No.

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices/23844-minerva-wharf-wolverhampton-old-main-line

Could be there for a while until the tow path side wall is demolished and any rubble in the cut dredged out(navigation stoppage) and the rubble removed from the towpath and a new boundary fence put in (towpath stoppage) is my guess.

Doesn't look like a bad guess either Jen. 

[Mike Todd]

17 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Fire investigators have said they believe a major blaze which destroyed several derelict factory buildings in Wolverhampton was started deliberately.

 

 

Huge blaze which closed railway line started deliberately, investigators believe (msn.com)

Nice to see that the reporter noticed that it closed the railway line, but totally missed that so too was the canal!

[Sea Dog]

18 minutes ago, Mike Todd said:

Nice to see that the reporter noticed that it closed the railway line, but totally missed that so too was the canal!

Well, said "reporter" probably assumed, and like as not quite rightly, that the miniscule number of folk who gave a fat rat's botty about the canal already knew far more about this incident and it's navigational consequences than he/she/they did. 

[archie57]

5 hours ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

No.

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices/23844-minerva-wharf-wolverhampton-old-main-line

Could be there for a while until the tow path side wall is demolished and any rubble in the cut dredged out(navigation stoppage) and the rubble removed from the towpath and a new boundary fence put in (towpath stoppage) is my guess.

Doubt if they'll dredge the rubble out of the cut because it's probably now "contaminated" which is a good excuse to leave it there......

[Jen-in-Wellies]

28 minutes ago, archie57 said:

Doubt if they'll dredge the rubble out of the cut because it's probably now "contaminated" which is a good excuse to leave it there......

The stoppage notice does say

Quote

A demolition contractor is being brought in to make the building safe and bring down the remainder of the wall.  These contractors will then help to clear the towpath and navigation of fallen debris. 

, so it sounds like they are planning to clear out the cut.

[archie57]

Perhaps they will just move what is in the canal to one side so boats can pass.....