Minor heritage remains - but for how long?

[Laurence Hogg]

Inspired by the tramway rails thread, I photographed the items below today at Broad St depot in Wolverhampton. The track is some of the oldest standard gauge still in situ and was a siding off the Birmingham and Shrewsbury railway. Immediatly where I was standing was once a wagon turntable, the arm of course was once a section of the old main line cut off when the station was built.

 

 

An even more suprising is the existence of two notices either side of the entrance showing this site was an ARP (Air raid protection) WW2 site for animals, Not sure where the shelter was but may have been set back into the railway enbankment, anyone know?

 

 

My question is, how much more is there left of minor remnants like the notices? and does anyone know of more similar original items?

Edited October 23, 2011 by Laurence Hogg

[RLWP]

Having attended a few Railwayana auctions, you're bloody lucky that the sign is painted on the wall, not a cast plaque. I remember overhearing a few blokes describing how they were still finding and removing signs - vandals!!!

 

Richard

[bag 'o' bones]

Theres nothing stopping a member of the public applying for local listing. As long as you can argue that the object has historical significance. If the application is sucessful then it will added to the councils heritage lists. Ok it won't stop something being destroyed if absolutely necessary but it will certainly help to prevent the 'there one moment and gone the next' situations and give interested parties a chance to protest against an unsympathetic development.

[Laurence Hogg]

I would certainly encourage anyone to do this, it can now be done online. I have recently been impressed with English Heritage's response to a listing request in Birmingham and may have acheived getting a "amazingly missed off" large building in Birmingham on the list and with a good rating, cannot as yet disclose what it is but for a couple of hours work it seems to be a good approach. The current lease holders of the depot in Wolverhampton seem to appreciate the building and I intend to ask them not to deface the old signs if possible.

Edited October 22, 2011 by Laurence Hogg

[RLWP]

<snip>

 

an "amazingly missed off" large building in Birmingham

 

<snip>

 

I'm guessing it isn't the Central Library - I think I'm the only person who actually likes it

 

Richard

[cheshire~rose]

Someone I know is building a collection of photographs of the type of painted advertisements you sometimes still see on old shops or the gable end of houses. Many of these adverts are quite hard to read now but I often find myself spotting an area of flaking paint on a wall and squinting a bit to try and make out what it once said. Sadly I think it is probably very unreasonable to protect this type of advertising sign in many of the places they are as often the building they are on is no longer a shop. I know of at least one full size on a gable end wall in a housing estate in a town with no shops anywhere close by. It is fading and I suspect that when the elderly owners are no longer there then next owners will get someon in with a jet wash and some chemicals and get it back to brick fairly easily.

I think it would be great if people who love these old bits of heritage did take a photo of them when they see them and if possible make a note of where it is because so many of these things were not recorded with photo's when they were in their prime.

[Hairy-Neil]

I'm guessing it isn't the Central Library - I think I'm the only person who actually likes it

 

Richard

 

Then you'll also love the Slough Estates head office at Slough. I seem to remember it was one of the reasons I left the place.....

[Athy]

Rose, I totally agree. I have often thought this in France, wherer painted wall-end adverts were probably more prevalent, or at least endured for longer, than over here.

Yet there is hope: in my neighbouring village of Outwell, on the end wall of a building which long since ceased being a pub, is a freshly-repainted sign recommending "Bullard's Fine Ales". Bullard's brewery in Norwich closed in the early 1970s, though Watney's kept the name alive until the 1980s.

Edited October 23, 2011 by Athy

[Pluto]

I did try to set up a scheme for recording details like this when Tony Conder was in charge at the Gloucester Museum, but official interest ceased when he left. Some recording leaflets had been set out for larger structures, such as bridges, and we were looking at how to record smaller towpath items. Such leaflets need to be canal-specific, as each canal has its own style of detail. The L&LC Society did start a recording project, but it soon became obvious that you did need a good and extensive knowledge of the canal's history to make the recording comprehensive.

 

I have often discussed with BW staff the importance of such detailed items, but without any particular interest being shown. The general public might not notice them specifically, but they are what makes the canal environment so appealing. A walk around so-called restored areas, such as Sheffield Basin, where almost all of such small details have been destroyed during 'improvement', shows how a lack of minor detail results in a sterile environment. These details are still being destroyed, for example the starting pins for horse boats at the head of two of Barrowford Locks being cut off over the last few years. I did complain, but when they're gone, they're gone!

[Max Sinclair]

I did try to set up a scheme for recording details like this when Tony Conder was in charge at the Gloucester Museum, but official interest ceased when he left. Some recording leaflets had been set out for larger structures, such as bridges, and we were looking at how to record smaller towpath items. Such leaflets need to be canal-specific, as each canal has its own style of detail. The L&LC Society did start a recording project, but it soon became obvious that you did need a good and extensive knowledge of the canal's history to make the recording comprehensive.

 

I have often discussed with BW staff the importance of such detailed items, but without any particular interest being shown. The general public might not notice them specifically, but they are what makes the canal environment so appealing. A walk around so-called restored areas, such as Sheffield Basin, where almost all of such small details have been destroyed during 'improvement', shows how a lack of minor detail results in a sterile environment. These details are still being destroyed, for example the starting pins for horse boats at the head of two of Barrowford Locks being cut off over the last few years. I did complain, but when they're gone, they're gone!

There was some sort of pin or pulley at the mouth of Lock One, Hawford, Droitwich Barge Canal which enabled a salt laden barge to be launched at speed into the River Severn while the horse pulled up the towpath.This fine detail is so important to the history of our waterways.I only know because Tom Cartwright junior in his eighties told me. He and his father worked the makeweight narrow boat "The Three Brothers" bringing 30 tons of extra salt cargo down to the Severn to load the trows which were restricted to 60 tons by the lock cills depth.Lock One cills are 10feet to allow for the tide until Bevere lock was buit in the 1840's.Imagine shovelling 30 tons plus of salt into wheelbarrows, pushing them along the towpath to the Trow in the lock before it rained.The good old days!From the start I said this should be Lock One, Brindleys first construction but was ignored when it was numbered eight. Fotunately the BW workmen restoring the brickwork found the blue enameled Lock One sign in the bottom of the lock.This is historically a most important site. Brindley must have had some nervousness as he built his first Droitwich Lock in the garden of his home Newhall in Stafford, sadly recently demolished by developers.If you glean some canal history record it before it is too late.

Sister Mary, the boaters nurse at Stoke Bruerne told me several of the early boaters and navvies were redundant Cornish Tin Miners because the industry collapsed with foreign competition. She said the bridge on canal decoration was Looe bridge now demolished and replaced, anybody know of a picture?

A well designed watercan will float upside down if knocked off the cabin roof, so Les Allen told me. Some time later as we boated through Wasthill ( Kings Norton ) Tunnel the children in the bows cried out " Theres a water can" which was floating submerged but the diagonal marks were visible. It could have been there for years as it was an early Braunston design. End of Max's ramblings!