River Dove Aqueduct

River Dove Aqueduct

Trent and Mersey Canal

A classic Brindley aqueduct, built just before 1770 to carry the Trent and Mersey canal over the Dove.

From a design point of view the aqueduct is interesting. The limited clearance between the bottom of the water channel and the normal surface level provided no scope for high arches, which are needed to cope with the significant volumes of flood water which need to pass under it from time to time.

As Brindley was unable to provide the capacity by using high arches he compensated by extending the length of the aqueduct and in so doing increasing the number of smaller watercourses available to eleven.

Judging by the above picture of the aqueduct when the Dove is in flood, the end result is barely enough. Having said that, the aqueduct has stood for 240 years! The need to withstand the huge lateral forces of the river in flood probably accounts for the wider than expected water channel and margins.


By way of a bonus there is an extra arch just to the east of the main aqueduct, which could probably be seen as a separate aqueduct. However, as it merely carries a small side stream of the river Dove I am including it on the same page. If this single arch has a unique name please let me know and I will afford it a page all of its own!

River Rea Aqueduct - Kings Norton

River Rea Aqueduct - Kings Norton

Worcester Birmingham Canal

One of the more inaccessible aqueducts, impossible to the east and b****y difficult from the west!

I slithered down a slippery clay bank and only avoided falling into the river courtesy of a conveniently overhanging sycamore tree. Now I know how relieves Zacchieus felt when he was bursting at the seams with enthusiasm to see Jesus come walking past!

The lighting conditions were a nightmare, in deep gloom from a heavy canopy of leaved with a searing blasts of light from the top of the embankment. I really must get a better camera.

Both photos (poor though they are) are from the captain's own collection.

Aqueduct Lane Aqueduct - Bittell

Aqueduct Lane Aqueduct - Bittell

Worcester Birmingham Canal

This dripping and dank brick aqueduct carries the canal over Aqueduct Lane, but woe betide anyone who tries to pass through in anything larger than a Ford Transit.

Both photos are from the Captain's own collection

Immediately after the aqueduct there is a particularly lovely house with extensive moorings, one which I would love to own save its one huge drawback (and its not the diminutive size of the access tunnel). The M42 runs on an elevated section only a few hundred yards to the south and the roar of traffic is incessant.

Alvechurch Footpath Aqueduct

Alvechurch Footpath Aqueduct

Worcester Birmingham Canal

A remote aqueduct which carries the Worcester Birmingham Canal over a muddy footpath just south of Alvechurch.

The scale of the archway would suggest that it carried something more significant than a footpath, but the absence of a stream and the limited headroom for a train makes its original purpose something of a puzzle. GIven its similarity to its near neighbour at Aqueduct Lane, maybe it provided access to a quarry or something.

Both photos are from the Captian's own collection

Wolverley Aqueduct

Wolverley Aqueduct

Staffs and Worcester Canal

I include this aqueduct mainly to illustrate the point where I feel that an aqueduct is no longer an aqueduct, but that depends on the weather!

Photo of Wolverley Aqueduct from the Captian's own collection

This aqueduct carries the Staffs and Worcester canal over a tributary of the Stour, just north of Kidderminster. In dry weather the channel is visible but at the time of my visit we were in the middle of a very wet spell (aka any British summer) it was completely submerged and operating as a sump.

Do you see my dilemma? It's not just the nature of a structure that makes it an aqueduct, it also depends on the flow of water beneath. Maybe a need a category called "seasonal aqueducts", but that's getting silly!