Coopers Aqueduct

Coopers Aqueduct
BCN Mainline
February 2010

I went out on a lost canal hunt last weekend, and remembered that an aqueduct exists carrying the River Tame under both the New Mainline and the adjacent railway at Sheepwash Park.

Our journey from the Haines Branch to the Dunkirk Branch took us right past the entrance, so here it is. Effective but uninspiring!

Coopers Aqueduct BCN

Railway Aqueduct at Anson Junction, Walsall Canal

Railway aqueduct at Anson Junction
Walsall canal BCN
5th December 2009

Just to the south of Anson Junction the little used Walsall Canal crosses the Wolverhampton to Walsall railway line.

Railway Aqueduct Walsall Canal BCN

This crossing is achieved by a very railway looking bridge / aqueduct. Gaining access to railway aqueducts is tricky and I have only been able to capture a view from the west.

Not much clearance for the power cables.

River Rea Aqueduct, Anson Branch BCN

River Rea Aqueduct
Anson Branch BCN
5th December 2009

The diminutive Anson Branch Canal (abandoned) contains not one aqueduct but two. In addition to the old railway aqueduct the Rive Rea runs through a brick tunnel, slightly to the south.

 Rea Aqueduct under Anson Branch BCN - Eastern portal

The River Rea is prone to flash flooding, hence the very visible high water mark, which was reached the day before our visit.

Rea Aqueduct Anson Branch - western portal

Anson Aqueduct

Anson Aqueduct

Anson Branch Canal (derelict) BCN

New photos taken by the Captain in November 2009.

East face of old railway aqueduct on Anson Arm (BCN) - plus Jeff

This structure remains in water and is located on the southern section of the 1.5 mile Anson Branch stub, which linked to the Walsall Canal and served collieries at Reedswood (now a park) and also limestone quarries near Bentley.

Western face of old railway aqueduct on Anson Arm near junction with Bentley Canal

The arched structure was built of Staffordshire blue bricks in 1830, and now carries the canal over Morarchs Way, a walking / cycle path which links to Halesowen.

The northern section of the Anson Branch was severed by the construction of Junction 10 of the M6 in the early 1960's but can still be identified, albeit in a very weeded up state.

My thanks for Mr Truth who spotted the remains of the arm in his wanderings around Walsall.

Hill Top Aqueduct - Wednesbury Old Canal BCN

Hill Top Aqueduct

Wednesbury Old Canal

BCN

This aqueduct stood at the far end of the Wednesbury Old Canal, carrying the cut over the course of the GWR line into its terminus at a basin near Hill Top.

Whilst the canal was built in 1769 as part of Brindleys first phase, the aqueduct would not have been built until about 1858, when the railway and its associated tunnel were constructed across it's line.

Reference documents suggest that photographs exist of this structure, which was still in place as recently in the 1973, several years after the canal's closure in 1954. In the absence of a photo I include a drawing made by Eric Richardson as found in his highly informative booklet "In Search of the Lost Canals of the Black Country".

If you are interested in this long lost waterway, click here to access my companion blog which carries more information.

Dudley Port Railway Aqueduct

Dudley Port Railway Aqueduct
BCN New mainline

Sanwiched between the Ryland and Puppy Green Aqueduct lies a third aqueduct, the Dudley Port Railway Aqueduct.

A scramble down the overgrown embankment reveals just the west face of the aqueduct, the eastern side being incorporated into the adjoining railway bridge, which carries the Birmingham to Wolverhampton mainline railway.

The remote location with rusting rails emerging from the undergrowth, only to disappear into more of the same has more than a little 'Fried Green Tomatoes' about it.

Puppy Green Aqueduct - BCN

Puppy Green Aqueduct
BCN New Mainline

Just a stone's throw north of the Ryland Aqueduct a second, much smaller but older aqueduct burrows under the BCN New Main Line.

This aqueduct carries Park Lane East from Tipton to Dudley Port.

Ryland Aqueduct

Ryland Aqueduct
BCN New Mainline

The Ryland Aqueduct is a relatively new structure, carrying the New Mainline Canal over the Dudley Port Road at Dudley Port.

Ryland Aqueduct - West face

The aqueduct stands independent (just) from the parallel railway bridge, decked out in some splendid paintwork which makes it appear more than the simple contrete trough it really is.

Ryland Aqueduct - east face

James Bridge Aqueduct

James Bridge Aqueduct
Walsall Canal - Wednesbury

A listed structure, completed in 1799 which continues to carry the Walsall Canal, now reduced to a barely navigable ditch.

I have a particular affection for aqueducts which carry canals over water. Strictly speaking this is a road aqueduct, and probably a defunct railway line (now a footpath). However, at the time of my visit the heavens had opened all night and the road was completely flooded.

Boy racers were making the most of the flood, driving through a massive speed and throwing up a huge splash - or maybe they were trying to soak the mad twonk who was trying to take photos.... who knows!

Not a common view of this aqueduct, the only one on the Walsall canal, but interesting none the less. The twin brick arches are unique to the region.

All photos are from the captain's own collection - June 09

Navigation Lane Aqueduct nr Walsall

Navigation Lane Aqueduct

Tame Valley Canal

Well, I think it is called Navigation Lane aqueduct as it crosses a lane of that name! It continued to provide access to a small group of modern houses, hemmed in by a dual carriageway and the canal embankment. I am happy to stand corrected.

Navigation Lane Aqueduct - southern perspective

This is another no nonsense cast iron trough set atop tall buttresses made of Staffordshire blue bricks. Typical of its type, the cast ironwork has some interesting raised features which helps it stand out from the ordinary. Function came before form on this canal!

Navigation Lane Aqueduct - northern perspective

This structure is somewhat leaky, with water streaming from either end and running into the drains in a constant gurgle.

Hateley Heath Aqueduct

Hateley Heath Aqueduct
BCN - Tame Valley Canal

This Grade two listed aqueduct was built as part of the Tame Valley Canal, carrying the elevated canal over Hydes Road in Wednesbury.

Hateley Heath Aqueduct - south profile

Hateley Heath Aqueduct - north profile

It comprises a sectional cast iron trough supported on girders notched into brick abutments. The cast iron panels have some rather fine profiling cast into them, and are bolted together across the sides and the bed of the aqueduct.

Whilst the brick abutments are weeping in places, there is very little evidence of leakage in the main trough.

Thoroughly utilitarian but not without interesting detailing. Easily mistaken for a railway bridge.

Tividale Aqueduct - BCN

Tividale Aqueduct
Netherton Branch and Old Main Line

A brick built grade two listed aqueduct, constructed @1890 to carry Brindley's Old main Line over the new Netherton Branch access route into the Netherton Tunnel (const 1858).

Captain Ahab's collection

This another of those rare beasts which carries a canal over another canal.

Tividale Aqueduct from the Netherton side, showing the turbine pipes.

Captain Ahabs Collection

An unusual feature of this aqueduct are the steel pipes coming out of the side. These fed water into an electrical turbine located in the hut at the bottom, which in turn fed power into the Nethertion Tunnel to provide illumination. The concept of electrical generation on the canals in nothing new!

The elongated island in which the central pier stands also served as a toll collection station, with the passing boats being gauged as they passed through the narrows.

Engine Arm Aqueduct

Engine Arm Aqueduct

Birmingham Canal Navigations

flickr.com/photos/martin_hartland/2238830287/

The sign reads...

This magnificent aqueduct was originally desiged and constructed by Thomas Telford in 1825 to carry the Engine Arm Canal 52 ft above the New Main Line some twenty feet below.

The Aqueduct...Is an iron trough supported on a cast iron laced arch with brick and stone abutments. The aqueduct was restored in 1985 and incuded a new painting scheme to highlight the fine detail of the ironwork. The brick footbridge carrying the Old Main Line towpath has honeycomb indents in stone quoins. The trough is supported on five cast iron ribs, each of which was built in four sections - a veritable meccano construction.

Engine Arm Canal... Also known as Engine Branch or Birmingham Feeder Arm, is typical of the many short branches serving industry which were lined and totally enclosed by factory walls and wharves. It's main purpose was a feeder from Rotton Park Reservoir to the Old Main Line at Smethwick Summit but the trough was built 8ft wide, so navigation across is possible. The end of the feeder was made navigable mainly to bring coal to the Smethwick Engine site at Bridge Street as part of Telford's improvements in 1830.

The canal is a quiet backwater but it only requires a little imagination to see it as a hive of activity with workmen, horses, boats passing, loading and unloading at the now silent wharves and loading points. When industry turned its back on the canal, the windows, doors and loading points were crudely blocked off or bricked up.

The Captain says...

This is my favourite aqueduct, surpassing all others. Its not the longest, nor the higest, it goes nowhere in particular and few come to visit it, but its use of wrought iron in a gothic style, cast at Horsley Ironworks, is a triumph where function rules spreme but at the same time the form is sublime.

To say I like it a lot is an understatement!

View from top of Smethwick locks

Stewart Aqueduct

Stewart Aqueduct

Birmingham Canal Navigations - Old and New Main Lines

A Thomas Telford addition to the BCN network which was completed in 1829. It stands close to another of Telfords aqueducts at the Engine Arm, but in spite of it being completed just four years later, its construction is utterly different. In place of the fine wrought ironwork we see a solid brick built aqueduct which has more than a passing resemblance to a typical Brindley construction, whose original canal line it carries.

flickr.com/photos/martin_hartland/392967134

The aqueduct is a Grade 2 listed structure and is sited close to Spon Lane locks, the oldest surviving chambers on the canal system. The Aqueduct crosses the New Main Line on two skewed arches with a central support rising from the middle of the lover navigation channel. At some point retaining buttresses have been added to this central cutwater.

Captains own collection

A rare example of a canal crossing another canal canal, with road, rail and motorway all compressed into one small area.

Whilst the M5 is never beautiful, I think that its looming presence overhead enhances the image, if not the ambiance!