Stourbridge Canal
Stourbridge Canal | |
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Specifications | |
Locks | 20 |
Status | Open |
History | |
Principal engineer | Thomas Dadford |
Date of act | 1776 |
Date of first use | 1779 |
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The Stourbridge Canal is a canal in the West Midlands of England. It links the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal (at Stourton Junction, affording access to traffic from the River Severn) with the Dudley Canal, and hence, via the Birmingham Canal Navigations, to Birmingham and the Black Country.
Background
The Stourbridge and Dudley canals were originally proposed as a single canal in 1775, with a primary purpose of carrying coal from Dudley to Stourbridge. Robert Whitworth had carried out a survey, which was approved at a meeting held in Stourbridge in February, at which the estimated cost was promised by subscribers. The chief promoter was Lord Dudley, but the bill was withdrawn from Parliament following fierce opposition from the Birmingham Canals. Two bills were presented in the autumn, one for each of the canals, with the details largely unchanged, and both became Acts of Parliament on 2 April 1776, despite continued opposition from Birmingham. The Act allowed the promoters to raise £30,000, but unlike most such acts, did not make any provision for additional amounts. Thomas Dadford was appointed as engineer, with James Green as an assistant. Work started on the aqueduct which would carry the canal over the River Stour.[1]
The £30,000 of share capital had been spent by April 1778, and although not authorised to do so, the company issued bonds to raise more money. Construction was largely complete by 1779, and trading began. All of the canal was probably open by December. Dadford resigned in 1781, and the following year, a second Act of Parliament was obtained, to authorise the raising of an extra £10,000, and to legitimise the bonds already issued. The total cost was thus £43,000. Tolls on coal which originated on the canal and was then carried on the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal were higher than for other coal on that canal, and the Stourbridge Company had failed to get this clause repealed. They therefore sought to bypass the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, and approached the Birmingham Canals in 1784, with a proposal for a link between the Dudley Canal and their system. This resulted in an Act to build the Dudley Tunnel, which opened in 1792. They also proposed a 26-mile (42 km) canal from Stourbridge to the River Severn at Diglis, which would have required two tunnels and 128 locks. The bill was rejected in 1786 when it reached the House of Lords, following opposition by the Staffordshire and Worcestershire company, but they reduced their tolls for Stourbridge coal two years later. A healthy trade in coal, ironstone and limestone developed, supplemented by iron products, bricks, clay, earthenware and glass. A dividend of 2.45 per cent was paid in 1785, which had risen to 6.3 per cent by 1789.[2] The canal remained profitable until the eve of World War II.
A flight of sixteen locks takes the canal up the hill towards Pensnett Chase, where there were collieries. From Leys Junction, the Fens Branch is a short, navigable feeder from Fens Pools and the main canal continues to Delph Locks, a flight of originally nine (now only eight) locks at the start of the Dudley Canal.
The canal forms part of the Stourport Ring, which is one of the popular cruising rings for leisure boating.
Stourbridge Town Arm
At Wordsley Junction, the Stourbridge Town Arm heads south-east into the town of Stourbridge. The Stourbridge Town Branch Line railway was built in the 1850s from Stourbridge Junction railway station, via Stourbridge Town railway station to serve Stourbridge Basin. The basin was for interchange between the railway and the canal and this aided the canal's continued use.
Stourbridge Extension Canal
A separate company built the Stourbridge Extension Canal from the Fens Branch to Shut End (in Kingswinford) thus opening up another part of the coalfield to development, but this passed into the hands of a railway company in 1860 and became completely disused after the Second World War, apart from a few yards at the Fens Branch end, which remain watered and serve as a mooring place.
1962 Closure Protest
The canal was the site of a major confrontation between the Transport Commission (the controlling authority) who wished to close the canal and canal enthusiasts who wished to keep it open. The ensuing furor resulted in a step change in the Government's attitude to the canals from closure to restoration.[3][4]
Restoration
By the end of 1963 the 16 locks were unnavigable. The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal Society (S&WCS) proposed a restoration programme to the newly formed British Waterways Board (BWB) in which the navvying would be done by volunteers under the direction of BWB who would also provide the materials. The proposal was accepted as a test case by BWB, and the canal was opened to through navigation again in 1967. Following that success BWB went on to accept similar restoration working parties across the canal system.
2008 Breach
During flooding of the River Stour on 7 September 2008 a major breach occurred. This swept away a length of towpath and bank between Bellsmill and Stourton Locks. This completely drained the pounds, including the Stourbridge Town Arm. British Waterways restored navigation from the Dudley Canal, via Delph Locks and Wordsley Junction into the Town Arm fairly quickly.[5] The canal was re-opened on 18 December 2008 after British Waterways completed repairs costing £650,000 ahead of schedule. The work included a 105 cu yd (80 m3) concrete block constructed at the foot of the embankment to stabilise it.[6]
References
- ^ Hadfield (1969), pp.73-74
- ^ Hadfield (1969), pp.74-75
- ^ Battle of the Stourbridge Canal.
- ^ Comments from 1962 Chairman of Staffs and Worcs Canal Society.
- ^ "Stourbridge Canal breach update". British Waterways West Midlands. 2008-09-22. Retrieved 2008-10-15.
Early indications suggest that the surges in water levels caused by the River Stour flooding in the area of the Stourbridge Town Arm terminus, and due to the extreme weather conditions experienced up to and over the weekend of 6–7 September 2008, resulted in the breach taking place. [..] The lock flight above Wordsley Junction is fully reinstated giving navigational options to all in the Stourbridge Town Arm, however, the navigation between Wordsley Junction and Stourton locks remains closed.
- ^ "Stourbridge Canal is officially reopened". British Waterways. 19 December 2008.
Bibliography
- Hadfield, Charles (1969). Canals of the West Midlands. Newton Abbott: David & Charles. pp. 73–5, 100–6, 264–6. ISBN 0-7153-4660-1.
- Perrott, David; Mosse, Jonathan (2006). Nicholson Waterways Guide 2 - Severn, Avon & Birmingham. Collins. ISBN 978-0-00-721110-4.
- Birmingham Canal Navigations. GEOprojects. 2004. ISBN 0-86351-172-4. - Highly detailed printed 1:30,000 sheet map