Sankey Canal Restoration Society

At the April members' meeting SCARS Committee member David Smallshaw pioneered an interesting experiment. The subject of the talk was the Lichfield and Hatherton Canals, located to the north east of Wolverhampton, from where it would have been a long and tiring journey for a spokesman to make, to and from our meeting. Instead, the Trust supplied a CD of data and photographs and after intense preparation, not having personally visited the canals, David supplied the commentary.

David explained how the Trust began in 1988 and has many features in common with SCARS, with a work party volunteer group, a newsletter and fund raising via a trading company. It also has similar aims, the restoration of the canals, in their case to reinstate the waterway link between South Staffordshire and the East Midlands, and to make it more widely available for business and social use. Both societies have strong links with the waterway organisations including the IWA and WRG.

One of the major differences is the strength of the Trust's membership, numbering many hundreds, and the active support which it receives from local authorities. It also has a major force in its President, the actor David Suchet, who has been instrumental in raising funds and bringing publicity to the project. The Trust's restoration campaign has therefore been more successful than that of SCARS and much progress has been made -but there is still a great deal to be done.

David began with the statistics, the Lichfield opened in 1797 and closed in 1954 whilst the Hatherton opened in 1841 and closed in 1955. Low key ideas about their reopening were discussed occasionally but it took the proposal of the M6 Toll Road to galvanise people into forming the Trust. The toll road crossed the courses of both the canals and it was vital to secure the waterway access for future restoration.

A series of photographs showed some old canal scenes in Birmingham and Wolverhampton from where boats would have travelled to the L and H. The last was a before and after showing Victoria Basin in Wolverhampton, fully restored with working locks, the scene of the 2008 Waterways Rally.

Dave then moved on to consider the Hatherton Canal which had linked the Staffordshire and Worcester Canal with the Cannock extension of the Wyrley and Essington Canal, just two of many waterways feeding into Birmingham's network of canals. Since its closure in 1955 bridges had been lowered or demolished and sections of canal filled in and built over. This would call for a number of diversions to be built if through connections were to be restored.

Beginning at Hatherton Junction with the Staffs and Worcs the canal headed off eastwards but progress was limited to only the second lock which is the present limit of navigation. Above the lock there are known to be some sunken vessels within the mud and reeds, assumed to be BCN day boats. Soon after, the site of the proposed M6 widening is reached, on the eastern side between junctions 11 and 12. The Trust has campaigned to have provision made for the canal if this goes ahead and thanks to Planning Policy Guidance PPG13 this has been agreed.

There then followed sections in water and others filled in with parties of willing volunteers vigorously trying to change one type to the other.

The Churchbridge lock flight of 13 locks was opened in 1816 to join the Cannock Extension Canal at the 473 feet level, but nothing survives. Following closure of the canal the locks with their side pounds were de-watered then thoroughly destroyed with explosives and subsequent open cast mining completely obliterated the landscape. This will therefore need a new route further to the south of the original.

Threats materialised not only from motorway construction. Proposed work on the A460 would have severed the canal, forming a substantial obstacle which would have been expensive to deal with retrospectively. Instead, thanks to the support of its president, the Trust as able to get a culvert inserted below the road during the construction process. The concrete box sections were purchased well in advance of the work date and brought on site when required. In appreciation of his efforts the Trust named the tunnel after David Suchet.

Once on the Cannock Extension, boaters can travel some miles eastwards along various waterways until they arrive at Ogley Junction where the canal feeder once joined the beginning of the Lichfield Canal. Sadly this is no longer the case as the route to the Coventry Canal is in need of much restoration work. This is going ahead, sometimes in spectacular fashion.

Ogley lock flight consists of 7 locks, each accompanied by long side pounds at right angles to the canal itself. Whilst these are in private ownership at present, agreement has been reached that when the occasion arises they will be sold back to the Trust at reasonable cost, a pleasant change from some of the demands made by landowners during other restoration schemes.

Shortly after the lock flight the next obstacle looms, but this has been tamed well in advance. A new deep lock is to be constructed to lift the canal over the M6 Toll Road, the crossing being achieved via a metal aqueduct. Following more vigorous campaigning funds were raised and the aqueduct installed during the construction of the road, a much faster and cheaper option than doing it after the road was in use. The metal trough spans the carriageways in majestic isolation, waiting for the links to materialise on either side.

Since an average of 40,000 vehicles a day pass beneath the aqueduct, there are constant reminders of what can be achieved by a determined restoration group.

Restored Lock 18 on the Ogley 3rd Flight into Lichfield

East of the A461 at Pipe Hill, a section of canal lies along the top of an embankment which is presently in private ownership. Again, such is the high profile of the Trust that it does not anticipate any future difficulty with transfer of ownership when restoration reaches this point.

Heading towards Lichfield the canal now descends by 50 feet over a distance of 500 yards via 6 locks. South of the city, the canal bed has been built on so a diversion will be needed. By chance a new by pass is being constructed along the same route so once more the Trust has been able to arrange for the building work on road and canal to be carried out simultaneously, thus reducing costs significantly. Another tunnel has been installed below the route of the by pass, again using pre-cast concrete sections. Since the road is yet to be built the tunnel is in use as a storm water interceptor until needed for its correct purpose.

Some of the 'lego' blocks, installed by members of the Kent & East Sussex Canal Restoration Group, as seen on their website: kescrg.org.uk)

Locks 19 and 20 will have to be rebuilt but 24 to 26 have survived fairly well. Volunteers have done some excellent restoration work, in some cases rebuilding large portions of the locks and by-wash channels, hindered only by a mysterious large bore pipe along the canal bed. This has now been traced and found to be surplus to requirements so has been removed. Rapid construction was aided by the use of large 1 tonne building blocks, nicknamed "lego" by the volunteers, which interlocked with adjacent blocks. (right) - As a result of the increased flooding possibilities caused by climate change, the by-wash channels had to be built larger than was previously the case to cope with possible increases in storm water flow. A partial lock restoration identified what needed to be done, then the lock was back-filled and given some "gates", at least the top sections of gates, so the public could see that there had been a lock there. The local authority has promoted the canal here, creating a linear canal park and providing information boards at intervals.

Arriving at the A51 the canal must be diverted. Unfortunately the road is in situ and gaining access will this time be an expensive job. Another culvert/ tunnel will be needed, this time to be built without stopping traffic on the road, quite a logistical feat. A trial section of canal has been re-watered near Darnford, but access had to be maintained for road traffic. This was achieved by installing a redundant bridge from the Peak Forest Canal, a lift bridge with overhead counterweights. At Clappers Lane, just before the canal reaches the junction with the Coventry Canal, a new bridge has been constructed across a culvert. This was financed via European funding, and is now complete, awaiting the coming of the canal.

There are lessons to be learned for other canal societies, though it must be remembered that, whilst many of them will have problems in common, there will always be the some peculiar to one particular canal scheme. SCARS wishes the Trust continuing success in its efforts and looks forward to the news that both canals are open to traffic.

Our speaker is to be congratulated on his presentation. For one who was totally unfamiliar with the canals under discussion he was still able to put across a wealth of interest and information, coping manfully with questions from the meeting. Many thanks David.

So successful was this experiment that it has been suggested that SCARS produce a similar presentation which could be contained on a CD and distributed to the many waterway groups around the country to publicise the Sankey. Anyone with suitable materials, maps, plans or photographs, which could be included should hand them to any committee member.

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Volume 7, Number 2 - Summer 2009

Reports from our Talks Programme By Peter Keen

Reports from our Talks Programme
By Peter Keen