4.5 Cannock Coal to Perry Barr

The loaded BCN day boats press on towards their destination in Small Heath, this time navigating the Rushall Canal and part of the Tame Valley Canal as far as Perry Barr Locks.
The journey includes the canals as they are today, interspersed with archive photos and waterways stories from the past.
#canalhunter #birminghamcanals #perybarr #bcn

[@katherinekinnaird4408]

Thank you. It's all very interesting. Safe travels.

[@neilrose8618]

Wow Andy stay safe ,Neil

[@raymondkirkham3815]

Regards Andy enjoying this new series keep up the excellent work learn something new with every episode thanks Ray 😊

[@lifeat2.3milesanhour57]

Glad you are enjoying the series Ray.

[@AndynElaine]

Merry Christmas, thank you for this amazing public resources . They are amazing

[@lifeat2.3milesanhour57]

Glad you are enjoying the trip Andy

[@1961Jezza]

Thanks Andy another superb history lesson; we walked the Rushall Canal earlier this year in drier conditions, I suspected that there must have been some mining activity near Hampstead as me and a friend witnessed what appeared to be a bore wave on this section of the Tame Valley Canal near the Newton Road bridge which I can only put down to subsidence unless somebody out there has a better explanation? Thanks anyway hope you had a Merry Christmas.

[@andrewjones5513]

Hampstead colliery , it was a large mine , it was where the large housing estate is now built

[@1961Jezza]

@@andrewjones5513 Thanks after doing some research I could only put the phenomenon that we saw down to subsidence so I assume that was down to the old colliery.

[@toadstoolze]

This has been a great series... Keep up the good work!!

[@lifeat2.3milesanhour57]

Thanks - glad you are enjoying series 4.

[@nickcaunt1769]

I think Moshes will be a local dialect name for marshes. Often known as moss(es) in the NW of England and also the W Midlands. The area below the top two locks is the gathering ground for a significant brook that heads down to Walsall. It even has a single marsh symbol on the current OS map and it is still undeveloped even today. (Just a golf course). I expect it is where the very porous limestone meets the sandstone and hence there will be lots of springs emerging.

[@lifeat2.3milesanhour57]

That sounds like a reasonable explanation!

[@grahamhall8249]

So interesting Andy, as I walked the Tame Valley Canal the other week, from end to end. I didn't do the Rushall canal, that's another walk in itself for another time. To hear all the information that you talk about puts you in perspective to the canals. Very enjoyable, waiting for the next part with eagerness.

[@lifeat2.3milesanhour57]

Lets hope we get a break in the weather Graham.

[@johnwilliams6267]

Merry Christmas & thank you again. Another entertaining & informative episode Andy👍

[@lifeat2.3milesanhour57]

You are very welcome John.

[@andrewreed7936]

Great video again Andy. You've inspired me to get out and do a bit more proper exploring in my area. Managed to get down and investigate the old canal down the back of Hammerwich/Pipe Hill, in between some old railway relics and old lanes!

[@andrewreed7936]

Incidentally my late 2 time great uncle worked at Hamstead Colliery, at one point it was apparently the deepest in the world!

[@crossercuss1]

merry christmas and thankyou for another great video..

[@lifeat2.3milesanhour57]

Always a pleasure Dave

[@C...G...]

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!! :-)

[@lifeat2.3milesanhour57]

Thanks - you too!

[@nigelcattell3334]

hi just saw your vids.Interesting.Im planning a bit of exploring/fishing in same areas.Maybe even some detecting.

[@lifeat2.3milesanhour57]

Have fun!

[@nigelcattell3334]

@@lifeat2.3milesanhour57 have you done a video on the old elkingtons site?goscote

[@lifeat2.3milesanhour57]

@@nigelcattell3334 Not yet - so many canals and so little time....

[@nigelcattell3334]

ive lived both ends.grew up in saltley.then goscote valley and now willenhall.rode a bmx along canals goscote to saltley with an a to z 30 yrs ago

[@lifeat2.3milesanhour57]

@@nigelcattell3334 Its an interesting area ,isn't it? I bet ot was all a bit more exposed 30 years ago.

[@dennisporter753]

So this will connect to the restored Litchfield Canal? If so do you think it will be used alot more by the narrow boats? Thanks for sharing the information.. Be safe Andy from Missouri USA...

[@lifeat2.3milesanhour57]

Hi Dennis - yes - it will connect at Ogley Junction. Currently the section carries less than 300 boats per year but when this is accessible via the Lichfield this will probably rise to 1500 I think.

[@dennisporter753]

@@lifeat2.3milesanhour57 .. that's awesome.. quite a jump in boats.. thanks for the reply..

[@mattpotter8725]

@@lifeat2.3milesanhour57 I was going to ask if this canal was every used as we didn't see any narrowboats at all in this video (and maybe the last one either) and long sections of green algae where no boats must have been in quite some time, which I find very sad. I'm guessing that this would connect to what is now in the process of the currently being restored Lichfield and Hatherton Canal, but which of these would be best to finish first to get boats using this canal more now? I guess having said this, and if I remember rightly that there is a problem for the Hatherton Canal in that the M6 stands in the way, a huge obstacle, but then again the Lichfield Canal has many roads to navigate also (A5, A38 etc.), but if one was finished without the other would it still work or are both needed to be finished before it can be used? I'm just curious. It's sad to see unused canals like this. Great video though and love learning about all the history in this area and the canal network!!!

[@lifeat2.3milesanhour57]

@@mattpotter8725 Its very rare to see any boats moving in this area. We moor at Hay Head and its very possible to get boats through, with a bit of patience. Actually, the lock next to our mooring is monitored and the stats show less than 300 boats a year! The Lichfield and Hatherton are two separate restoration projects, about 10 miles apart, although most effort is being directed at the Lichfield side. The two restorations are independent and whilst the Lichfield route has some obstacles to overcome, most have been addressed over the last 15 years. The Hatherton line is blocked by the M6, but this is still possible in time,

[@mattpotter8725]

@@lifeat2.3milesanhour57 Thanks for the response Andy. I did think this would be the case and do know that even though the restoration is the Lichfield and Hatherton Canal Trust that they are two separate canals and projects. I know more about the Lichfield Canal, but it seems (to me at least) that although there more effort being put in there that apart from the M6, which is a bit obstacle the course of the canal over that way it's more intact with less work needed to actually restore it back to an actual canal (from what I saw in your videos earlier this year. The Lichfield Canal seems to have been more infilled, especially where it goes through Lichfield, which is understandable (urban expansion and development since the 1950s), and so more work is needed, and probably is needed more urgently, before it would be even more difficult to push the canal through, hence why more work is being done on that stretch right now. My main point and being fairly new to the canals over towards Walsall and Wolverhampton is that is there actually a way out of the Rushall and the Wyrley and Essington Canal or is it currently a dead end until either the Lichfield or the Hatherton Canals are finished? Sorry for the long question, there's probably a quick question!!! Maybe I should just go look at a map!!! Loving the videos though. They help me see what used to be a very industrial area that looks nothing like it did even 50 years ago, and now looks very green and wilderness, albeit with hidden clues if you look closely enough!!!