Hotly debated canal photo from old Brownhills postcard, thought to be late 50s-early60s. Image from an eBay sale.
The canal on the south side of the Black Cock Bridge as captured by The Stymaster yesterday evening.
A quick post here on the ongoing debate about the location of the canal photo from a composite post, spotted by local historian Clive Roberts and featured here a few days ago.
Reader and fellow blogger The Stymaster nipped over to the Black Cock bridge for me last night and took the following image which whilst not conclusive, does at least show that the height of the roofline is right.
Worth noting that chimneys have certainly been removed from both sides of the cottage, and the northern one has no chimneys at all now.
The line of the canal seems right to me, too.
What do you folks think? Comment here or mail me: BrownhillsBob at Googlemail dot com – cheers for all the contributions so far.
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Bob,
I reckon Black Cock is right, the boats are Willow Wren Canal Transport Services, possibly loaded for GEC Witton, but the greedy boards on the motor suggest it might be D/S nuts or washed peas, the GEC only used dry slack, Willow Wren would very likely be sub contracting for T&S Element Ltd., the photo is not clear but, the images of the crew suggest to me Gorge Harris by the motors mast, daughter Janet with brother Colin on the tow path and other brother Paul in the butty hatches, looking at google street view suggests the current cottage owners may have removed the BCN number plates, a part of history worth preserving.
Hi FB Lycett
many thanks for your wonderful information. I love the greedy boards..what were they? and what were D/S nuts and washed peas. Did George Harris live nearby?
Again, my sincere thanks for your superb contribution to add to our local history
Kind regards
David
the picture above was taken just to the side of catshill bridge by the path looking towards lindon road and foundry yard
How do you account for the fact that the houses are obviously lower than the canal?
Cheers
Bob
Also, wouldn’t Shire Oak be in the background?
Cheers
Bob
“just to the side of catshill bridge”
Depends which side is meant.
A little way along the Daw End branch the canal is on an embankment looking down onto Lindon Road.
I can’t say that I could tie up the view with a quick glance of maps via http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=15&lat=52.6379&lon=-1.9291&layers=10&b=1
We’ve established this photo was late 50s/early 60s. So whatever was there was extant fairly late, meaning any buildings there now would be new.
Can’t think of any newbuild in that row of factories – Timmings Tools and RKG were there before then, as I suspect the Clothing was.
Further, the absence of Shire Oak in the background is odd, and I believe that were this facing the Lindon Road from the canal, the wideness of shot would show either the rise to the bridge if on the Anchor side, or the narrows (or possibly Clanger Bridge) on the other.
Just a thought
Bob
What do readers think?
1990s image by Brownhills George
https://brownhillsbob.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/89099470.jpg
Hi Bob
The roofline in the black and white photo confused me at first, but “the Way the Land lies” colour image above has helped..There is a row of three houses across Hall Lane, still!
I contacted Barry Yates who used to live by the Travellers Rest Inn, Walsall Wood and has been helpful in the past and he did not recognise the image as being that pub….so from a third party
Good fun…..greedy boards, nuts and peas..I love these references!
kind regards
David
George Harris was a Worcester man, worked for Severn & canal Carrying Co., British Waterways &, Willow Wren, SE Barlow, Tamworth and myself for a short while mong others, local grades of washed coal were cobbles, bakers nuts, D/S nuts, washed peas and washed slack cobbles being the largest after big house and industrial coal, if that is Georges Willow Wren pair he ended up at Coventry working at the Homefire plant, Gorge and his family of course lived on the boats
I’m 100% certain it’s my grandparents house in hall lane the chimney’s where front livingroom and back living room the kitchen was built on after a wooden conservatory the mole family lived there most of them worked for British waterways
I think there was a Frank Mole on the bricklaying gang ?
Moles certainly worked the canal, see here (photo towards bottom) as here’s a photo of Alf Mole at work on Catshill Junction
https://brownhillsbob.com/2011/07/09/the-way-the-land-lies/
Cheers
Bob
https://brownhillsbob.com/2013/08/20/the-first-superhighway/
this is a wonderful film….canals in 1930s
kind regards
David