The canal is clearly back on the up: This photo was taken yesterday evening at Clayhanger, and despite a further drop over the weekend, is now at the same level as last Thursday.
Following the sudden and unexpected drop in water level of the canal through Brownhills, and the Wyrley and Essignton Canal as a whole, top Canal and River Trust operatives have isolated the leak in the canal bed at Stoney Lane, Little Bloxwich with dams, and are now working to fix the hole.
This means that with Chasewater valves open, the canal should now be slowly refilling. It dipped to about 200mm off full level on Saturday 2nd June 2018, but last night was back to 125mm down measured at Clayhanger overflow, the same level it was at the previous Thursday 31st May 2018.
An emergency stoppage notices posted on Saturday 2nd June 2018 and emergency dams have been erected. Tellingly, the isolated stretch drained itself without pumps…
Presumably the work to repair the under-canal culvert will start soon. In the meantime, the towpath is still currently open to passers by, cyclists and those interested, but probably offers limited angling opportunities for the time being.
Phil Griffin took a great set of the drained cut yesterday (Monday 4th June 2018):
On the matter of my contempt for the the Canal and River Trust, the following tweet issued yesterday by their stellar press office is breathtaking:
Hi, I do apologise. This notice is for the closure that had to take place on Saturday. The water loss on Friday was as a result of the Chase water pump being switched off. ~ Tigs
— CRT Customer Service (@CRTContactUs) June 4, 2018
They lost a huge quantity of water and are still blaming Chasewater’s owner, Staffordshire County Council, even though it appears they haven’t actually closed the vales since early April.
If you have a view on this, or pictiures, please do get in touch. Comment or mail me: BrownhillsBob at Googlemail dot com. Thanks.
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We go up chasewater frequently and the water has been flowing. Also I assume the level is checked weekly as we have watched it being done.
Thanks, Bob, and for the blog link. 200 mm is serious stiff for some boaters. My draft is 24 inches, but many are 26 or more. Residential moorings do tend to silt up as there is less churn. Someone had to be towed out of his mooring at Venetian a few weeks back. There is a dump of dredgings opposite the Apex Road estate.
Andy
PS I am going to stop following you via my blog as I keep getting two “new post” messages each time.
you are getting through to the asylum switchboard Bob, not sure who mans it these days though, there is just a chance it might be someone who knows a bit about canals……….
It’s certainly been an adventure
Cheers
Bob