LHP

Sadly now demolished and new housing built.

Fantastic thread folks. In 2011 I succeeded in getting English Heritage to list the "Aston Manor Tramways Depot" in Witton, Aston Birmingham. It is a full Grade 2 listing and protects both the exterior and the interior. Don't forget that track still survives in Darlaston near the entrance of the old depot and that on the Kinver light railway roadside route many wooden tram poles now act as electricity wire carriers, you can identify them by the clamp grooves still extant at the top where the catenary was suspended. Also some magnificent tram track survives near the tenements in Barrow in Furness.

Your description isnt really correct. There were around 13000 day (Also known as "Joey") on the BCN at the peak, both of wooden or iron construction. Many were double ended with provision to hang the "ellum" (rudder) from either end, all were fitted with steerers platforms. Some would have a bulkhead between the cargo and the steerer. the single ended boats tended to run longer distances and could have quite a shpely bow. Approx 50% of the boats had some sort of cabin, all these had a stove with some sort of bench seating, the odd few had cupboards and bed provision. There were many distinct types, Bantocks built three distinctive types, the early being single ended wooden bottom and composte sides (wood and iron) with a shapely bow, the next roughly the same baut all iron, the latter more functional. Hickmans built a very rudimentary boat double ended, then Harris of Netherton built very cheap boats using second hand plate often sporting filled in portholes. The LMS has shapely boats built by Yarwoods for interchange traffics whilst the GWR used a fleet shared with Bantocks. the wooden boats were also highly distinctive, those from the massive fleets of Yates (400+) being sub leased to other firms but with distictive carvings denoting their origin in the breastoak. Ernie Thomas boats were the same. When towing in the main the mast was "stepped" to one side to assist the steering unlike conventional boats which had upright masts. The livery and style of decoration was completely different to the main canal system, quite how this came to be is a mystery but boats were painted in a manner more reflecting mediterraen styles. The cargo could be anything, coal was a main cargo but the boats carried anything that needed to be moved, from liquids to pottery. On the 473ft level some boats were built in excess of normal dimensions being up to 85ft long and over 8ft wide, these were known as "Hampton" boats and moved coal from the Cannock coalfields. The boats were treated as such, not as skips and docked regulary, they had a rough life but needed to be efficent and functional. It is a pity that many railway modellers ruin their layouts with ill presented canal scenes, the canals and the boats were a as precise in detail as any loco or region, the day boat is unique in that there were so many they often would be disposed of into maintenance use and as such can appear a long way from home, it is not unusual to see one in grand junction canal pictures in the London area or on the Thames.

One other thing about the flght not obvious to the passing eye is that the turnover bridge acessing the Ridgeacre branch which was at the top lock is gone. The abutments remain but the bridge itself can now be seen spanning the entrance arm of canal at the Black Country Museum. Quite why British Waterways removed a bridge in use on a usable canal still remains a mystery!

Hi, Yes I do! "Working Boats" vol 2. There is a whole colour sequence mainly took on the 8 locks showing Thos Clayton's motor tanker "Towy" taking gas tar from Walsall gas works up the flight, also there is a horse drawn open joey boat converted from a Fellows, Morton & Clayton butty. Film was shot in the early 1960's.

Just a word of caution, the Ryders Green flight is not typical of the common BCN lock type, it has seen many changes over the years, some have second hand equipment and are varied in construction. The best flight to study for a common locks used in the BCN area is the Rushall flight. The Ryders Green flight saw some of the last proper traffic in the sixties with a mixture of long distance and local day boats passing through. Today it is kept smart but needs badly dredging, our working boat draws 3ft 3" and we have grounded out near Azda too many times!

A host of photos maps and information from historians and experts can be found here, free to join : http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/CanalScapeBCN/

A host of photos maps and information from historians and experts can be found here, free to join : http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/CanalScapeBCN/

The last picture here shows the site of Mitchards boat dock. Most of the equipment from this site is now forming the "Castlefields dock" in the Black Country Living Museum. The firt defunct basin through the first bridge on the Walsall canal was Albion railway canal interchange basin of which the structure still exists. This particular area was a minor network of interconnecting arms formed from the original course of the Wednesbury old canal. There was for instance a "Izons" loop. Regards, Laurence Hogg www.laurencehoggproductions.co.uk

Those rubber gangways are the shape they are probably due to inferior rubber being used. They will almost certainly become brittle and damage way too soon. This is a problem that has been around for years and affected some USA models.