Content © Staffordshire &

Worcestershire Canal Society

1959-2010.

Map © Sparrow Publishing.

Fascinating Facts

A few fascinating facts about the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal

Much of the canal’s water supply is from the post-treatment outfall of the Barnhurst Sewage Works near Wolverhampton. The works are situated on the summit level of the canal and so water can drain in one of three directions across the watershed of England. This means that Barnhurst water is equally likely to make its way to the River Severn, the River Trent or, via the Shropshire Union Canal towards Ellesmere Port and the River Mersey.

The discharge water from Barnhurst is said to be pure enough to drink, though the Society is yet to encounter anyone who admits to trying this.

 

The sandstone through which much of the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal is cut is over 200 million years old.

Stourport once had six basins. After years of being infilled some are being restored and reclaimed as part of major redevelopment of the town.

 

The Tontine at Stourport is a listed structure. A Tontine was a form of bond in which the sum increased as each member of the agreement died. The last survivor received all the money. Perhaps this was the manner in which the canal was funded and the former hotel is where they met.

 

Bratch Locks help negotiate the Orton Hills.

The origin of the name Stewponey has never been accurately explained. Suggestions include a corruption of Estepona, referring to an early connection with the Spanish town of the same name, and stewpons which were medieval ponds used by monks for keeping carp as a food supply.

 

From 1772 to 1948 the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal was run from the same offices of 87 Darlington Street, Wolverhampton.

 

The generally-held idea that Brindley wanted to terminate his line at Bewdley rather than Stourport but was stymied by local opposition is countered by the fact that to do so he would have had to either cut a tunnel longer than that at Harecastle or construct an inordinate amount of locks between Wolverley and Bewdley; neither being an attractive option.

The Hatherton Branch opened in 1841 and was named after its Chairman, Lord atherton.

 

The Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal Company was so successful that it managed to pay a dividend to shareholders right up to nationalisation in 1948.

 

Cottages at Hyde, near Kinver, are known to have been inhabited by nail makers as early as 1410AD. They dammed the Stour and drew water from it for power, many decades before the advent of the town of Telford’s accolade as ‘birthplace of the industrial revolution.’

The Stour was made navigable in the 17th Century by Andrew Yarranton. He is reputed to have died when he fell into a vat of cider following a drunken brawl.

Each bridge on the canal is both individually named and numbered.

Great Haywood Junction links the waters of the Irish Sea, Bristol Channel and North Sea