Content © Staffordshire &

Worcestershire Canal Society

1959-2010.

Map © Sparrow Publishing.

An introduction...

 

Prior to the industrial revolution transport had been mostly confined to packhorses and wagons, or unreliable river navigations that despite rudimentary modifications and lockage were still at the mercy of the weather for much of the year.

The advent of the industrial age exposed the need for a system of mass transportation to satiate the demands of the new order. It had to be reliable, efficient and cheap. But above all it had to be on a huge scale. Widely regarded as the inspiration for a frenetic period of waterways construction now referred to as ‘Canal Mania’ the Bridgewater Canal owes its existence to Francis Egerton 3rd Duke of Bridgewater who, together with his agent John Gilbert and millwright James Brindley sought to solve the problem of transporting coal from his father’s mines at Worsley near Manchester. The result was a lock-free canal, the first section of which opened in 1761. The Bridgewater Canal proved a fantastic success and other canals rapidly followed.

 

The name of Brindley was subsequently widely associated with many early canals. It was he who proposed a visionary ‘Grand Cross’ scheme of interconnecting the rivers Mersey, Humber, Severn and Thames by means of artificial waterways, a scheme that approached fulfilment in 1777 with the completion of the Trent & Mersey Canal.

 

The Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal (SWC) is the brainchild of the energetic Brindley. It runs for a little over 46 miles between Great Haywood, where it meets with the Trent & Mersey Canal, and Stourport, where it locks into the River Severn. 31 of its 43 locks raise it some 292 feet from the river to a 10-mile summit between Compton Lock and Gailey before the remaining 12 locks lower the line to Great Haywood Junction.

 

The canal was built using Brindley’s contour method in which the waterway wherever possible followed the natural level or contour of the land. This method kept navigational artefacts such as locks, tunnels and aqueducts to a minimum but did mean that the overall distance travelled was greater than necessary, with corresponding additional costs. Some half a century later the engineer Thomas Telford almost single-handedly redefined canal construction by his brash confidence in taking his canals in as direct a route as possible. Consequently the overall distances travelled were reduced dramatically, as epitomised by his modifications around the Birmingham Canal Navigations where, for example, the distance between Birmingham and Wolverhampton via Brindley’s original twisting course was reduced by about seven miles by Telford’s ‘New Main Line’. Simplistic comparisons between the two great men are, however, not entirely appropriate since the earlier construction was of a time when large centres of population were not so common and the convoluted route allowed outlying settlements access to the new transport medium which they otherwise would not have enjoyed.

 

Prior to the arrival of the SWC the confluence of the River Stour and the River Severn was denoted by the diminutive hamlet of Lower Mitton. With the advent of the Staffordshire & Worcestershire canal the hamlet witnessed a dramatic expansion; the burgeoning new development took the name of Stourport after an alehouse in the old village and this was later extended to include reference to both rivers as Stourport On Severn. Stourport is thus one of a handful of towns that owes its very existence to the arrival of a canal.

 

From the time the canal’s enabling Act was passed in May 1766 construction was rapid. Few major obstructions were encountered and the line was complete within six years. It was an immediate financial success offering a direct route from the northwest to the south via the industrial Midlands, a role it exploited almost undisturbed until the arrival of the Birmingham & Liverpool Junction Canal (now part of the Shropshire Union network) in 1835. The newcomer offered an alternate, more direct, route to the River Mersey from Autherley, where it met with the SWC and the northern section of the SWC beyond Autherley suffered particularly in consequence. The Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal Company responded to this with crippling tolls on the short stretch between Autherley and Aldersely, where the line via Wolverhampton accessed the Birmingham Canal Navigations, and it was only the threat of other companies conspiring to build an aqueduct as a by-pass that the Company relaxed its grip. The situation remained unsettled and the threats were repeated over the next few years with the SWC Company inevitably yielding each time.

The power station at Stourport was instrumental in the SWC remaining profitable until well into the 20th Century and a major cargo was coal from the pits at Cannock. The closure of the power station in 1949 was a serious blow and although commercial carrying continued on the Autherley-Aldersley section until the 1960s the canal’s trading days were effectively over.

SWC was classified under the Transport Act 1968 as a ‘cruiseway’ and in 1969 the entire length was declared a Conservation Area. As a result many of the canal’s historical artefacts have survived and in some cases undergone substantial improvement. Plans for Stourport include a major regeneration of the riverside area and some of the ancient canal basins are being reclaimed.

Some of the canal’s other artefacts are particularly noteworthy. Bratch Locks are a glorious example of the canal builder’s skills and are unique on Britain’s waterways. They comprise a set of 3 individual locks that are not a ‘staircase’ but are set so close together that it is impossible for boats to pass between the locks. The secret of the operation is the side pounds. Tixall Wide, at the northern end, is an idiosyncratic solution to the local landowner’s condition that his view must not be blighted by a canal. Clifford Thomas, owner of Tixall Hall (now lost) insisted the canal be disguised so instead the line here more resembles a lake than a channel. The northern end of the summit level is marked by Gailey Roundhouse. Built around the 1800s and formerly used by the lock keeper the example at Gailey is the last of these distinctive buildings to remain intact on the SWC. It is now a shop.

At Pratt’s Wharf (Bridge 10A) a single lock once enabled boats to access the River Stour and the Wilden Ironworks. Negotiating the Stour in flood, or ‘going down the brook’ as the boaters called it, must have been a terrifying experience. The lock closed around 1949.

Stourton Junction sees the Stourbridge Canal spur off from the SWC via four locks on its journey to the Birmingham Canal Navigations. The Town Arm of the Stourbridge Canal is now home to Stourbridge Navigation Trust (SNT) and Fellows, Morton & Clayton (Trips) Ltd.

To the north of Wolverhampton the Hatherton Branch once linked with the Cannock Extension Canal, and hence the Birmingham Canal Navigations, via Churchbridge Locks. It is currently undergoing restoration.

Near Stafford, the River Sow was connected around 1806 via a lock and a short stretch of canal directly into the town of Stafford itself. Long abandoned, there are proposals to restore this stretch. A short distance to the south of the Sow, the Hazelstrine Branch was small section connecting with a brickworks. It is now home to Stafford Boat Club.

The Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal passes almost exclusively through rural or semi-rural landscape; even when it broaches Wolverhampton it does so by merely skirting around the edges. It is a splendid example of an early canal and is arguably one of the prettiest in the country. This, together with its easy access to the River Severn and the rest of the system, makes it very popular both for boaters and towpath users alike.

Graham Fisher MBE

 

History...

 

The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal was an early canal, being opened throughout for traffic in May 1772. Built by the great canal engineer James Brindley, it was a part of his 'Grand Cross', a far sighted scheme to link the ports of Hull, Liverpool and Bristol by connecting up the rivers Mersey, Trent and Servern

The Total length of the canal from Stourport to Great Haywood is a little over 46 miles. The Canal climbs from the river Severn, following the valleys of the river Stour and then the Smestow Brook before reaching it's summit level of 340 feet at Compton Near Wolverhampton. Having crossed the watershed of Central England, the canal then follows the Penk and Sow valleys on its way to Great Haywood and the Trent valley.

 

A vast variety of goods including coal, steel and carpets were carried along the canal in commercial carrying days. The trade declined rapidly after the second world war and by the 1950's the traffic has more-or-less ceased and the British Transport Commission gave notice that they wished to close the canal completely

However thanks to the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal Society, which was formed in 1959, the canal was saved and has now become one of the major leisure waterways of the country