Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal
THE Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal (known as the ‘Staffs & Worcs’), which opened in 1772, was one of the earliest built by the great canal engineer, James Brindley.
Its winding course highlights his preferred engineering method of following the land’s contours rather than climbing over and through obstacles. His canals are also distinctive for beautifully crafted brick bridges, many of which are now Grade II-listed. The Staffs & Worcs was built to carry cargoes of coal, steel, carpets and other materials that scarcely fit its green ambience.
Brindley planned a ‘Grand Cross’ through a network of canals linking the rivers Mersey, Trent, Severn and Thames. The River Severn was England’s busiest river, transporting cargo from Bristol to the Midlands. Its furthest navigable point was Bewdley, where goods were unloaded from boats on to tiny horse-pulled carts that clumsily clopped to land-locked destinations beyond. Following a Parliamentary Act of 1766, Brindley started building the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal to link the River Severn to the Trent. To keep construction costs tight, he hitch-hiked the route the River Stour had already carved on its way into the Severn so the hamlet of Lower Mitton was swamped by new canal development and the growth of an important and affluent canal town, Stourport-on-Severn.
When the steam train was first invented, it was a brutal rival that stole trade from the ‘slow’ canals. Two centuries later, steam railways have become heritage attractions alongside many waterways. The Severn Valley Railway runs from Kidderminster to historic Bridgnorth.
The Staffs & Worcs is renowned among boaters for its distinctive winding route with red rock perilously overhanging the water. The stretch that meanders from Wolverley, just beyond Kidderminster, to Stourton Junction can rival anywhere along Britain’s canals for sheer appeal. The canal bends almost back on itself, curling under a mass of red sandstone.
It’s said that the intriguing small cave beside Debdale Lock was chiselled into the rock to provide overnight stabling for boat horses. But others claim they’ve spotted Santa in there around Christmastime too! This canal’s quirks continue with a row of cottages precariously perched above the short Cookley Tunnel.
A stone erected by the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal Society marks the border between Worcestershire and Staffordshire just before Whittington Lock and its pretty lock cottage. Visitor moorings announce the canal’s arrival at Kinver. Kinver Edge, with its distinctive rock cave houses, is now looked after by the National Trust.
Cave houses were once dug into the soft red sandstone of the area and lived in up to the 1960s. A restored house gives visitors an insight into Victorian life as a cave dweller, while another tempts you to tea and – what else? Rock cake!
Perched above Kinver looking down from a green woodland oasis, Hyde Lock is one of Britain’s most idyllic canal locks. And beyond the short Dunsley Tunnel, a mere 25 yards long, Stewponey Lock and its quirky toll house are reached. At Stourton Junction, the
Stourbridge Canal heads off to the east and the canal’s surroundings become increasingly rural towards Greensforge.
At Bratch Locks, the octagonal toll office once took passage payments from working boats carrying heavy goods for the Industrial Revolution. The three locks are formed as a staircase flight and their navigation makes an interesting challenge. Luckily, during holiday season there’s usually a lock keeper to show even novice boaters how simple it is!
The canal skirts the edges of Wolverhampton, through Compton, before plunging back into more rural surroundings. At Aldersley Junction, the Birmingham Main Line, part of the Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN), heads off to the east. And Autherley Junction is where the Shropshire Union Canal heads north-west.
A very narrow rock cutting called Pendeford Rockin’ will keep anyone at the tiller alert. The canal builders didn’t allow room for two boats to pass easily, and there are special passing places if a boat meets another coming the other way.
A brief encounter with the hurried world of cars above on the M54 motorway is a solitary clue to the proximity of Wolverhampton. The canal wiggles along past the entrance to the former Hatherton Branch, a chemical works and under numerous pipe bridges to Gailey.
The tower-shaped building next to
Gailey Top Lock was once the lock keeper’s cottage, and today houses a small gift shop. Continuing northwards under the former Roman Road Watling Street, now the A5, the canal descends through another couple of sleepy locks, before Rodbaston Lock jolts the senses as two worlds meet where it lies right alongside the M6 motorway.
The names of the many pubs in Penkridge tell the town’s history in a nutshell. The Littleton Arms dates from the 18th century, named after the Littleton family who dominated the locality for generations. The building once held great balls for local aristocracy, and less salubriously took taxes from villagers and held criminals to justice.
Progressing from the golden age of coaching, the Railway Tavern was named after the railway that arrived in 1837. But the Horse and Jockey reminds visitors that more than 400 years ago the town was most famous for racehorses and its annual horse fair.
Leaving Penkridge behind, the M6 crosses the canal again, scarcely noticing the boats below. The canal ambles peacefully alongside Teddesley Park. Although the building has been demolished, it is thought-provoking to remember that Teddesley Hall was used as a prisoner-of-war camp during the Second World War.
After Deptmore Lock, there’s a