Category Archives: Canals

Architecture, Canals, Local History

The End of Black Cock?

Well, if that doesn’t get the search engines going, nothing will.

I’ve made end of cock jokes here before, of course.

Black Cock Bridge is being rebuilt repaired. Definitely repaired, not rebuilt.

It’s being repaired, because, well, it dates from 1920ish in it’s current form and is, well, fucked. Or well fucked, take your pick.

It’s a bit of a landmark, and quite a thing to drive over, or to cycle over. It’s steepness is due to it being jacked up over the years to accommodate the canal banks getting raised (by around 4ft 8in, 1.4m or so, it is rumoured) due to subsidence. If you want to read the full details on that, Brownhillsbob covered it over a decade ago in impressive detail here.

I’d been meaning to go and take a look at the bridge: there’s been a lot of noise as the corroded steel has been cut out.

Here’s a view of the west side of the bridge. You can see the wooden beam that the steel deck used to rest on (and see how rotten the wood is). The steel was in an even worse state, from photos others have taken. You can also make out the layers of brickwork as the walls were built up when the deck was jacked up.

Black Cock Bridge under epair
A view of the west side, where the steel deck used to sit on the wooden beam.

and here’s a view of the west side, without the bridge deck there, you can see where the jacks fitted to raise the deck.

Black Cock Bridge under repair
A view of the east side, showing the jacking recesses. The boards are a temporary deck for users to work from and to stop stuff falling in the water.

The there’s this odd bit of tarmac cut out, just down the slope; I wonder what work was carried out under here?

Black Cock Bridge under repair

The fact the bridge is being repaired, not rebuilt, is interesting. Many local bridges have been replaced, most notably the next one up at Clayhanger, in 1994, which was previously very similar.

The problem here is that there isn’t enough room to do that kind of job here: the approaches are too steep and everything is too close, so a new bridge will not meet modern standards and still fit.

It’s been pointed out that you could probably do it by taking the canal over the road on an aqueduct, but the chances of that being done for a minor road are pretty minimal because of cost.

Hence, it’s a repair, and one that will actually leave the bridge narrower by 8in/400mm, and looking rather like the nearby Hollander’s Bridge, which is closed to traffic. Now, it is true that Queen St carries less traffic than Green lane, but one can’t help wonder if Black Cock Bridge will end up closed, as has been mooted before now.

Mere speculation, but it would not surprise me.

Canals, cycling, Life

Back in the Saddle

I was up early, for a Saturday, and I needed both some exercise and to visit a pharmacy to collect a prescription. A quick Google told me that Tesco Brownhills’ pharmacy was open from 8am, so off up the towpath it was. In days gone by, I might have walked, but that’s hard going for any sort of distance now, so it’s back on the bike. A pleasant morning for a ride, so when the pharmacy said there would be a delay, I continued up the canal a short way (ordinarily, I might have gone for bacon, but my increasing girth means I forewent that today).

Further up the canal, the imperial measurement fuckwits had been about:

Beryl! The EU have been stealing our miles again!

I continued on to Slough Railway Bridge, a brief encounter with NCN5, and then through the industrial estate, down Engine Lane,

and back round to Tesco, with the cycling gods on my side- no stops at the junction or island.

A decent way to get a bit of exercise, avoid a bit of polluting the planet, and sort out an otherwise tedious task.

Canals, cycling, Life

A Short Spin

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I’d had to knock cycling on the head for a short while, due to a uncomfortable swelling in my trousers. My knee, to be precise.

So, it’s been a while. I got the bike out, wiped the worst of the crud off the chain, re-inflated the tyres, and got out. I managed to mount Black Cock without too much discomfort, and it was back on the towpath for the first time in a few months.

I was taking it easy; a physio recommended a turbo trainer, but I didn’t fancy it; I might not cycle that much, relatively, but I don’t think there’s an alternative for being outside. Plus, I already have more than enough clutter.

So, a very short ride. No further than Catshill Junction for a first spin. I was hoping to see Eyebrow Cat, because, frankly, he’s lovely and reminds me of my own QT, but he was presumably sleeping inside on what was, to be fair, a very cold day.

A short stop at Catshill:

Catshill Junction, and a muddy bike. No Eyebrow Cat, though.

And briefly thinking how sunshine can even make the tower blocks look attractive:

Hope that cladding isn’t flammable…

and a ride home.It’s good the be back on two wheels, however briefly.

Canals, Life, Technology

Ahoy hoy

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It’s not been a good week phone-wise: I managed to lose my Wileyfox Swift last Saturday, so bought a replacement- a Swift 2, which arrived on Tuesday. With it still shiny and new, I went out for a bike ride, and a slightly ill-advised overtake of a jogger resulted in the front wheel getting hung up on the ridges of the path, a slide down the bank, and an unscheduled swim; the first time I’ve gone into the cut in about 35 years of riding.

The canal isn’t as cold as you’d expect, but the ride of about 3 miles home dripping is still quite grim, as was my smell pre-shower. I have no idea if every bearing on the bike is now washed free of lubricant…

The bag of rice failed to resurrect the phone, so back to the old Galaxy S2 it was, and a double claim to the phone insurance. The phones are quite cheap, but doing 2 in in a few days stings a bit.

I’d not been totally happy with the Swift 2: it was dual-SIM like the original, but using a Micro-SD blocked one SIM slot, so I decided to go for a Lenovo Moto G5 Plus, which takes 2 SIMs and a Micro SD, and has a removeable battery, and, like the Wileyfox phones, keeps the bloatware to a minimum, staying quite close to stock Android; The big-name phones, for me, have too much added on, and I’m not going to void the warranty on a brand-new phone to remove it.

Canals, cycling

Chilly Out

I realise it’s winter, but tonight’s cold snap surprised me: I got changed, got gloves on, and got the bike out, and then when setting off had a surprise: the front gear mechanism literally would not move, and investigation found that it was frozen mud, rather than any mechanical failure. It seems this time I strayed too far the other side of sensible cleaning, and was foiled in my attempt tonight by the fact the outside tap had frozen too…

The ride itself was “bracing”, but it was a lovely still, crisp night, and the cold means fewer disturbances on the towpath: two brave souls fishing, and on the way back, one fellow cyclist, one deer, and a pussy cat that bolted and was about to consider trying to jump the canal at the narrow bit here, but reconsidered, and happily didn’t try to cross the ice, as it didn’t look that thick.

Getting to Chasewater, the gears had re-frozen partially, making the climb to the dam hard going, but a shove freed it, and the park itself was deserted: I would have stopped a while and enjoyed the peace, but the cold was also knackering the batteries in my lights, the front one of which doesn’t last long on full brightness (which would be very antisocial on the road) on a warmer night. Thankfully they lasted out, and I got home, then having to heat the shed padlock before I could lock it…

Canals, cycling, General, Life

Some you win

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Time I blogged a bit more…

A week of differing days: starting with a very long day, and a failed Internet connection and firewall migration (which had to be reverted), followed by another late finish, followed by a hospital appointment with a long wait (and having arrived early in order to park, that made it a very long one) and a vile, stop-start rush hour drive back through Brum, along with the accompaniment of an ominous rattle from the car, sounding like I was dragging a wind chime.

Today was improved: the rattle went, and after a check by my friendly local VW specialist, we agreed it was probably nothing more than a stone trapped in a brake disc shield, which then dropped out at some point. A grim drive from there to work, but then things start to improve later in the day: I did have a spare PCI ethernet card in my desk to connect a failing wireless network, the IPCop firewall PC did have a spare slot and the drivers for the card, I did know the password, and it all just worked, which meant a 4pm finish, and a surprisingly good journey home.

With a bit more time on my hands, it’s easier to persuade myself go for a quick spin on the bike to Chasewater. Rush hour was still in progress on the roads, but the towpath was literally almost deserted (I met one person, one cat and one fox in over 6 miles) and peaceful, but tough going after a week and a half not riding. The compensation for dragging my corpulent carcass out on a dark and relatively cold night is that I’ve reclaimed my towpaths from the armies of dog walkers, anglers, fair-weather cyclists, and pokemon hunters that are all over the place on the lighter, warmer evenings (though to be fair there was one pokemon hunter at Chasewater itself).

I’m now hoping my plan to leave early today (Friday) comes to fruition. A plan for the cinema, some beer and some food is forming….

Canals, Cars & Driving, cycling

Horny Cock

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Now I’ve got your attention, you’ll be disappointed.

The current roadworks on the A4124 have pushed a good bit more traffic over the amusingly-named Black Cock Bridge. Anyone that knows the bridge knows that it’s fearsomely steep- slightly less so than the pre-1994 Clayhanger Bridge, but still steep and narrow, and blind at the summit (this side is slightly less steep than the other):

This means that, except at night, it’s an appropriate place to use a car horn.

My recovery from surgery dictates that I should try to walk a reasonable distance each day, and a walk to the bridge and down the towpath is both not too inconvenient and fairly pleasant, but with the extra traffic it has revealed to me just how many people are both incapable of using the horn correctly, and indeed of realising why others might do so, and it is, as one might say, boiling my piss too a disproportionate degree.

For the record, as there’s not room for two cars to pass, the idea is to approach at a speed you could stop in, sound your own horn once, maybe twice, and listen for the same from the other side, so that only one of you passes the narrow bit, and causes the minimum of noise nuisance. This might mean, for example, muting the stereo.

The idea isn’t to approach fast, sounding the horn repeatedly, with a mobile phone held to your ear, just for one (twattish) example.

A few years ago, residents near the bridge wanted the bridge closed when a long-lost consultation took place, citing danger and noise. I had little sympathy, given that the bridge has been there longer than them, but really, with the number of idiots I’ve heard of late, I can hardly blame them.

Canals, cycling, General

A Frosty Reception

Having fixed my bike on Christmas Eve, I thought I’d take advantage of the daylight and fully functioning gears and go to Chasewater for the first time in months. The canal was frozen, and the towpaths covered in frost, but the only time I had a slip was climbing Ogley Junction bridge, making it neccesary to walk over it. Other than that, the frost hissed away under the tyres harmlessly, though I took it very carefully over the railway aqueduct, with it’s exposed brick path covered in frost.

I’ve biked a bit in the recent cold and since the fix, but only short hops on main roads, and it was nice to get back on the canal: few people were about, the sun was bright, and while it was cold, the sharpness of it felt good.

The local swan family were about, but split by the icy canal between Clayhanger and Anchor bridges the cygnets now pretty much fully grown but still grey in places, and hoping for food from me:

A fully-grown cygnet at Anchor Bridge
A fully-grown cygnet at Anchor Bridge

The neighbourhood cats around Ogley Hay were making use of the ice to cross the canal and extend their territory, but didn’t stay still long enough to get my gloves off and photograph them.

Chasewater itself was almost deserted: a couple of joggers and dog walkers- and the seats were all covered in frost or water, so I didn’t hang about. I didn’t even attempt to ride up Ogley Junction bridge this time, but it was still a bit of a game: evidently my cheap and nasty “whatever it came with” bike tyres, while a conmpromise most of the time, are better than one would expect on ice: perhaps bike and car tyres have some similarities at the budget end of the market.

I ended up home by 9:30- with cold hands and face, but feeling better than when I left out.

Canals, General, Life

Town and Country

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We’ve had a day off today, and went out for a walk: after a bus to Cannock, we walked back via a lane or two and Norton Canes, the Cannock Extension Canal, and a footpath over the fields from Pelsall.

It’s about time for a non-whinging post, so here goes.

As Bob has commented, you can find some lovely countryside so close to home, here in the West Midlands conurbation, especially on the canals. Excuse the slightly duff cameraphone photos.

Today we walked around 8 miles, and by far the majority was in country lanes, woodland, or canal towpath, in the sunshine, just when, like the Bumpkin, I was feeling summer had gone.

The Cannock Extension makes a nice walk- sadly it now terminates at the A5, after it was abandoned further up.

Canal
Cannock Extension Canal, 2/9/2010
Canal Basin
Grove Colliery Basin, 2/9/2010
Canals

A walk up the cut

We took advantage of the weather and had a walk up the canal to The Fingerpost, and passing by the Brownhills Canal Festival. If anything, it was actually a little hot for walking, but sitting at a canalside (both at the pub and when we had a break at the festival) was very nice, and I was able to quench my thirst with isotonic Stella.

The festival itself was pretty well attended for something taking place on a match day of that tedious sport known as football, and an F1 race. The weather must have helped.