Lichfield & Hatherton Canal Restoration Trust
Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2020 9:47 pm
When the travel restrictions were first lifted during the current pandemic that we are facing; while I was looking forward to travelling up to my own restoration projects, I took a look at a much bigger project. Living in the heart of what is referred to as 'The Black Country' I have always loved the canals and while many people know that there is around 100 miles of canals in that area, many don't know or realise that there used to be an additional 60 odd miles on top of that total.
There are the remains of some disused canals still in existence today although many have been completely filled in and built on, however there are some canals country wide that are being restored to life and the nearest of these to me is the Lichfield Canal.
This canal once ran from Ogley Junction off the Anglesey Branch canal which is near to Brownhills and it passed through Lichfield to eventually join the Coventry canal at Huddlesford Junction.
The whole of this canal is under restoration although the task is beyond comprehension in as much as it will have to cross several roads through new bridges as the old ones have been demolished, this includes crossing the A38 near to Lichfield.
I went along again today, this time to take a quick look at Huddlesford Junction which is currently the only part of the canal that is navigable by boat, sadly you cannot walk along this part as it has for the moment been turned into a marina which probably stretches for the best part of half a mile.
The first four of my photos are from Ogley Junction, the first photo shows Ogley Junction branching off to the left of the photo, the second taken from the bridge shows the canal coming to an abrupt end, the third shows the sign and the fourth is a view of the bridge.
Jeremy
There are the remains of some disused canals still in existence today although many have been completely filled in and built on, however there are some canals country wide that are being restored to life and the nearest of these to me is the Lichfield Canal.
This canal once ran from Ogley Junction off the Anglesey Branch canal which is near to Brownhills and it passed through Lichfield to eventually join the Coventry canal at Huddlesford Junction.
The whole of this canal is under restoration although the task is beyond comprehension in as much as it will have to cross several roads through new bridges as the old ones have been demolished, this includes crossing the A38 near to Lichfield.
I went along again today, this time to take a quick look at Huddlesford Junction which is currently the only part of the canal that is navigable by boat, sadly you cannot walk along this part as it has for the moment been turned into a marina which probably stretches for the best part of half a mile.
The first four of my photos are from Ogley Junction, the first photo shows Ogley Junction branching off to the left of the photo, the second taken from the bridge shows the canal coming to an abrupt end, the third shows the sign and the fourth is a view of the bridge.
Jeremy