Ladywood Bridge.
basil | 11/13/2005 | 9:55 pm
Ladywood Lock Bridge.
Ladywood Lock Bridge was a typical Brindley structure built to carry the local horse drawn traffic. When 40 ton lorries started using it the Council Highway Engineers became worried. It was a very steep hump back structure which the local youth could ‘Fly’ across.
It was decided to demolish it and infill the canal with a small culvert.In the 1960’s Nick Grazebrook and I arranged a meeting with Mr Thomson the Chief Engineer and we persuaded him to build a raised concrete raft which would give us full navigation height and width. We took advantage of the meeting to have the Body Brook under the M5 culvert design enlarged to give Narrow Boat dimensions.
It was remarkable that Brindleys simple brick spring arch bridge safely carried enormous loads. Max
Salwarpe Culvert.
A brook flows under the canal through the Salwarpe Embankment. The flow can be considerable at times. After two centuries the bricks were crumbling and we decided to hold a Waterway Recovery Group summer work camp. The structure was opened up, not before time, and new abutments built. A raft of old bakery plastic trays was constructed to keep the workers feet dry. New walls were cast and a slab roof, both ends were rebricked in keeping with the old work. On the left a brick drain leads up to the bed of the canal which is sealed with a wooden plug. Lowering water levels at Ladywood Lock reveals the plug and a chain,out of the sight of vandals. The workers became known as The Canal Mining Group. Max
