Introduction
It was
a bright, mild day in February 2002. I had been down on the canal
towpath and walked from Factory Junction at Tipton Green to Anchor
bridge in Coseley. There I left the canal to catch a local bus.
As I stood at the bus stop I noticed a man, also waiting for
the bus, watching as I removed some mud from my boots and I hastily
explained to him that I had been walking along the canal. He
thought for a moment and then remarked that, although he had
lived in Coseley for over fifty years, he had never been down
onto the canal towpath.
Later, thinking
about what the man had said, I reflected on the many years that
I had lived in Coseley. During that time I had been down on the
canal sketching and painting, mainly around Deepfields, but had
not really taken much notice of the changes taking place.
Much has happened, during that time, to the canals nationally,
but what of the canal that runs through Coseley and Bradley -
What has happened to that?----------------------
Thus
this project began!
Over the next
two years I researched the history of 'our cut', completed new
paintings and sketches and found out previous ones, finally getting
a book printed containing copies of the paintings and sketches,
old maps and photographs, and historical notes.
What
follows is a summary of all that.
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The
front cover of the book |
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James Brindley's original 1772 contour
canal, this stretch being called The Wednesbury Oak Loop. The
lower section (narrower on the map) running through Bloomfield,
Princes End and Bradley has been abandoned, filled in and built
over. |
The remaining BCN at Coseley and Bradley
in 2002. Note Thomas Telford's 1837 improvement (the lower straight
section) which reduced the milage and was instumental in the
part closure of the Wednesbury Oak Loop (now the Bradley Arm). |
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Raymond
with some of the canal paintings
and holding the draft canal book. The final book was printed
in portrait form. |
Raymond
at the Black Country Memories Club in September 2003 talking
to Trevor Genge, President and Alma Derby, Secretary |
A Selection of the
Paintings and Sketches
Baker's derelict coal wharf |
Pothouse Bridge |
 Old Joseph Sankey Building |
Capponfield Basin |
Negotiating Anchor Bridge |
Wallbrook Bridge |
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