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Restoration Plan: Lapal West; Phase-1 |
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Restoration Plan: Lapal West; Phase-1 |
WP 1 : The Hawne Section [LWH] :
[insert map of Hawne Section]
This [ ] yards ([ ]m) long Section commences at ‘Peppers Bridge’, adjacent to Hereward Rise and includes the length of navigable waterway adjoining Hawne Basin and also the channel through the site of the Newbank Engineering works, adjacent to Mucklow Hill. It has been identified as the Phase-1 project in keeping with the general strategy to restore the Canal incrementally away from Hawne Basin, even though at the time of this edition of the Plan a Sub-section of the Phase-2 length in Leasowes Park has now been restored as a ‘linear lake’. This Phase-1 length has three distinct Sub-sections (and two distinct orientations).
WP 1.1.1 General - LW1
Although the canal through this Sub-section is navigable, it is included in the Plan for the reason that many of the issues relating to the adjacent derelict Hawne - North Sub-section [LW2] directly relate to this stretch of waterway. From the start of the Sub-section at Peppers Bridge [LW0; LW1A], the canal is in a good navigable condition as it runs alongside Hawne Basin. The channel adjacent to the Basin is presently utilised by the Coombeswood Canal Trust as linear moorings.
Peppers Bridge was erected in [ ] by the Halesowen Abbey Trust. It is part of the Halesowen Greenlink Initiative and forms an important link within the Coombes Wood “Green Wedge”, providing pedestrian access from the towpath (and also from the adjacent Hereward Rise) to Mucklow Hill and then across the (busy) A459 to Leasowes Park.
From near to Hawne Basin to the Heywood Bridge (which is buried beneath the A459 Mucklow Hill dual-carriageway), the canal is flanked by industrial premises to the East, and engineering premises, including Walter Somes Forge and the Newbank Engineering Works, on the West. The urban/industrial surroundings of the Phase-1 length are in sharp contrast to the splendid scenery of the Phase-2 length through Leasowes Park.
At [ ] yards ([ ]metres) is located Burton’s Bridge [LW1B], which leads the towpath over the entrance to Hawne Basin. A winding hole sufficient to enable a 70’ boat to turn into the Basin is located directly opposite the Bridge. Burton’s Bridge is unique in its construction as it features interlocking cast iron coping plates on top of the side retaining walls. Hawne Basin is ideally located, being approximately half way along the entire 11 mile length of the Dudley No.2 Canal. The facilities and amenities at Hawne Basin are typical of a large mooring and would, no doubt, be heavily utilised by passing traffic along a restored Dudley No.2 canal
WP 1.1.2 The Towpath
For the entire length of the canal to the western portal of Lapal Tunnel, the towpath was situated on the right-hand side of the canal (as one proceeds along the navigation from Netherton). Access along this entire Section is, however, restricted to a point just short of the entrance to Hawne Basin. It will be necessary to determine the question of access along this Section to the satisfaction of all involved before the canal can be re-opened, recognising (amongst other considerations) Coombeswood Canal Trust’s need to maintain security at the basin.
WP 1.1.3 Tasks
Subject to the resolution of the access issue along this length, there is little work to be done over and above routine dredging and maintenance; on the off-side, a steep embankment leads up from the canal to the rear of the [ ] industrial estate and is littered with debris and rubbish, some of which has no doubt found its way into the canal.
WP 1.2.1 General
The second Sub-section is very recognisable as a derelict canal and still retains stagnant water at navigation level. A steel girder bridge [LW2B] immediately to the south-west of Hawne Basin, has been collapsed for many years and its physical restoration would appear to serve little purpose. But, were it not there to block the channel, this Sub-section appears to be capable of clearance, perhaps by volunteers, to become 'navigable' again; although significantly overgrown and strewn with rubbish, very little effort would be required to clear this length and address the necessary ‘corridor’ works (i.e. towpath clearance and shrubbery management). Although the absence of adequate vessel winding width in this Sub-section might prove troublesome, for the present time this length could be usefully utilised by Coombeswood Canal Trust as additional linear mooring.
WP 1.3 Hawne - South [LW3] :
WP 1.3.1 General
Mature trees growing in the tall, offside (eastern) embankment approximately delineate the stanked-off limit of the Hawne North Sub-section [LW2S; LW3A] as the line turns a full ninety-degrees into Hawne-South. From this point to within a few yards of the Heywood Bridge, the line is fenced off, completely filled-in and is currently part of the substantial Newbank premises, occupied by a yard and a number of pre-fabricated factory units; one of which straddles the line of the channel [LW3F]. For the time being, this physical blockage continues to represent a significant, but not insurmountable (in the long term), obstruction to the incremental restoration of navigation to the Western Approach away from Hawne Basin.
WP 1.3.2 Redevelopment of Newbank
In recent years, however, several would-be developers have submitted plans for the redevelopment of this site and although none have been ratified for action at the time of writing, most have included provision for the reinstatement of the canal. LCT are actively promoting the redevelopment potential of this area, having noted the dereliction hereabouts and the growth of leisure/service based facilities in the vicinity (e.g. [ ]). When the canal was a working waterway, a wharf (“[ ]”) was situated approximately where the factory unit now straddles the channel. Here, the canal was slightly wider than the ‘normal’ width of channel along this Section (no doubt in order to accommodate boats being moored at the wharf). The expanse of surrounding land would accommodate not only the full-width restoration of the wharf (if this was felt desirable) but would also allow an imaginative integrated (perhaps leisure orientated) redevelopment. Moreover, it is worth noting that along the immediate length of currently navigable (and redundant but restorable) canal in this area, there is a distant lack of suitable short-stay visitor mooring. This fact should be given due consideration when the question of appropriate channel width through this Sub-section is considered.
[Consider proposal to swap towpath at Peppers Bridge along Hawne Basin and through a redeveloped Newbank to link up with the non-towpath walkway in The Leasowes].
WP 1.4 Heywood Bridge [LWHB] :
The Heywood Bridge [LW4] only exists in part, under the A459 (“Mucklow Hill”), though visible parapets either side of Mucklow Hill seem to indicate otherwise. Since the canal became disused, the A459 has been widened to its present, dual-carriageway width so that the former bridge hole only spans about half the requirement. It has been under-filled to the height of its arch in order to bear the traffic load of the road above.
There is ample width and headroom from the water line to the level of the roadway to allow for the construction of a fully navigable channel and towpath. Were it to be reconstructed as a useable tunnel again, Heywood Bridge would provide a much-needed pedestrian access 'underpass' for this busy road, even if constructed before the canal is re-instated through the Newbank site to Hawne Basin. Conversely, the bridge could accommodate an extension of the Leasowes 'linear lake', to the point where, perhaps, a temporary pedestrian access could join the towpath from the north carriageway footpath.
Near to where the A459 carriageway crosses the line of the canal on the Newbank side, the retaining walls of the former channel can clearly be seen, converging to form the ‘narrows’ which was situated under the former bridge-hole [LW3N]. During the working life of the canal, these narrows accommodated a single gate stop-lock, which was designed to automatically close in case of a breach on the nearby Leasowes Embankment. When this Sub-section is eventually restored, a replacement stop-gate will be installed to provide the necessary protection for the canal on this side of the embankment.
WP 1.5 The Leasowes Section [LWLP] :
This Section includes the first restoration project and extends some [ ] yards from Heywood Bridge through The Leasowes Park to the A456 Manor Way.
WP 1.5.1 Leasowes Embankment [LW5] :
WP 1.5.1.1 General
The 500-yard [?] Leasowes Embankment, now restored by LCT as a 'linear lake', straddles the Leasowes Park valley standing approximately 60ft above Breaches Pool. Believed to have been the first earth-fill embankment of its kind at this elevation, it is a splendid example of the localised measures that were taken to achieve level continuity for a contour canal. Leasowes Park is a Grade I listed Park and is the subject of admirable proposals to restore it to its former eighteenth century glory when it then existed as a landscaped garden designed and occupied by local poet, William Shenstone.
WP 1.5.1.2 Heywood Bridge
Having noted the purpose of the project to restore the Park, LCT recommends that consideration be given to designing an appropriate ‘face’ to a newly constructed Heywood Bridge [LWHB], sympathetic to the surrounding location.
WP 1.5.1.3 Wildlife Haven
At the beginning of this Section, LCT created an isolated section of canal in order to provide a shelter for wildlife during the construction works [LW5A]. The wildlife haven stretches for approximately [ ]yards ([ ] metres) and is separated from the restored Section by an earth ‘coffer’ dam [LW5C]. The haven will remain in place until this Section can be connected with the main system on the other side of Mucklow Hill.
WP 1.5.1.4 A Restored Leasowes Embankment
The refurbished Leasowes Embankment [LW5E] - the restoration of which was planned and supervised by LCT - stretches for approximately 500 yards in length. An attractive spill weir is situated next to the coffer dam on the north side, near to the visitor car park (off Leasowes Lane). When the canal was functional, the weir was used as a means of regulating water levels along this stretch; a short culvert routed any excess water spilling across the brick-lined pan and then via an open ditch which led down the side of the embankment to the Breaches Pool below. It was originally intended that this weir would be utilised as the means by which this Section of canal could be drained down, as well as to act as the mechanism for regulating water levels generally. However, a closed-circuit television survey of the culvert showed that the route down to the pool had been severed (presumably when the adjacent car park was constructed in the 1970s[?]) and thus necessitated the construction of an alternative arrangement, situated at The Leasowes Narrows [LW6N]. Nevertheless, the spill weir was completely overhauled by volunteers from the Waterway Recovery Group during a camp at Easter 1996, although it will function solely as a cosmetic feature for the foreseeable future.
In the years since the embankment was last in-water as a viable navigation, it has continued to settle and this has necessitated a significant engineering solution to meet modern restoration requirements. Both sides have been stabilised to a hard edge based on thick concrete walling with a cosmetic traditional engineering brick capping. At bed level, the walls have additional concrete footers that secure an EPDM membrane (a heavy duty 'plastic' sheet), which is covered in geo-textile (a heavy-duty fabric or 'carpet') to provide a watertight lining. An aggregate of stones and sand has been laid on top, to provide a natural base for aquatic plant-life to flourish. Having restored the embankment with a dual, hard-edge (i.e. vertically sided) profile, additional safety measures have been provided in the form of short vertical ladders at regular but alternating, intervals.
The towpath proceeds along the western flank and a complementary footpath on the eastern flank overlooks the Leasowes Park, below. Both have been re-profiled and resurfaced to complete the restoration. The offside footpath affords spectacular views of the parkland and Clent Hills and is a very popular recreational walkway. Almost this fact alone led LCT to identify this embankment Section as the candidate for the first restoration initiative.
At the far (Manor Way) side of the embankment, the line of the canal swings away from the Park and into a small cutting. At the foot of this cutting, the retaining walls for the canal on the off-side have been reinforced by a [ ] yards length of concrete bagging. As part of the restoration, this section of bagging has been realigned and its height increased by the addition of more bags. The precarious and winding path along this non-towpath side of the canal has, on safety grounds, been lowered to run along the top of this length of bagging.
The width of the towpath is such that cycling along this Sub-section could be legitimately incorporated but only up to the point of the Leasowes Narrows [LW6N].
In order to ensure the integrity of the embankment and, indeed, to maintain the visual splendour of this 500-yard [?] stretch, the mooring of boats will be prohibited along its entire length.
Strategy Plan Phase-1 Phase-2 Phase-3 Parkland Backland Meander Heritage Flank Western Approach Canal : West West Hawne Basin / Leasowes Park Abbeyfields St Mary's Eastern Approach Canal : East East Battery Park / Selly Oak Park Lodge Hill Weoley Castle