@@LHCRT I realised that there may be ladies and was on the point of editing my post, but couldn't see any in the video, so left it unchanged. I am a grey haired engineer myself, albeit not a civil engineer, so realise that there are lots of talented ladies in our profession. The point I tried to make was that the gentlemen were making decisions in split seconds that would require anyone, who hadn't done it a hundred times before, hours or days of consideration. In any case, God bless you all, old, young and whatever your gender.
@glynnwright1699 thank you. One day, I'll get in a video. I'm a non-grey (so far) haired woman, but work full time so I'm always at work when these are filmed. 😂
Beardman clearly has an excellent engineering mind. It’s great to see all these old boys not only contributing their technical knowledge here but also getting physically stuck in!
What things are being lost today that we will be reinstating in years to come? I hope we have all learned something from losing precious items in the past.
A challenging section. Great to see the forward planning that went in prior to road construction. Just a pity things got a little out of alignment when the road was actually constructed.
Congratulations you guys deserve a medal for all the hard work you all are putting in its a shame that the students are not helping you so they can learn as Apprenticeships construction workers
Drove past it the other day on my way to the old fresh water pumping station, just this Friday last. Love the tidy work, the concrete pads and the intricate rebar, passion and excellence, one question I have about the AFC, you say you will prevent vehicle intervention, how will that look exactly, sorry to be awkward, but that’s a mean piece of engineering, looking at the artist’s impression that intervention looks pretty slim.
@thoughtsonnarrowboatingwit3882 the artist's impression is just to give a concept for how it might look. We are currently drawing up the plans to be submitted for the planning application, so the wall will be constructed to the specifications that the county council requires - whatever that might be. 🤷♀️
@ ah yes, that’s what I thought, I think my comment was more excitement in seeing how this all comes together. I heard Amey mentioned, will they be the approved construction company doing the job…
It would be good to be able to do a day or two for you as I am a ex bricklayer stone mason, but currently on the Macclesfield canal, we run a cafe from our boat.
@prestoncrewnarrowboaters8619 give us a shout when you're due to be in the area. You'll need to fill in our volunteering form first so make sure you contact us a week or so beforehand.
I'd really like to meet the owners of the house on the corner and discuss the implications of the restoration. I'm guessing that they might have thought that if they didn't cooperate, that the project wouldn't proceed.
Was the landowner of the adjacent lot unwilling to sell a sliver of their garden? That seems like it would have been a much easier solution than this curved lock.
@@LHCRTthat's a shame it would have been an amazing legacy for what would have been a relatively small sacrifice. I would have gifted it in a heartbeat, I guess we are just built differently.
It should not have been built that way in the first place. They should have left a wedge cut out of that corner to let the canal through. The canal was there first. The canal trust should have automatic rights to that land. The owner of that garden has stolen what rightfully belongs to the canal. If i lived there i would gladly offer a tiny bit of that corner of the garden to the canal. Its hardly anything. 1/2 a metre if that.
@@simontay4851 You're missing it. The yard was there along with the original canal. The road is what was put in at a new angle covering a portion of the old canal. The original canal path continues on the other side of the road for a bit, and then goes into a part of town that has been completely developed over making it unusable. What they're building is a new turn to follow the edge of this road and rejoin the original path at Fosseway. The engineering could have been simpler if that person sold them a wedge of land, but it was not taken from the old canal at any point.
@@thepilgrim4473 that all depends on funding. If we knew we had a committed amount of funding, we could complete it in about 10 years. Have a read of our FAQs: lhcrt.org.uk/faq/
I was following this project religiously up to a couple of years ago. Then something changed,maybe the person making videos ??? First clip I’ve seen in forever.
@Bloodgod40 the site was under the control of the developers until the road was completed and the site was open to the public, but in the meantime, we've been concentrating on other sections of the canal.
As the canal lock was uncovered to survey it, why weren't proper markers put in place that would be properly visible after the lock had been back filled? Then the people who put those saplings in would have known not to go beyond a certain line, saving the time consuming effort, and possible cost, needed to dig them up and replant them somewhere else. Ifnthis work is to be done by L&HCRT volunteers then that time wasted doing that could have been better used on something more important. I hope that that wall that is going to be mere inches from the road and is going to be protecting the traffic from going into the lock is going to be reinforced concrete as a brick wall isn't, and its going to be dangerous for narrowboat users or anyone using the lock if a vehicle hits a brick wall sending debris into the lock. This wall could also have been built at the same time as the foundations for it were put in. Seems to me amlot of wasted opportunities were wasted here.
@jamesbeckwith3639 there's a lot to unpack here, so excuse me if I miss anything. The main thing to understand is that there were two organisations involved when the bypass was built. We liaised closely with the councils contactor and the developer, but we weren't allowed free access while work was ongoing as it was a construction site. The clip you see in this video was one of the few times we had access. Once the road was opened, the canal route was open to the public. So although we added markers at the time, we need to check that they are still in the correct place. In terms of the saplings, they were part of the planning conditions for the housing estate, which was unfortunate but had to be complied with, however we are happy to relocate them. The retaining wall has been built with reinforced concrete and the additional retaining wall will be part of the planning application so we will build it to the specification that the county council requires. I hope that has covered all your queries.
I drive past here regularly and notice that the garden wall with the metal railing juts out past the line of the garden fence. Is this on the house owners land, or is it extending past it..?
@PK_Blinder I believe that it extends past the boundary of their land but it's been there long enough to now be theirs by adverse possession. (I can't be sure though.)
Assuming this gets completed, what precautions will be in place to prevent a family-filled car going into the water? The little section/freeboard of the retained wall would not stop the occupants of a rolled car, or a motorcyclist from potentially drowning. No doubt an engineer somewhere is worth his money but the sketches showed otherwise.
@kevinchamberlain7928 the sketches are just an artist's impression. The full plans are yet to be finalised and the retaining wall will need to be approved by the council during the planning application process.
@@LHCRT In which case the sketch has an oversight by not showing a barricade of some sort. My guess is the "artist" had not considered this but I'm pretty sure an engineer would. I've a been in formwork for many years and in my experience the guys who really know are the engineers and the formwork carpenters.
@kevinchamberlain7928 the artist is an engineer, but the sketch was never intended to form part of the plans. It's just an early concept drawing to show what the lock might look like. We'll get the full design drawn up, which will be the one that forms the planning application. 👍
Maybe a silly question, but if you have to basically rebuild the lock anyways, why not just relocate it a bit to the southwest where there's more space available?
@@LHCRT I understand that. But rebuilding the lock to a wedge shape, with a two-level chamber (if I have interpreted the plans correctly), moving (and possibly widening) the gate, constructing a completely new bywash, ... drastically alters not only the appearance but also the mechanics of the lock. That doesn't sound like "retain heritage features" anymore. Plus the cramped location right next to (almost underneath) the bypass road isn't exactly pleasant either, so probably very few visitors will stop to admire what's left of the original lock. At that point, moving the lock and rebuilding it as close to original as possible feels more appropriate. That would actually retain more of the original, and it would be easier (and thus possibly even cheaper overall) to build without all the restrictions imposed by the current location. Particularly as there is a perfectly suitable new location "just around the corner" (quite literally).
@ and another thing: that two-level chamber is basically an enormous sill running along the length of the chamber. Even just with normal lock sills there are mishaps with grounded/capsized boats - this arrangement (while quite interesting and unique) would seem to increase that risk exponentially. And it would make it almost impossible to navigate the lock single-handed, as the stern of the boat must be securely pulled towards the north wall to keep clear of the sill while emptying the lock from the bow side. Just widening the whole chamber would presumably consume too much water; even now it already requires a pumping station, which in turn increases complexity and running costs. So from an engineering and operational perspective a relocation would seem to make more sense as well.
I don’t want to sound like a troglodyte, but what is the cost justification for reinstating this old-fashioned infrastructure? Is it purely for leisure and tourism?
Leisure, tourism, wellbeing, biodiversity, net zero, flood attenuation, keeping the rest of the canal network alive (look at the Wyrley and Essington). Plus not forgetting we are self funded, we don't receive any Government funding.
Aren’t there still enough existing canals, locks etc in uk to show your children and grandchildren something of the past ways….. Why more needed in 2025?
@nishnet8882 this can explain it better than I can in limited characters: canalrivertrust.org.uk/canals-and-rivers/what-are-the-benefits-of-canals-and-rivers
Once you consider that, it's important to understand that we are reinstating the link between the Wyrley and Essington Canal and the Coventry Canal. So we will be opening up the nature and boating corridor from the Birmingham canals to the north of Staffordshire and beyond.
@LHCRT It used to be steamlocoscrapper but the foamer fanboys got so upset, I changed it for them. To be fair I have also worked on a heritage line on steam loco preservation. But the issue at stake is, do we need a canal revived in this location, and will the LHCRT be able to maintain it. Or will it be passed to the CRT who seem barely able to maintain the system on the income that is generated. My view is the BWB to CRT transition was back door privatisation and has led to underfunding in the sector. One only needs to look at things like the Bridgewater breach, which is Peel holdings rather than CRT, but the question is whether Peel will want to fork out such a large sum to repair an asset that does not generate income. It highlights the issue of maintenance of major infrastructure with little income generation, and whether the system will continue to fall into disrepair or whether the land can be used for something else.
@PreservationEnthusiast it is definitely needed as we are linking up the Wyrley and Essington Canal to the Coventry Canal, opening up the Birmingham navigations to Staffordshire and beyond. At this point it's unlikely that CRT will take it on, so we will probably be the navigation authority, but time will tell. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it (excuse the pun).
@nishnet8882 we are self funded. All our income comes from donations, membership fees and grants etc. We do not get any Government funding. As for benefiting a handful of hobbyists.... Canals add value throughout the country from increased tourism, leisure and wellbeing, increased biodiversity and net zero benefits and flood attenuation
@@LHCRT lol no not you! My comment was directed to the original poster! Thanks for replying, have a great day and I wish you and all of the trust members the best of luck with this process.
Men with grey hair and lots of expertise using their experience to bring joy to their grandchildren, what a noble cause. God bless you all.
@@glynnwright1699 plus lots of women and others without grey hair. We've got a diverse crew of volunteers. 😊
@@LHCRT I realised that there may be ladies and was on the point of editing my post, but couldn't see any in the video, so left it unchanged. I am a grey haired engineer myself, albeit not a civil engineer, so realise that there are lots of talented ladies in our profession. The point I tried to make was that the gentlemen were making decisions in split seconds that would require anyone, who hadn't done it a hundred times before, hours or days of consideration. In any case, God bless you all, old, young and whatever your gender.
@glynnwright1699 thank you. One day, I'll get in a video. I'm a non-grey (so far) haired woman, but work full time so I'm always at work when these are filmed. 😂
It will never be finished for they grandkids 😂😂
@Sheet-Stores-Erewash ye of little faith.
(Some of haven't even got grand kids yet.)
The sound on this episode was really good, and the speakervoice was excellent. Keep the vids coming 🙏
Very interesting video thanks for sharing. Keep up the great work all. Looking forward to seeing the next video 👍
Beardman clearly has an excellent engineering mind. It’s great to see all these old boys not only contributing their technical knowledge here but also getting physically stuck in!
And younger men and women too 😊
th-cam.com/video/ffD_t2N1Tgs/w-d-xo.htmlsi=eS8BbqVwwJ6kLsqO
Just need to reinstate the trainline from Walsall to Lichfield and all will be perfect, as it once was.
Enjoying following along from New Zealand. Very exciting seeing the tops of the walls being uncovered
I am enjoying this and look forward to more videos. cheers from Oz. x
All power to these people as they restore a canal that was all but destroyed.
Excellent work well done team
Thanks, interesting challenge, great vision. Looking forward to updates.
What things are being lost today that we will be reinstating in years to come? I hope we have all learned something from losing precious items in the past.
A challenging section. Great to see the forward planning that went in prior to road construction. Just a pity things got a little out of alignment when the road was actually constructed.
@cwmbc sadly it had to be that way to fit.
Congratulations you guys deserve a medal for all the hard work you all are putting in its a shame that the students are not helping you so they can learn as Apprenticeships construction workers
@@PaulDavidGatford we have got some college students lined up to help. But maybe not on this project. We shall see.
I love heritage. Keep it at all costs 💪🏻
Keep up the amazing work!!
Happy to see the England is saving its canals.
An excellent explanation .
Remarkable achievement.
Prehaps not adided by a no doubt hardly used, extra wide cycle way on the opposite side.
That's a path for pedestrians. I imagine it had to be that wide as there won't be a path on the canal side.
Navvies in Hi-Vis!
Drove past it the other day on my way to the old fresh water pumping station, just this Friday last. Love the tidy work, the concrete pads and the intricate rebar, passion and excellence, one question I have about the AFC, you say you will prevent vehicle intervention, how will that look exactly, sorry to be awkward, but that’s a mean piece of engineering, looking at the artist’s impression that intervention looks pretty slim.
@thoughtsonnarrowboatingwit3882 the artist's impression is just to give a concept for how it might look. We are currently drawing up the plans to be submitted for the planning application, so the wall will be constructed to the specifications that the county council requires - whatever that might be. 🤷♀️
@ ah yes, that’s what I thought, I think my comment was more excitement in seeing how this all comes together. I heard Amey mentioned, will they be the approved construction company doing the job…
@@thoughtsonnarrowboatingwit3882 for the retaining wall? I'm not sure - but the council might insist on it.
@@LHCRT yes, the retaining wall… it’s just a very interesting proposal…
I'm fascinated of Brits Canals, in Italy we have such a beautiful places but no canals
@Frank. You do actually Naviglio Grande and Naviglio Pavese in Milano and the Fiumicino outside Roma.
@ actually no nobody use boats in these canals .
@ Certainly in Milan but I think there are boats on the Roman canal.
It would be good to be able to do a day or two for you as I am a ex bricklayer stone mason, but currently on the Macclesfield canal, we run a cafe from our boat.
@prestoncrewnarrowboaters8619 give us a shout when you're due to be in the area. You'll need to fill in our volunteering form first so make sure you contact us a week or so beforehand.
lhcrt.org.uk/volunteering/volunteer-with-us/
Remember everyone to buy your raffle tickets - although I am hoping this week's draw is for me. - Hoorah!
PS by my reckoning - I own 3 nuts and half a pint of hydraulic fluid in the new digger. I'm so proud.
@@rotinkerbell awesome 😄
I'd really like to meet the owners of the house on the corner and discuss the implications of the restoration. I'm guessing that they might have thought that if they didn't cooperate, that the project wouldn't proceed.
Was the landowner of the adjacent lot unwilling to sell a sliver of their garden? That seems like it would have been a much easier solution than this curved lock.
@@cmmartti Sadly not. 😞
@@LHCRTthat's a shame it would have been an amazing legacy for what would have been a relatively small sacrifice. I would have gifted it in a heartbeat, I guess we are just built differently.
It should not have been built that way in the first place. They should have left a wedge cut out of that corner to let the canal through. The canal was there first. The canal trust should have automatic rights to that land. The owner of that garden has stolen what rightfully belongs to the canal. If i lived there i would gladly offer a tiny bit of that corner of the garden to the canal. Its hardly anything. 1/2 a metre if that.
They should be forced to sell a tiny bit of their garden. Compulsary purchase it.
@@simontay4851 You're missing it. The yard was there along with the original canal. The road is what was put in at a new angle covering a portion of the old canal. The original canal path continues on the other side of the road for a bit, and then goes into a part of town that has been completely developed over making it unusable. What they're building is a new turn to follow the edge of this road and rejoin the original path at Fosseway. The engineering could have been simpler if that person sold them a wedge of land, but it was not taken from the old canal at any point.
What would life be without challenges 🙂
So any ideas as to when the entire canal, end to end, will be open for business?
@@thepilgrim4473 that all depends on funding. If we knew we had a committed amount of funding, we could complete it in about 10 years.
Have a read of our FAQs:
lhcrt.org.uk/faq/
I was following this project religiously up to a couple of years ago. Then something changed,maybe the person making videos ???
First clip I’ve seen in forever.
Nothing has changed since we started the channel in 2013. Almost all the videos are made by the same person. Are you subscribed to the LHCRT channel?
Don't let persimmon homes anywhere near the canal. There homes are shocking.
What happened between the section prior to 3:33 and the rest of the video? COVID?
@Bloodgod40 the site was under the control of the developers until the road was completed and the site was open to the public, but in the meantime, we've been concentrating on other sections of the canal.
Why didn’t u move the houses back before they were built???
@@johndownie9385 move the houses?
As the canal lock was uncovered to survey it, why weren't proper markers put in place that would be properly visible after the lock had been back filled? Then the people who put those saplings in would have known not to go beyond a certain line, saving the time consuming effort, and possible cost, needed to dig them up and replant them somewhere else. Ifnthis work is to be done by L&HCRT volunteers then that time wasted doing that could have been better used on something more important. I hope that that wall that is going to be mere inches from the road and is going to be protecting the traffic from going into the lock is going to be reinforced concrete as a brick wall isn't, and its going to be dangerous for narrowboat users or anyone using the lock if a vehicle hits a brick wall sending debris into the lock. This wall could also have been built at the same time as the foundations for it were put in. Seems to me amlot of wasted opportunities were wasted here.
@jamesbeckwith3639 there's a lot to unpack here, so excuse me if I miss anything.
The main thing to understand is that there were two organisations involved when the bypass was built. We liaised closely with the councils contactor and the developer, but we weren't allowed free access while work was ongoing as it was a construction site. The clip you see in this video was one of the few times we had access. Once the road was opened, the canal route was open to the public. So although we added markers at the time, we need to check that they are still in the correct place.
In terms of the saplings, they were part of the planning conditions for the housing estate, which was unfortunate but had to be complied with, however we are happy to relocate them.
The retaining wall has been built with reinforced concrete and the additional retaining wall will be part of the planning application so we will build it to the specification that the county council requires.
I hope that has covered all your queries.
I drive past here regularly and notice that the garden wall with the metal railing juts out past the line of the garden fence. Is this on the house owners land, or is it extending past it..?
@PK_Blinder I believe that it extends past the boundary of their land but it's been there long enough to now be theirs by adverse possession. (I can't be sure though.)
@@LHCRT 😒So the wall maybe cant be removed but the soil underneath could mysteriously be moved and the foundation of the wall be compromised... 🤔😉
@@PK_Blinder ooh naughty! 😂
Can "Karen Madeley from Accounts" help Rachel to find some extra dosh here...?
😊 other than our fundraising, we have to apply for grants to get additional money.
Have a look at our FAQs:
lhcrt.org.uk/faq/
Assuming this gets completed, what precautions will be in place to prevent a family-filled car going into the water? The little section/freeboard of the retained wall would not stop the occupants of a rolled car, or a motorcyclist from potentially drowning. No doubt an engineer somewhere is worth his money but the sketches showed otherwise.
@kevinchamberlain7928 the sketches are just an artist's impression. The full plans are yet to be finalised and the retaining wall will need to be approved by the council during the planning application process.
@@LHCRT In which case the sketch has an oversight by not showing a barricade of some sort. My guess is the "artist" had not considered this but I'm pretty sure an engineer would. I've a been in formwork for many years and in my experience the guys who really know are the engineers and the formwork carpenters.
@kevinchamberlain7928 the artist is an engineer, but the sketch was never intended to form part of the plans. It's just an early concept drawing to show what the lock might look like. We'll get the full design drawn up, which will be the one that forms the planning application. 👍
@@LHCRT Yes, I understand but if completed/approved it will also have barricades in place on the drawing. Thanks for the feedback.
It will indeed 👍
Maybe a silly question, but if you have to basically rebuild the lock anyways, why not just relocate it a bit to the southwest where there's more space available?
As Derek says at 24:15, we always try to retain heritage features wherever possible.
@@LHCRT I understand that. But rebuilding the lock to a wedge shape, with a two-level chamber (if I have interpreted the plans correctly), moving (and possibly widening) the gate, constructing a completely new bywash, ... drastically alters not only the appearance but also the mechanics of the lock. That doesn't sound like "retain heritage features" anymore.
Plus the cramped location right next to (almost underneath) the bypass road isn't exactly pleasant either, so probably very few visitors will stop to admire what's left of the original lock.
At that point, moving the lock and rebuilding it as close to original as possible feels more appropriate. That would actually retain more of the original, and it would be easier (and thus possibly even cheaper overall) to build without all the restrictions imposed by the current location. Particularly as there is a perfectly suitable new location "just around the corner" (quite literally).
We'll see what comes out of the final plans. 👍
@ and another thing: that two-level chamber is basically an enormous sill running along the length of the chamber.
Even just with normal lock sills there are mishaps with grounded/capsized boats - this arrangement (while quite interesting and unique) would seem to increase that risk exponentially. And it would make it almost impossible to navigate the lock single-handed, as the stern of the boat must be securely pulled towards the north wall to keep clear of the sill while emptying the lock from the bow side.
Just widening the whole chamber would presumably consume too much water; even now it already requires a pumping station, which in turn increases complexity and running costs. So from an engineering and operational perspective a relocation would seem to make more sense as well.
@@stephanweinbergersome one who talks some sense at last
Your comments make so much sense and would be the way forward to deal with this situation
Could be as much fun for single handers as the octagonal lock on the Oxford or the turf locks on the K&A.
Shame they can horse-trade some land with that homeowner for the corner of their garden to make things easier.
Didn’t have a clue what you were talking about🤣🤣👍
What a mess
I don’t want to sound like a troglodyte, but what is the cost justification for reinstating this old-fashioned infrastructure? Is it purely for leisure and tourism?
Leisure, tourism, wellbeing, biodiversity, net zero, flood attenuation, keeping the rest of the canal network alive (look at the Wyrley and Essington).
Plus not forgetting we are self funded, we don't receive any Government funding.
@ thank you
You're welcome.
Aren’t there still enough existing canals, locks etc in uk to show your children and grandchildren something of the past ways….. Why more needed in 2025?
@nishnet8882 this can explain it better than I can in limited characters:
canalrivertrust.org.uk/canals-and-rivers/what-are-the-benefits-of-canals-and-rivers
Once you consider that, it's important to understand that we are reinstating the link between the Wyrley and Essington Canal and the Coventry Canal. So we will be opening up the nature and boating corridor from the Birmingham canals to the north of Staffordshire and beyond.
What they need to do is demolish the canal at this point and cover it with housing.
@@PreservationEnthusiast I'm guessing your TH-cam account name is ironic?
@LHCRT It used to be steamlocoscrapper but the foamer fanboys got so upset, I changed it for them. To be fair I have also worked on a heritage line on steam loco preservation.
But the issue at stake is, do we need a canal revived in this location, and will the LHCRT be able to maintain it. Or will it be passed to the CRT who seem barely able to maintain the system on the income that is generated. My view is the BWB to CRT transition was back door privatisation and has led to underfunding in the sector.
One only needs to look at things like the Bridgewater breach, which is Peel holdings rather than CRT, but the question is whether Peel will want to fork out such a large sum to repair an asset that does not generate income. It highlights the issue of maintenance of major infrastructure with little income generation, and whether the system will continue to fall into disrepair or whether the land can be used for something else.
@PreservationEnthusiast it is definitely needed as we are linking up the Wyrley and Essington Canal to the Coventry Canal, opening up the Birmingham navigations to Staffordshire and beyond. At this point it's unlikely that CRT will take it on, so we will probably be the navigation authority, but time will tell. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it (excuse the pun).
Our country’s economy collapses, while all this money gets wasted for dreams of reliving the past for a handful of hobbyists…🤯
@nishnet8882 we are self funded. All our income comes from donations, membership fees and grants etc. We do not get any Government funding.
As for benefiting a handful of hobbyists.... Canals add value throughout the country from increased tourism, leisure and wellbeing, increased biodiversity and net zero benefits and flood attenuation
The canals are for everyone to enjoy, not just a small number of people.
Oh I bet you're a real bunch of laughs at parties.
@ what us? Well, we like to think so, you can meet more of us in this video 😊
th-cam.com/video/ffD_t2N1Tgs/w-d-xo.htmlsi=eS8BbqVwwJ6kLsqO
@@LHCRT lol no not you! My comment was directed to the original poster! Thanks for replying, have a great day and I wish you and all of the trust members the best of luck with this process.