2 minute read
History
A stroll down Tardebigge way
With its impressive sweep of 30 locks, the longest lock flight in Britain, a stroll along the Worcester & Birmingham Canal at Tardebigge offers a walk packed full of history.
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The Tardebigge flight ascends/descends 220 feet over a distance of three miles. It’s an arduous journey for those on narrowboats but a pleasant amble on foot. Tardebigge Wharf is as good a starting point for our walk as any. Passing this way in 1900, we may have seen one of the Canal Company’s four steam tugs departing through the tunnel. At busy times as many as 10 or 12 boats would be brought through, whilst the animals were led overland along well-trodden tracks. The tugmen lived in four cottages nearby. One of the original tugs, the ‘Birmingham’ built in 1912, is on display at the Wharf. Join the towpath on the opposite bank and proceed along the canal, overlooked by Tardebigge church, which is worth a detour if you have time. At Tardebigge Top Lock (No. 58) a plaque commemorates the founding of the Inland Waterways Association (now the Canal & River Trust) on the W&B in 1946. After passing under London Lane, the Tardebigge flight begins in earnest, with locks coming in quick succession. To the left of the towpath is Tardebigge Lake, a feeder reservoir that offers panoramic views towards the Malvern Hills. In the early 1900s there was an Engine House here with steam engines that pumped water from the reservoir up to summit level at New Wharf. As we descend the flight, we come to Halfway House bridge (No. 51) and the lock-keeper’s cottage with its back entrance onto the towpath below Lock 43. Built in 1830, the Halfway House was a public house and a small farm stretched alongside the towpath. Boaters could shelter their animals in the stables for 6d. a night and the pub sold homemade beer and cider. The landlord from 1890 to 1919 was William Thompson. He passed it on to his son Tommy, who continued to run the farm and pub until his death in 1963, when the pub closed. Today the Halfway House is a holiday let. The Tardebigge flight ends at Tardebigge Bottom Lock, where there are boat moorings and a little further on the Queen’s Head. Besides the pub and its stables, in 1900 this housed a forge and Bate’s Wharf, named after John Bate who was a local blacksmith and later the licensee. He is said to have turned the pub into an off-licence and shop to protect his children from bad language. If you’re feeling energetic, you can continue on past Stoke Locks to the Navigation Inn on Hanbury Road. Or – perhaps after a little reviver at the Queen’s Head – retrace your steps up this amazing local landmark. For the Canal & River Trust’s walking guide to Tardebigge and Stoke Prior visit www.canalrivertrust.org.
