Lichfield Lines Issue 28 Summer 2019

Page 1

Issue 28 www.waterways.org.uk/lichfield

Summer 2019

Lichfield Lines

Phil Sharpe presenting cheque to Lichfield & Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust

The newsletter of

IWA Lichfield Branch The IWA may not agree with opinions expressed in this magazine but encourages publication as a matter of interest. Nothing printed may be construed as policy, or as an official pronouncement, unless specifically identified as such.

The Inland Waterways Association is a non-profit distributing company limited by guarantee.

Registered in England no. 612245. Registered as a charity no. 212342 Registered Office: Island House, Moor Road, Chesham HP5 1WA Tel: 01494 783453 Web: www.waterways.org.uk

Lichfield Branch

Page 1

Lichfield Branch

Page 2

Branch Chairman’s Report - July 2019 I hope you have all been enjoying the summer weather to get afloat or otherwise visit our waterways. I have recently returned from an annual fortnight’s boating in France where the weather got rather too hot towards the end. Our one-way trip was down the Loire valley to Briare, with its impressive aqueduct, then the Briare Canal and River Loing, made navigable more than a century before Brindley started, with remains of the original locks in various places. These are ‘Freycinet’ gauge canals capable of carrying 350 tonne péniches but with little commercial traffic now remaining. But the contrast when we reached the Seine and the Yonne rivers was impressive with constant passage of barges carrying up to 1800 tonnes of sand, grain and other cargoes. Due to their greater size, the evolution of French waterways from freight to leisure is taking longer than in Britain but it was good to see more French families this year enjoying their own waterways for leisure to add to the already large numbers of other nationalities.

One thing that always impresses me is the age of many of the lock gates; often of riveted iron. Only now are they being replaced as locks are mechanised and automated. Whilst our wooden gates are traditional they have limited lives and I’m sure CRT could cut their costs considerably in the long term by using steel.

Back on our unique narrow canals, we will Sand barge at Varennes sur Seine have held a lock wind at Barton Turn again by the time you read this, and hopefully raised a few pounds for the cause as well as having an enjoyable day and barbecue. Our winter season kicks off in September with a walk then the first of several interesting speakers at our monthly public meetings; details below. We will also have a stand at the Huddlesford Heritage Gathering in September and be arranging a pre-Christmas lunch in December, with full details in the next issue or sooner on the website.

It is with great regret that I need to record, for those of you who haven’t heard, the sad news of the death of Ann Parkes, after a routine operation back in April. Ann was

Lichfield Branch

Page 3

one of the earliest members of Lichfield Branch committee and Secretary when I joined in 1988, remaining on the committee until 1993. She helped us at many subsequent social events and with husband Barry has been a great supporter of IWA over many years, attending our meetings regularly and frequently contributing with questions to the speaker. Ann was also an active member of Lichfield & Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust and travelled widely on continental waterways with the Waterways World cruises and lately other tours. Our condolences go out to Barry and their family. Ann will be sadly missed but fondly remembered.

Phil Sharpe Forthcoming Events Thursday 5th September 2019—Walk "Shuttington and the Coventry Canal."

This is an easy 5 mile walk with 2 stiles across farmland, on pavements, and along a towpath.

Leaving the car park we head downhill towards Shuttington bridge, and take a recently signposted path past Alvecote Pools Nature Reserve to join the Coventry Canal at Robey's Lane. We then head west along the tow path and leave it at the skew bridge, now heading north towards Amington Hall Farm. We soon change direction slightly to approach Statfold Farm. This enterprising business has its own Alvecote Pools Nature Reserve private railway, which is open to the public on selected weekends. We continue south-eastwards along a well-defined track, which marks the boundary between Warwickshire and Staffordshire. At a point marked as Laundry Cottages (now demolished) we head uphill back to our starting point.

Meet 10:15 for a 10:30 start in the car park of The Wolferstan Arms, Main Road, Shuttington, Warks. B79 0DP. Contact Clive Walker on 07866 201873 or clive.walker@waterways.org.uk Wednesday 18th September 2019 – “A Narrowboat on the Trent”.

An illustrated talk by John Lower. Following his well-received talk on the Chesterfield Canal, John returns to tell us about how we go about accessing it, based on his

Lichfield Branch

Page 4

personal experience of 40 years boating on the River Trent. 7.15 for 7.30 pm at Martin Heath Hall, Christchurch Lane (off Walsall Road), Lichfield, WS13 8AY. Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd September—Huddlesford Festival The bi-annual Lichfield & Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust’s festival will be held at the usual venue of Huddlesford at the junction of the Coventry Canal and the short arm of the Lichfield Canal.

The Branch will have a stand at the festival and any volunteers to assist in manning the stand will be welcome. Contact Helen Whitehouse on helen.whitehouse@waterways.org.uk or on 01543 491161if you can help.

Cromford Canal Beggarlee Extension

Wednesday 16th October 2019 – Cromford Canal: Planning for Restoration. An illustrated talk by George Rogers, Strategic Restoration Committee Chairman of The Friends of The Cromford Canal, looking at a mix of current and future restoration issues. 7.15 for 7.30 pm at Martin Heath Hall, Christchurch Lane (off Walsall Road), Lichfield, WS13 8AY.

Thursday 14th November 2019 Curdworth and Birmingham & Fazeley Canal Walk. This is an easy 5½ mile walk across farmland, on footpaths, quiet country lanes and the canal towing path. There are no stiles. Meet 10:15 for a 10:30 am start in the car park of The White Horse, Kingsbury Road, Curdworth, Sutton Coldfield, B76 9DS. Leaving the car park we walk in a westerly direction as far as Broad Bulk Bridge, at which point we leave the canal and head slightly uphill towards Wiggin Hill Cottages. We follow the quiet road towards Over Green. Passing the Cock Inn, we continue in a northerly direction towards Grove

Lichfield Branch

Page 5

End, where we pick up a route towards the pretty village of Wishaw. A kissing gate near Rookery Cottages leads us to a footpath that will take us back to the canal at Baylis's Bridge. Walking on historic ridged brick horse treads we pass through the short tunnel at Curdworth and return to the pub for refreshment. Contact Clive Walker on 07866 201873 or clive.walker@waterways.org.uk Wednesday 20th November 2019 – “Connections: South Staffordshire Railway, Rail and Canals”. An illustrated talk by Ian Pell, who has extensively researched the connections between this local railway and the canals. 7.15 for 7.30 pm at Martin Heath Hall, Christchurch Lane (off Walsall Road), Lichfield, WS13 8AY. Sunday 8th December 2019 – Branch Christmas Lunch

Save the date

Menu, price and booking details to follow.

Recent Activities Penkridge and Rodbaston College Walk - Thursday 9th May 2019 Ten walkers assembled outside the Cross Keys pub in Penkridge for this 5½ mile walk. The sky was overcast with slight drizzle as we left the car park at its entrance to the towpath. We initially headed south along the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal before leaving the canal at Lyne Hill bridge, close to Otherton Marina. A green lane took us westwards past new housing and, after passing underneath a disused colliery railway line (more about that later) we reached the busy A449. It had been planned to cross the carriageway and follow a footpath towards Mere's Lane Farm which would have taken us close to the site of the fort of Pennocrucium, a RomanoBritish predecessor to Penkridge. However, a preview of the route a few days before had shown that this path was overgrown and largely impassable, so we had to follow the main road instead.

After a few hundred yards we reached an access road to Rodbaston College used by staff members and students. Intriguingly, the OS map marks a moat on the left hand side of this road but it has now disappeared from view. Built around its 19th century Hall, Rodbaston College has been a centre of agricultural training for some time, since the War Agricultural Committee first acquired it in 1919. It is now owned by South Staffordshire College where according to their advertising they "create

Lichfield Branch

Page 6

precision farmers, zoo keepers, florists, engineers, equine managers and more". It is certainly a lively place with a working farm, equestrian centre, children's zoo and workshops. Posing in front of its impressive glasshouse, a student kindly took a group photo for us.

A public footpath winds through the site and we passed beneath one of two very large wind turbines before picking up a trail that took us over a stile and back on to the towpath at Rodbaston Lock. CRT have replaced the landing stage here as part of this year's winter maintenance programme.

This was the noisy section of the walk with the M6 looming overhead to our right. After half a mile we stepped up onto the Littleton Colliery railway line, which closed in 1993. Before the M6 was built coal was transhipped onto the canal near here.

The photograph shows a train crossing the canal and heading towards Cannock. Our route took us towards the left of the picture, along a pleasant tree-lined avenue.

We left the track at Otherton Lane and headed back towards our starting point, where we enjoyed some refreshments.

(Report and photos by Clive Walker) Hartshill and the Coventry Canal - Summer evening walk on Wednesday 17th July 2019.

By chance the annual summer walk centred on the canalside pub of the month in the July edition of Towpath Talk - The Anchor Inn at Hartshill. Described as "exceptionally boater-friendly" with "an amazing reputation for food and drink" we decided to order our food in advance, and fifteen walkers set off at a brisk pace at 6:15 in order to cover 4 miles, and be back in time for our 8 pm food slot.

At a cast-iron bridge, which once carried a mineral line over the canal, we negotiated a gate in the hedge and walked through a field of cows towards the West Coast Main

Lichfield Branch

Page 7

Line, which we crossed at a remote overbridge.

We were now heading northwards towards Caldecote Hall. The air was full of insects, and a few drops of rain helped to cool us down. We posed for a group photo near a brick bridge over the river Anker, with Caldecote Hall in the background. The hall and its previous owners the Purefoy family - have featured prominently throughout English history, not least when Colonel Purefoy, a Roundhead, became one of the signatories to the death warrant of Charles I. Turning right outside the estate village, we followed a wide track, that at one time must have served as a direct route between Watling Street and the quarries at Hartshill.

At another gap in the hedge we turned south-east and headed towards the triangular peak of Mount Jud at Judkins Quarry. Crossing the railway line at a further overbridge we eventually reached the Coventry canal close to bridge 24.

Here the canal winds a sinewy but scenic route between Nuneaton and Atherstone and we passed several moored boats along the way. We stopped briefly to admire the landscaping at Springwood Haven Marina, its sympathetically historic look, belies the fact that it is only twenty years old.

At this juncture we phoned the pub to announce our arrival in twenty minutes time.

The delicious food arrived quickly and we reminisced about where we could walk next July.

Report & Photos by Clive Walker

Work party 19th July 2019 The wettest day in July didn’t deter thirteen volunteers from turning out for our work party at Brindley Bank in Rugeley.

Our team strimmed, mowed, clipped, slashed and raked all the vegetation and grass that had become overgrown - and of course we got rid of the litter.

Several volunteers also decide to scrape away the vegetation that had encroached on the wharf and the old tramway.

The work party was long overdue as we haven’t had any volunteer support from CRT for many

Lichfield Branch

Page 8

months, mainly due to their internal upheaval. Our new CRT Waterways Manger (Keith Bradfield) went out of his way to ensure this work could go ahead, so we hope to be able to do more work in the autumn.

We are still waiting for the major towpath work to be started in Rugeley but understand this is now likely to begin Good turnout for the Work Party on a damp day in the autumn. This is a joint project by CRT/Cannock Chase District Council/Rugeley and Brereton Parish Councils and is part of a bigger scheme to link the canals to other ‘green’ routes in the areas. We are hoping that mooring improvements are part of the scheme but only have vague assurances!

Our Offside Vegetation Team are looking forward to starting work later this year.

They have had brilliant feedback from boaters for the work they have already done.

Over the winter of 2019/20 they will be working on the Coventry Canal from the Fradley area onwards, so if you see them while you’re out please give them a wave!

Report & Photos by Margaret Beardsmore Volunteer Coordinator, IWA Lichfield Branch.

Letter to the Editor I have encountered a situation recently about which I would appreciate other boaters' opinions.

One of my pleasures is to walk along the canal, windlass in backpack, find a lock and settle there for a few hours opening and shutting the gates for boaters who happen by. I don't actually take the boats through i.e. raise or drop the water levels while the boats are in the lock. I leave that to the owners.

Recently a CRT representative took a very dim view of what I was doing and told me that I needed to be CRT trained for insurance and health and safety purposes.

Lichfield Branch

Page 9

I am RYA trained and have been boating on my own and with crew for six years in my own boat. I thought this would be sufficient and can't see a problem with my opening and shutting the gates to help other boaters.

I would like to hear other people's opinions.

Lynn Evans

News from the Lichfield & Hatherton Restoration A garden party was held on Saturday 20th July to celebrate the award to the Trust of the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. All the volunteers who had played a part in the Trust being awarded the honour were invited. They were presented with a metal badge with the Queen’s Award logo in recognition of their efforts.

Whilst the party was taking place our Chairman, Phil Sharpe, took the opportunity to present to Peter Buck, the Trust’s Technical Director a cheque for £1,000, this was originally given as a bequest to the Lichfield IWA Branch from the estate of the late Peter Chandler who was a former chairman of the Branch. The committee had decided to donate this to the L&H to help with the cost of building the half sized narrowboat brick planter at Fosse Way with a suitable memorial plaque to be added.

There have also been two recent Waterways Recovery Group (The Wrgies) week long camps on the L&H. They did some fantastic work around Lock 18 at Fosseway and in other areas.

Lichfield Branch

Page 10

Towpath wall repairs—one of the Wrgies projects Photos Margaret Bearsdmore & Phil Sharpe.

Planning Matters This report covers the more notable of about 40 planning matters dealt with from mid-April to mid-July 2019. All of them are summarised in the monthly notes on the website Planning page.

On the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal a 2017 application to extend the gypsy caravan site at Brinsford Bridge, Coven Heath has finally been decided and refused. Meanwhile the Examination into the proposed West Midlands Interchange development continues and I attended a hearing at Cannock in June. CRT confirmed that residential use of the 10 long-term moorings at Gailey was not restricted and the Inspector’s subsequent questions showed an understanding that canal users are not just ‘transient’, and that walkers, anglers, boaters, moorers and canal businesses could all be affected by noise from the development. Other issues raised include drainage into and pollution of the canal, the heritage value of its Conservation Area, and assessment of the effect on wind conditions for sailing on Calf Heath reservoir.

Near the Trent & Mersey Canal in Rugeley, plans for the comprehensive redevelopment of the Power Station site are largely for housing, away from the canal, and with retention of the ‘borrow pit’ lake near Armitage Road for recreational use.

By the Coventry Canal a proposed new house would block the former track to the

Lichfield Branch

Page 11

Listed historic Amington Bridge 67 and we suggested an alternative layout allowing footpath access to be restored.

At Polesworth we have objected to further extension of a recently approved housing site onto canalside farmland off Grendon Road. And at Hartshill Yard the proposed new road access has been approved.

Coventry Canal at Amington Bridge 67 The Ashby Canal restoration has stalled recently due to Leicestershire County Council no longer having the resources to lead the project, so they have consulted on transferring their land ownership between Snarestone and Measham along with the Transport & Works Act Order obligations and responsibilities to Ashby Canal Association. We have supported this but asked that the transfer includes remaining funds, a capitalised maintenance payment, and the land containing the water storage lake provided by UK Coal. On the original canal route at Oakthorpe, an application for 12 holiday log cabins would increase traffic across a former bridge location and we have suggested it be conditional on a contribution to the future cost of a wider bridge.

On the Wyrley & Essington Canal at Brownhills, behind the Anchor Inn, a proposed 5G replacement telecommunications mast would have been higher, wider and much more intrusive than the present slim mast which is screened by trees. We objected and it has since been refused due to harm to the Green Belt, the setting of the canal and the amenities of canal users.

The Lichfield Canal restoration remains under threat from the Deanslade Park housing site as Lichfield & Hatherton CRT decided in the end not to take the Council’s planning approval to Judicial Review. This was partly due to the urgent need to work with the landowners on the railway tunnel, which has now gained planning consent, and the need to work with the Council long term if the project is to succeed. It is however immensely frustrating as I have worked on this over many years and there was a very good prospect of succeeding with the legal challenge. But notwithstanding the lack of co-operation from Taylor Wimpey at Deanslade, the Trust are now making progress with Persimmon on the St. Johns site. Recent amended plans now show in some detail how the canal can be integrated with the housing, road bridges and bypass

Lichfield Branch

Page 12

works, although persuading them to fund any more than just the bridges remains a challenge. A further challenge is to include proper provision for a canal bridge at Cricket Lane in connection with that development site, and recently revised plans still fall a long way short of what is needed. These 3 strategic development sites in south Lichfield were always going to either make or break the Lichfield Canal restoration project, and the reneging on the former support from the District Council to require the developers to provide the essential canal infrastructure has been both a shock and a disappointment. There remains a lot of work to do with the Council and the developers to avoid the Trust being saddled with up to a million pounds of extra expense for works that the Local Plan and Infrastructure Delivery Plan promised would be included.

Phil Sharpe, Planning Officer HS2 High Speed Rail Update – July 2019 The political debate about the future of HS2 rumbles on with more criticism of the project’s dubious business case, escalating costs and insensitive management, although the Government remains, publicly at least, committed to it. But by the time you read this we will have a new prime minister and things may have changed, with further delays for at least a major review being likely. Meanwhile, we can only continue on the basis that it will proceed and seek to minimise adverse impacts on the waterways.

To this end another meeting of the HS2 Waterways Working Group was held in April, bringing together IWA with CRT’s HS2 team and the waterway groups most affected including Lichfield & Hatherton, Lichfield Cruising Club, Ashby, Chesterfield, Erewash, Derby & Sandiacre and others to co-ordinate our information, actions and responses.

Phase 1 (London to West Midlands) The necessary ‘Notice to Proceed’ for Phase 1 has been delayed by the Government whilst it reviews the business case, so despite Department for Transport claims that construction is underway only preliminary works are taking place such as archaeology, demolition, vegetation clearance and tree planting. Land purchase continues although reports indicate a reluctance to actually hand over any compensation and, notoriously, many of the trees planted last year died in the summer heat due to lack of any watering.

Locally, HS2 has taken formal possession of LHCRT land at Cappers Lane, whilst Lichfield Cruising Club’s planning application for the new mooring basin etc. has been granted but the construction contract awaits HS2’s go-ahead and final agreement on price.

CRT have had meetings with contractors about preparatory works, mostly at the London end, and about detailed bridge designs in the Midlands, although the regular

Lichfield Branch

Page 13

meetings with Balfour Beatty Vinci have ceased whilst design work is stalled pending the Notice to Proceed (or cancellation!).

Phase 2A (West Midlands to Crewe) IWA’s response to the Phase 2a Additional Provision 2 consultation was detailed last time. CRT initially petitioned on dewatering, land take and impacts at Great Haywood, use of a canal bridge near Ingestre, a substation building at Stone, etc. but withdrew when agreement was reached on a ‘Side Agreement’ similar to that for Phase 1.

Following the Select Committee hearings, their Third Special Report was published on 7 June.

It reports IWA’s evidence on residential moorings and says it expects Government to provide a new compensation fund for narrow boat dwellers. It is critical of the Government’s refusal to provide a Great Haywood Marina looking towards the end where HS2 will 5 meter noise cross barrier at Great Haywood Marina, and expects the Trent-Sow Parklands & Cannock Chase AONB Group to find a solution to IWA’s concerns about noise. There is also reference to possible use of the Community Fund to upgrade the Trent & Mersey Canal towpath at Colwich.

The Promoter’s Response to the Select Committee Third Special Report, published on 24 June, says the Government will consider bringing houseboats into line with caravans for home loss payment entitlement; introducing regulations to compensate houseboat residents impacted by noise from rail works; and the use of non-statutory compensation measures in advance of legislation. Meanwhile, they will identify affected houseboat owners and publicise “atypical” compensation request arrangements. The promoter will also ask the Trent-Sow Parklands & Cannock Chase AONB Group to consider noise barriers as part of design principles for the Great Haywood viaduct.

Lichfield Branch

Page 14

So at last there is some recognition of the unique situation of residentially used boats and the need to compensate them for noise disturbance, which should incentivise the provision of better noise barriers at canal crossings and interfaces.

Trent-Sow Parklands & Cannock Chase AONB Group The importance of this group, on which I represent IWA, in helping mitigate the visual impacts of the viaduct and embankment across the Trent Valley at Great Haywood, has now been extended to considering noise impacts on the canal and marina users. I will be working with the appointed consultants to ensure that this is fully considered when establishing the Design Principles.

Phase 2B (Crewe to Manchester and West Midlands to Leeds) A Phase 2b Design Refinement consultation was published 6 June. There are some minor changes in Lichfield Branch area including to the viaduct through Kingsbury Water Park. Elsewhere, to avoid diverting the M1 Motorway, the alignment of the viaduct crossing the Erewash Canal twice at Sandiacre and Stanton Gate is altered, although it is not clear why it is so high. There are also changes to a viaduct alongside the Aire & Calder Navigation at Woodlesford. After further consideration and discussion, I will respond to the consultation which closes on 6 September.

Phil Sharpe, Planning Officer A Walk along the historic Alrewas to Wychnor section of the T & M Walk along the Trent and Mersey Canal northwards from Alrewas, and a truly unique and historic section awaits, more interesting and with parts older than you may ever have imagined‌.a section that is really a river.

Alrewas lock provides a fine viewing platform across the meadows of the Trent to St Leonard’s Church with its square tower and other scattered buildings of Wychnor on the rising land on the other side of the valley. The tallest trees on the left horizon are the site of the current Wychnor Hall.

The lock drops the canal Looking down the river section from Alrewas Lock

Lichfield Branch

Page 15

down into the Alrewas Mill arm of the Trent, and then joins the main course of the river turning right down stream. All the way along the left the towpath is led across the two arms of the river and intervening marshy ground on a long bridge, a pedestrian viaduct, with two passing places let into the sides at appropriate intervals, an intriguing structure using large hot riveted fastenings as well as bolts to hold the iron work together. Hot rivets were first used in boiler making around 1810, but their heyday was 1840-1930 and commonly used from 1860. The first structures were wooden. By 1875 all the wooden bridges taking the towpath from Alrewas to Cow bridge at Wychnor were in quite a rickety condition. A walker in that year, not averse to a well-strained pun, described them in their rustic condition as ‘rough-stick-ated erections.’ The 1923 OS map describes Alrewas lock as also being known as ‘Forge Lock’, a name which has not lasted. As there seems to have been no forge in the vicinity, I surmise that perhaps a temporary one was set up during the rebuilding of the bridges, at, or before, that date. The late Harry Arnold had an old photograph of the wooden bridge, which he described as having a hump in the middle to permit passage of boats up to the mill (his words). Perhaps the present structure is therefore higher than the original one….maybe the hump was to accommodate the rise in water levels that can occur on a river section. Unfortunately, I was not able to view the picture, as

Lichfield Branch

Page 16

The Wychnor Flitch in Wychnor Hall he had lent it out and needed to get it back. As the now vanished mill dam, which had eel traps in it, would have prevented passage right up to the mill, it is most likely that the hump would have been over the mill stream and boats may have gone that way right to the mill building.

This section of the river/canal along the little bridges towards Wychnor was described as being very beautiful by the companion of the facetious punster, and in a description of their early evening walk there, he goes to great length to mention all the wonderful flowers and plants along the way, wild iris blooming in the bright green of the sedges, such blue forget-me-nots as are rarely seen, and here and there, in brightest yellow, bloomed the lotus, standing up gloriously in the midst of its thick, pulpy, dark green, far-spreading and splendid leaves. The whole scene was scented by meadow-sweet in great profusion.

Perhaps they encountered a horse drawn boat as in the contemporary 1875 engraved picture showing the scene. Under magnification, it is easy to make out the rider on the horse, the way the line was attached to it, and the lettering on the cabin side ‘Warren Wigmore and Co’. The artist’s name was Warren. Perhaps it was a joke. You can

Lichfield Branch

Page 17

plainly see the man steering as he sits in the cabin!! and the women on the other side of the river in Essington Meadow by the stooks of corn.

Two hundred yards after the bridge the main arm of the Trent falls over a weir, while the canal turns left, and is effectively a managed branch of the river up to Wychnor lock, as there are further outfalls into the river itself via smaller branches about 1100 yards along. The towpath follows the North bank of the canal and crosses so many marshy hollows that six more bridges are required to keep it level up to the vicinity of the church, where it meets the far bank of the valley, which allows it to become a continuous path again. These bridges are essentially concrete now, but were all wooden in 1875.

Now look right, across the canal, and you will see many curious earthworks, denoting fish ponds, enclosures and other long forgotten structures, all connected with the original settlement of Wychnor. When on the third bridge, look right again, to see three trees facing you in a row, with a long depression running along the foot of the bank on which they stand, sometimes filled with water. This is the long SE section of an ancient moat with two branches at right angles coming towards the canal, which can still be discerned. The canal therefore lies more or less across the NW side of the former moat. Within the rectangle of the moat is the site of the original Wychnor Hall. You will need a good imagination to make anything of it now, as by 1465 it had burnt down, and way back in circa 1543 the traveller and chronicler John Leland noted that the hall was very ancient, in ruins and subject to flooding by the Trent. The Manor House there was a Norman establishment, very possibly on an earlier Anglo-Saxon site, as Wychnor, with a mill, was included in the Domesday book, and was granted after the conquest to the de Somerville family, who certainly from at least the time of Henry II (1154) lived there for several centuries, in great splendour. In the Manor hung something very special‌‌.The Wychnor Flitch.

A flitch of bacon is a side of a pig, smoked and cured, and in 1338 the Wychnor incumbent, Sir Phillip de Somerville was required by the Earl of Lancaster, who held

Bringing Home the Wychnor Flitch

Lichfield Branch

Page 18

Tutbury Castle, as a condition of his land holding, to provide throughout the year, except at Lent, a flitch of bacon and a quarter of corn and cheese….(the latter two reduced to a quarter of rye for an unfree person, such as a villein), …..to be granted to any man who had been married for a year and a day in complete happiness, and who, attested by his neighbours, would swap his wife for no other. The presentation to the successful petitioner was to be accompanied by the sounding of trumpets and minstrelsy, and transport out of the county for the happy couple, horses and saddles, was also included, to be provided by the Lord of Rodlow on a fine of one hundred shillings, if he failed to provide it. (Rodlow is North of Tatenhill on Needwood Forest).

(Apparently the Earl ordered this, and other strange customs, for fun and to make himself popular).

Dare I say that although the tradition lasted many centuries it appears that there have been no genuine claimants, despite stories such as that of the seaman who went away for a year and a day after his wedding and never saw his wife afterwards until they met each other again at the hall to claim the flitch.

It was a famous tradition of long standing, and centuries after its inception there was a register of spoof claimants in the October 1714 issue of the Spectator, which included such likely characters as Dorothy Dolittle and Richard de Loveless, and a Jocelyn Jolly, who attested that he and his wife had preserved a full and entire affection for the first month of their marriage after their honeymoon, and therefore, even if not entitled to the whole flitch, should have at least one rasher bestowed on them. Other claimants who nearly made it included a couple where the husband’s request was denied as his wife boxed his ears for not getting his petition quite right, and a pair whose award was withdrawn as they immediately fell to arguing about how to best cook the flitch.

In 1760 the urbane Horace Walpole, the antithesis of Lichfield’s gruff Dr Johnson, joked about claiming it. He said that Johnson only used his classical education so that he could ‘pilfer polysyllables from the ancients’ Walpole recorded that there was no longer a real flitch kept in the Hall, but a wooden carving of it over the hearth. You can still see it, but it is a fine and painstaking modern replica, as the original went missing around 1976, when the Hall was sold on the death of its last private occupant.

The ancient Hall, ruinous in 1543, was quite abandoned when a new Elizabethan Hall was erected in its stead on a site up the bank about half a mile away. This appears correctly NOT to be shown on Saxton’s map of 1577. Here James I held court and went hunting in 1621 and 1624, but another disastrous fire took place so that a survey of 1724 shows only the site of the ruined mansion. A few years after the survey, the current Hall was built on the same site.

Walking along the towpath to the fourth bridge, we come to the likely site of the original mill, at the North edge of the Manor House site. Norman feudal law granted the right of ‘sokage’ to the lord of the manor…..that meant that his tenants had to use his mill to grind their corn, and pay him for doing so. The mill outlived the manor house for a very long time, being crucial to the neighbourhood, but it burnt down on

Lichfield Branch

Page 19

Good Friday 1596. The fire was so intense that the mill stones cracked, and the mill was rendered useless, beyond repair.

A new mill was required. It was built about 600 yards further along and at the same time the weir was built back on the main channel of the river Trent. This stabilised the water levels above it, providing a stronger and much more reliable flow to the new mill.

As the towpath gets back onto terra firma after the sixth footbridge, there is a stile leading up the hill to Wychnor church, St Leonard’s. 12th century parts are still in the fabric of the building, so it was part of the Manor House settlement in its heyday. In the graveyard the war memorial includes Harry Dooling, a local lad aged 18 when the battleship HMS Barham was torpedoed in November 1941 with the loss of 841 men, mostly in the colossal explosion that occurred as it listed 4 minutes after the strike. It was filmed. You can see the precise, staggering moment of this unfortunate young man’s tragic death on YouTube.

Next door in peaceful rural contrast is the schoolhouse built in 1859 with a reference over the entrance to Proverbs xxii 6: ‘Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it’. The initials over the door refer to the Levett family, who owned the Wychnor estate at that time. Theophilius Levett had been a barrister and the town clerk of Lichfield for 25 years up to his death in 1746, during which time he was a good friend to the young, and struggling, Dr Johnson and his son John must have greatly enjoyed spending the money he had made when he bought Wychnor Hall in 1765.The family stayed there 147 years. Their name is commemorated in the Lichfield address of ‘Levetts Fields’ opposite Debenhams.

Continuing back along the towpath we pass under Cow Bridge and into the great goings-on of 18th century canal and road building. Cow Bridge had to be demolished during the building of the canal, and despite his cooperation in letting it pass through his land, John Levett became very irked when the company not only unduly delayed paying him, but were an age in rebuilding Cow Bridge, which was the only access for his tenants to 40 acres of prime pasture.

The canal now follows the edge of the Trent valley, with a narrow marshy strip on the left, as the original natural arm of the river had to be modified to allow for the building of the tow-path. 600 yards from Cow bridge weirs flow from the canal on the right.

This is the site of the rebuilt mill, and marks the end of this section of canal description.

The canal on this section thus can be shown originally to have been a natural millstream for an Anglo-Saxon mill, and the first really artificial section of the whole of the Trent and Mersey canal was a short part of a Norman moat.

The mill and what lies further on brings us back to the story of Dr Erasmus Darwin and his canal activities, which was started in the Winter 2019 edition of Lichfield Lines, and that tale will go on in a future edition.

John Parry

Lichfield Branch

Page 20

Editorial Notice Lichfield Lines is the newsletter of IWA Lichfield Branch, it is produced 4 times a year to keep members informed about our forthcoming public meetings, walks, work parties and other activities, to provide reports on recent meetings and events, and to include articles of general interest to our members.

The editor, Peter Gurney, welcomes articles, letters or photographs of waterway activities in our Branch area which can be emailed to pete.gurney@waterways.org.uk (Please note there is a 10MB limit for emails with attachments sent via this address).

The copy date for the next newsletter will be 15th October 2019, for publication in November.

Advertising Lichfield Lines is posted or emailed to about 400 Branch members. It can also be read and downloaded by anyone from the Branch website pages.

If you would like to publicise your waterway related business to our members, and others that read the newsletter online, we can offer advertising space at the following rates: Full Page - £20 per issue

Half Page - £10 per issue

Please contact the editor to discuss artwork and layout.

By advertising you will help to sponsor IWA's charitable activities and reach potential customers who are all committed to the waterways.

The IWA has a range of corporate members some of whom offer discounts to members. The discount details can be found on the IWA website at www.waterways.org.uk/support_us/corporates.

Corporate members in our area are— Lichfield Cruising Club Stafford Boat Club Ltd Truman Enterprise Narrowboat Trust Ashby Canal Trust Lichfield & Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust Canal Transport Services Ltd Waterways World Ltd Fingerpost pub Pelsall Clifford Arms Great Haywood Hargreaves Narrowboat Trust

Longwood Boat Club Ashby Canal Association Tamworth Cruising Club Ash Tree Boat Club Countywide Cruisers (Brewood) Ltd Elite Furnishings Birmingham and Midland Marine Services River Canal Rescue Ltd Midland Chandlers Glascote Basin Boatyard (Norton Canes Boatbuilders)

Please mention the IWA when contacting any of these Corporate Members.

Lichfield Branch

Page 21

IWA Lichfield Branch covers a wide area centred on Lichfield, including parts of the Trent & Mersey, Staffs. & Worcs, Coventry and Birmingham & Fazeley canals, the whole of the Ashby canal, and parts of the BCN. Also in our area are the Lichfield and Hatherton, Ashby, and Stafford Riverway Link restoration schemes.

Lichfield Branch Area Map

Lichfield Branch

Page 22

Your Committee Chairman and Acting Secretary Tel: 01889 583330 Email: phil.sharpe@waterways.org.uk

Philip Sharpe

Treasurer Tel: 01785 255101 Email: pete.gurney@waterways.org.uk

Pete Gurney

Planning & Website Tel: 01889 583330 Email: phil.sharpe@waterways.org.uk

Philip Sharpe

Newsletter Editor Tel: 01785 255101 Email: pete.gurney@waterways.org.uk

Pete Gurney

Volunteer Coordinator Tel: 07581 794111 Email: margaret.beardsmore@waterways.org.uk

Margaret Beardsmore

Speakers Secretary Tel: 07947 337491 Email: pat.barton@waterways.org.uk

Pat Barton

Navigation Officer Tel: 07847 470112 Email: derek.beardsmore@waterways.org.uk

Derek Beardsmore

Membership Secretary Tel: 0121 308 0293 Email: John.stockland@waterways.org.uk

John Stockland

Publicity—Press & Magazines Tel: 07808 846434 Email: neil.barnett@waterways.org.uk

Neil Barnett

Committee Member Tel: 07933 236785 Email: lynn.evans@waterways.org.uk Ex Officio: Region Chairman Branch Sales and External Talks (non-committee posts) Email: helen.whitehouse@waterways.org.uk

Lynn Evans

Walks Coordinator (non-committee post) Tel: 07866 201873 Email: clive.walker@waterways.org.uk

Clive Walker

Branch Contact Address Email: lichfield@waterways.org.uk

IWA Lichfield Branch 34 Old Eaton Road Rugeley, Staffs WS15 2EZ

Helen Whitehouse

Page 23