Hiatus is a word that has become all too familiar in Hub Marketing dispatches over the last year or so, with the latest lockdown meaning we haven't attempted any outings since before Christmas. Falling Covid infection rates and successful vaccination rollouts suggest there is light at the end of the tunnel, and the fact that we are now permitted some outdoor recreation prompted the first Hub meeting of 2021...
- The Bradley Arm at Loxdale -
Friday 12th March 2021 sees the action begin at Loxdale where the Secretary prepares for a D9 rendezvous by revisiting a stretch of the Bradley Canal Arm. Accessing the towpath at Pothouse Bridge near Latif's Cash & Carry, there are photo pickings to be snapped up from Loxdale Sidings although the Canal & River Trust's workshop at Bradley Lane is out of bounds. Mervyn Road offers reminders of some Lower Bradley local shops (including the Singh for your Supper fish bar) then all members are present and correct for the allotted 12 noon official start time.
- Moorcroft Wood -
Our illustrious Chairman is mainly in charge of today's agenda and prescribes an initial mooch around Moorcroft Wood, a Moxley-based nature reserve which was historically mined to supply the Moorcroft Ironworks. Managing to escape the worst of the mud, we admire a large pool and hurdle some fallen trees although most of Mr D9's excitement is focused upon a rust-damaged 1970s Gulf oilcan. Reaching the far corner of the woodland, we exit onto the Walsall Canal at Moorcroft Junction where we hope that one day the Bradley Locks Branch will be fully restored to navigable use.
- Pointing out the Gospel Oak Branch -
Having covered the Walsall Canal towards Darlaston and Pleck in December, this time around we aim south-easterly in the direction of Ocker Hill and Great Bridge. Willingsworth Hall Bridge and Monway Bridge are both modern (1990s) structures that don't really evoke any Patent Shaft heritage but we do pause to point out the Gospel Oak Branch, stretching off between Charlotte Road and Weston Drive. After Leabrook Road we enter territory that used to be occupied by the Ocker Hill Power Station, a major electricity-generating facility that had three landmark cooling towers.
- Tame Valley (Doe Bank) Junction -
The power station was operational from 1902 until March 1977, dominating the skyline and still fondly remembered by older local residents. Parts of the site remained disused well into the 1980s with the cooling towers finally demolished in 1985; the houses of Addenbrook Way and Narraway Grove are a far cry from how it all used to look. We leave the canal at Doe Bank Bridge right next to where the largest tower would have been located. Bayleys Lane takes us over a private moorings arm and out to Toll End Road, passing the Dew Drop Inn and the Western Power Distribution offices.
- A Golds Hill Power Grab? -
Our Toll End interlude is only a fleeting one as we soon rejoin the Walsall Canal at the concrete lump that is Moors Mill Bridge. Returning to Doe Bank, we switch our focus to the Tame Valley Canal which proceeds in remorselessly straight fashion to Golds Hill and beyond (in fact the whole of this waterway is notable for its lack of characterful curves). Golds Hill Crossing itself is being upgraded as part of the Midland Metro extension project, which will utilise the mothballed South Staffordshire railway line from Wednesbury to Dudley before continuing to Brierley Hill. Mr D9 meanwhile spies a cheeky graffiti photo call as we say goodbye to the canal and prepare for some serious cross country ferreting...
- The (Not So) Jolly Collier -
Indeed, the Chairman's sixth sense for industrial wastelands goes well and truly into overdrive when he instructs us to follow a mysterious gravel track below a series of pylons. With the Wednesbury Asphalt Plant on the horizon, the River Tame keeps us company as we encounter burnt-out cars and even a stricken motor submerged in a pool. Eventually emerging to the rear of the Midland Metro's tram depot, we scramble out to the Black Country New Road and get some bearings by the Monks & Crane works. Next up is Leabrook Road for heavy duty hints of Patent Shaft (two sizeable casting fragments presumably retained for ornamental purposes) and the sad sight of the Jolly Collier, gone for good?
- St Mark's Church -
Having homaged the power station earlier, we finish off back at Ocker Hill for a bite to eat and a glimpse of St Mark's Parish Church. Mr D9 laments the loss of the Crown & Cushion pub, a large roundabout-ruling roadhouse that was replaced by the Veronica Lodge nursing home; the little shop that used to be on the opposite corner of Gospel Oak Road is likewise acknowledged, and that's pretty much that. Not your usual Hub Marketing fare we must admit - no closets, no bald spots, no D9 drives and no pubs - but it'll tide us over until things inch closer to pre-Covid normality. Cheers!
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