Selly Oak Winding Hole 2022 update

The Winding Hole in Selly Oak, near the Bristol Road was built and completed during 2022. At the Worcester & Birmingham Canal, the restoration of the Lapal Canal (Dudley No. 2 Canal) at Selly Oak Junction, which some day in the future will be restored to Halesowen. Until then, the area where narrowboats can turn onto this to be restored canal is now finished. Boats even moor there.

Previous post from May 2021: Selly Oak Winding Hole until 2021.

During 2022, the Lapal Canal Trust worked to have the Winding Hole built. work was well underway in spring 2022, and was open by autumn 2022. In the future, they will need to dig out the canal under Sainsbury's and next to Selly Oak Shopping Park, towards Harborne Lane and through Selly Oak Park towards Weoley Castle. But that is a long way off for now.

The area, also called Whitehouse Wharf was open on the 25th September 2022 to boats.

May 2021

View from the Worcester & Birmingham Canal, the towpath near an entrance to Selly Oak Shopping Park, as a Cross Country Trains Class 170 passes over the railway. The future Winding Hole site is to the right of here. Seen on the 29th May 2021.

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August 2021

Views from the passing train on the Cross City Line. There was still grass on the Winding Hole site at the time. View towards the Unite student accommodation with Sainsbury's behind it, on the 15th August 2021.

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January 2022

Early signs that they will soon be digging out the Winding Hole for the Lapal Canal Trust. Seen from the Worcester & Birmingham Canal towpath near the Unite student accommodation on the 8th January 2022.

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May 2022

By the spring of 2022, work was well underway to dig the grass and soil out of the Winding Hole site, as they secured the site so water didn't get in. Seen from the footbridge that will one day be the entrance to the Lapal Canal (under Sainsbury's) on the 21st May 2022.

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dndimg alt="Selly Oak Winding Hole" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/Winding%20Hole%20Selly%20Oak%20WB%2021052022%20(2).jpg" style="width: 100%;" />

October 2022

By the autumn of 2022, the Selly Oak Winding Hole was complete, as can be seen from the footbridge and canal towpath. There was even a boat and narrowboat moored at it on the 2nd October 2022.

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A couple of weekends later, on the 16th October 2022, this time I got the Selly Oak Winding Hole from the pocket park on the other side of the canal, heading for the Selly Oak Shopping Park via the footbridge that opened in 2021. Two narrowboats moored here this time.

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November 2022

I got the train one way from Birmingham New Street to Selly Oak, on the 6th November 2022. Leaving via Bristol Road, it was raining, and saw this view to the Winding Hole. Much more pleasant to see than what it used to look like in the past.

dndimg alt="Selly Oak Winding Hole" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/Selly%20Oak%20Winding%20Hole%2006112022.jpg" style="width: 100%;" />

Photography by Elliott Brown. 

The River Tame: Brookvale Road Flood Wall in Witton

The River Tame in Witton used to flood when the river level was high due to heavy rain, so the Environment Agency decided to build flood walls on Brookvale Road. This took place around 2015-16. There are various words on the wall. A flood gate was installed at the Atlas Bridge. These works continue to Perry Barr.

BROOKVALE ROAD FLOOD WALL, RIVER TAME, WITTON

Heading out from Witton Station on Witton Road at midday on Tuesday 22nd March 2022. It was a sunny early spring day.

I was aware of these walls from over a year ago, while doing the River Tame feature.

Never got around to checking them out until now.

The flood wall starts on Brookvale Road, and you can't see the River Tame from the opposite pavement.

There is various words written on the wall, as you will see below.

It reads something like "BARRING RIVER ENLIVENING TAME MEANDERING RIVER REFORMING TAME FORGING RIVER POOLING TAME SEEKING RIVER MELDING TAME TRAVERSING  RIVER MEANDERING TAME".

dndimg alt="Brookvale Road flood wall Witton" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/Brookvale Rd FW R Tame Witton 22032022 (1).jpg" style="width: 100%;" />

RIVER ENLIVENING

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REFORMING

dndimg alt="Brookvale Road flood wall Witton" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/Brookvale Rd FW R Tame Witton 22032022 (3).jpg" style="width: 100%;" />

SEEKING RIVER

dndimg alt="Brookvale Road flood wall Witton" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/Brookvale Rd FW R Tame Witton 22032022 (4).jpg" style="width: 100%;" />

TRAVERSING RIVER

dndimg alt="Brookvale Road flood wall Witton" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/Brookvale Rd FW R Tame Witton 22032022 (5).jpg" style="width: 100%;" />

The flood wall splits at the red Atlas Bridge, which also has a flood gate.

dndimg alt="Brookvale Road flood wall Witton" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/Brookvale Rd FW R Tame Witton 22032022 (6).jpg" style="width: 100%;" />

TAME POOLING

dndimg alt="Brookvale Road flood wall Witton" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/Brookvale Rd FW R Tame Witton 22032022 (7).jpg" style="width: 100%;" />

TRAVERSING TAME

dndimg alt="Brookvale Road flood wall Witton" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/Brookvale Rd FW R Tame Witton 22032022 (8).jpg" style="width: 100%;" />

Views of the River Tame alongside the Brookvale Road Flood Wall, The railings above them are quite high.

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This direction towards the Holford Industrial Estate.

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This direction towards the Atlas Industrial Estate.

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The Yew Tree pub is on the left on Brookvale Road in Witton.

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dndimg alt="Brookvale Road River Tame Witton" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/River Tame Brookvale Rd Witton 22032022 (7).jpg" style="width: 100%;" />

View towards Villa Park, home of Aston Villa FC.

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dndimg alt="Brookvale Road River Tame Witton" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/River Tame Brookvale Rd Witton 22032022 (10).jpg" style="width: 100%;" />

Photos taken by Elliott Brown. Can be found on Twitter: ellrbrown

Model Boating at Bournville Lake at The Valley Parkway

On regular Sunday's the Bournville Radio Sailing and Model Boat Club meet to use their remote controlled boats on Bournville Lake at The Valley Parkway, near Bournville Lane. The club has a history going back to 1900, although has been on this site since 1926. On Sunday morning, 15th August 2021, the club was back. Also some archive photos from 2017 and 2018.

Bournville Radio Sailing and Model Boat Club

The Bournville Radio Sailing and Model Boat Club, also called Bournville Model Yacht & Powerboat Club, was founded in the year 1900 as the Bournville Model Yachting Club at Rowheath Park. By 1926, George Cadbury Jr (son of the late George Cadbury who died in 1922) commissioned an area of marshland on the now famous Bournville Village Trust, to be reclaimed, and a concrete pool of even depth was created. The surrounding park is called The Valley Parkway by Birmingham City Council. The club has their own Boat House on site, and regularly meet on Sunday mornings for model yachting, and Sunday afternoons for model power boating. They sometimes also meet on other days for model boating.

26th March 2017

That Sunday there was model RNLI  powerboats on Bournville Lake at The Valley Parkway.

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4th October 2018

On a Thursday morning walk through The Valley Parkway, I only managed to get one photo of a model yacht in the lake. See the project gallery for more photos. They don't usually sail the model yachts on Thursday's. At weekends they regularly meet on Sunday mornings for model yachting, and on weekdays, they meet on Wednesday mornings, and sometimes Tuesday afternoons. It's the power boat sessions that meets on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.

dndimg alt="Valley Parkway Bournville" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/Valley Pway Bville (Oct 2018) (9).jpg" style="width: 100%;" />

15th August 2021

A Sunday morning walk along Bournville Lane, to see if I could see any activity from the Bournville Model Yacht Club. Luckily, there was a whole bunch of them out at Bournville Lake, with a lot of model yachts, as you can see in the gallery below. The members seem to be mostly retired men and women.

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dndimg alt="Valley Parkway Bournville" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/Model Yachts Bournville TVP (Aug 2021) (8).jpg" style="width: 100%;" />

Photos taken by Elliott Brown. Can be found on Twitter: ellrbrown

Children with guides kayaking up the BCN Mainline - 11th August 2021

I was walking past Gas Street Basin, when I saw a couple of kayaks full of children and their guides. They went through the Broad Street Tunnel, then up past Brindleyplace and the Brewmasters House towards Utilita Arena Birmingham. They were probably heading for Icknield Port Loop (according to Civic Square on Twitter). I left at Oozells Street Loop. Click View article for five photos.

Kayaking from Gas Street Basin to Icknield Port Loop

Starting this brief canal walk from The Mailbox, on the 11th August 2021, I walked up to the end of the Worcester & Birmingham Canal at Worcester Bar, Gas Street Basin. On the Birmingham Canal Navigations Mainline side, I saw a couple of kayaks attached together, with a guide and several children in both of them.

The kayaks at the back near Gas Street Basin, heading into the Broad Street Tunnel.

dndimg alt="Canoeing BCN Mainline" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/Canoes BCN Mline (Aug 2021) (1).jpg" style="width: 100%;" />

It was now apparent that there was two pairs attached to kayaks. The first one I saw was going through the Broad Street Tunnel, while the second was was metres behind.

dndimg alt="Canoeing BCN Mainline" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/Canoes BCN Mline (Aug 2021) (2).jpg" style="width: 100%;" />

A Just Eat delivery man in orange on his bike. The pair of kayaks, children and their guides. It was time to duck as I walked under the tunnel.

dndimg alt="Canoeing BCN Mainline" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/Canoes BCN Mline (Aug 2021) (3).jpg" style="width: 100%;" />

View from the Broad Street Tunnel (where the head room was a bit higher at the Brindleyplace end). Both sets of kayaks were heading under the Brindleyplace and Brewmasters Bridges. With Utilita Arena Birmingham, The Malt House and the Brewmasters House nearby. Oh and the red Water Bus on the left was about to depart.

dndimg alt="Canoeing BCN Mainline" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/Canoes BCN Mline (Aug 2021) (4).jpg" style="width: 100%;" />

One last view as they headed under the Brewmasters Bridge, past The ICC Energy Centre. I would leave the Main Line via the Oozells Street Loop, heading to Brindleyplace. I assume that they were heading for the Roundhouse.

dndimg alt="Canoeing BCN Mainline" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/Canoes BCN Mline (Aug 2021) (5).jpg" style="width: 100%;" />

Photos taken by Elliott Brown. Can be found on Twitter: ellrbrown