Canals around Coventry

Norman Conquest, first, I was sorry to hear you were in hospital, and hope all is well for you now. My father was born on the boats, he also worked at the Craven for a time, so knew the history of the local canals and the clod banks, and so it was passed on to me at a very young age, and a lot has been lost over time. The name came from the clods of soil etc, I believe the main canals when dredged the soil was taken away, but the old arm behind the Boat Inn the soil was dumped close by. The Wyken collieries I believe were not deep like Newdigate or Keresley, so you would understand that a lot better than me. Could there have been a lot of top soil removed to the clod banks, to get to the coal not buried deep? That's what I believe I was told as a child. Believe the last workings ended in 1926/7 time.

Norman Q, Every so far along the canal, there was a working site, all dredging soil was kept there then used in repair work of the banks of the canal, there was a major leakage happened in the late forties behind Nettle Farm, tons of soil were shipped to make the repairs, it was a natural leakage, had nothing to do with the war. A guy called Frank Skinner was the last working horseboat on the Oxford canal, he delivered coal to my parents house way up to the fifties.

Hi Kaga, I think Mr Skinner's first name was Joe. He ended up living partly in a cottage at Sutton Stop and partly on his boat which was moored almost outside his front door. His wife slept in the house and Joe slept on the boat. The story goes that his mule fell into the canal and drowned. Joe then hauled the boat to Sutton Stop himself and it never moved again. I can recall him in the early 1970's around Sutton Stop and around the Greyhound when it was a proper pub rather than a gastro-pub. Both Joe and his wife passed away in the late 70's I think. Joe's boat 'Friendship' was taken to the National Waterways Museum in Ellesmere Port in Cheshire because it was in such original condition with the original paintwork. I have seen the boat there. Regards. Roger

"Friendship" Edited by Midland Red, 6th Jan 2016 12:26 pm (Link updated)

I don't know the origins of the clod banks and I doubt if anyone really knows. As I recall they were made up of a grey sticking clay substance, not what would be expected from a coal mine. As Kaga said Alexander and Victoria mines were very shallow and sinking the shafts would not make a lot of spoil. On the other hand what did they do with the waste??? I know that there was a conveyor over Henley Rd but what it carried I am not sure. I have again discussed this with my sister she thinks that the conveyer carried coal to barges in the canal basin.

The above post was made on the "Wyken Slough - anyone remember the boats?" thread, and I suspect there are others on there which relate to canals around Coventry - some members with an interest in the canals may have missed them, and might now care to take a look in that thread

Here is one of Robert Longden's

Catshed, hi, Yes a good shot of the boat, looks as if its about to enter the Oxford canal, fully loaded, the interest to me is he would be dropping off coal at my fathers house, I know they were great boating old timers, I suspect the coal would come under the heading as spillage or some such, but canal house lengthmen had some sort of scheme with the boat people, it would be of interest to me if there is a date (year) to the photo? thanks Kaga. Thanks to Norman Q for the link to Friendship.

Hello Kaga, The only description I have of the Robert Longden photo is this: "Longest lasting of all 'Number Ones' of the old school, Rose Skinner steers under the bridge in the family boat 'Friendship', loaded with coal for Oxford. The boat has been docked by Herbert Tooley's yard at Banbury; 'side boards' have ensured a good load and keep the boat in level trim."

Thanks for that Norman Conquest, I'm also interested in that narrowboat, not for any particular reason but just its history.

May be of interest to canal buffs Canal songs

Norman Conquest, never new of any real canal songs, as some of them carried bicycles in the later days believe some sang 'Daisy Daisy give me your answer do'. But thanks for the link anyway. Catshed, there were a lot of accidents on the boats you may not read about, kids did roll off the boats, and underneath, but the most frightening thing to me, boys as young as twelve had to lay on their backs on a plank across the boat and walk along the inside of the tunnel to propel the boat through, before the engine era, As kids we used to put a plank across an old pram and walk alongside the horse to try to imitate it. 'Whew'

Expect you are right Kaga but I do recall a boatman who appeared to be permanently moored at Bletchington Wides where the Cherwell joins the Oxford Canal who played the accordion badly. I previously mentioned a conveyor passing high above Henley that I thought went to the basin above the Slough, it didn't. It went to the winding hole at the back of the Boat Inn in Shilton Lane where there was another shallow arm that didn't appear to go anywhere. I remember fishing that hole as a child and seventy years ago it appeared to have been abandoned for several years. The woman who lived at the Boat charged us kids sixpence to fish there but I doubt if she owned it.

I have been looking at Google Earth and it appears from the 1945 aerial photo that there may have been a canal arm from the point of entrance to the Wyken Arm, passing close to the Boat Inn and on to the bridge at Woodway Lane, where it re-emerged on to the Oxford Canal. Today's map appears to trace it's route as running under the M6 and down the eastern edge of the Alderman's Green Industrial Estate (site of mining activity and the Clod Banks? - which perhaps resulted from both mine and canal arm spoil?) now marked as a line of trees and bushes. It crosses Shilton Lane just next to the present Ringwood Highway junction and forms the bottom boundary of the back gardens of the houses on Rowan Grove and Ambleside. It then passes over open ground (where I fancy I can see it's outline in the ground), disappears under the M6 again, finally emerging by the Woodway Lane bridge. Or am I imagining it?