91-507: The Engine Arm or Birmingham Feeder Arm near Smethwick , West Midlands , England , is a short canal which was originally part of a feeder tunnel for a pumping engine. When the Smethwick flight of locks were reduced from six to three, the pumping engine was moved to a new site, which allowed part of the feeder tunnel to be opened up and made navigable, so that coal supplies for the engine could be delivered by barge. The Engine Arm also supplied
182-568: A major fire occurred at the Jayplas plastics and paper recycling plant on Dartmouth Road. The oldest surviving building in Smethwick is the Old Church which stands on the corner of Church Road and the Uplands. This was consecrated in 1732 as a Chapel of Ease in the parish of St Peter, Harborne . The building was originally known as "Parkes' Chapel" in honour of Mistress Dorothy Parkes who bequeathed
273-521: A bid to maintain their profits against competition from the railways. This led to the company being taken over by the Ellesmere and Chester Canal Company in 1845, and the following year the joint company became the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company, by an act of Parliament which also authorised the taking over of a number of other canals. In 1847, the new Company agreed to the terms of
364-480: A hamlet within the parish of Harborne, Staffordshire , Smethwick was made into an urban district in 1894, on 31 December Smethwick became a civil parish , in 1899 the district became a municipal corporation , and the district became county borough within Staffordshire in 1907 with its base at Smethwick Council House . On 1 April 1966, Smethwick was merged with the boroughs of Oldbury and Rowley Regis to form
455-591: A lease from the London and North Western Railway Company, and so lost its independence after little more than a year, but continued to manage the canals under its control. The new canal was a significant improvement over the previous route, which used the Trent and Mersey Canal to move goods between Birmingham and Liverpool. From Birmingham to the Mersey, it was 20 miles (32 km) shorter, with 30 fewer locks, while to Manchester, it
546-658: A local landowner and industrialist. It is identical to Telford's bridge at Holt Fleet over the River Severn built in 1828 and opened in 1830. The public library in the High Street was originally built as the Public Hall in 1866–67 and is designed by Yeoville Thomason . Matthew Boulton and James Watt opened their Soho Foundry in the north of Smethwick (not to be confused with the Soho Manufactory in nearby Soho ) in
637-536: A military equipment. Soho railway station closed in 1949, followed by Spon Lane station in 1968. In 1972 the section of line between Smethwick West and Birmingham Moor Street , as well as the Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Dudley railway, was closed, with the exception of a single line between Smethwick West and Coopers Scrap Metal in Handsworth; and all Stourbridge services were diverted into Birmingham New Street. In 1995
728-484: A railway was probably cheaper than using tugs to pull trains of boats on a canal. The project was abandoned soon afterwards, and William Bishton was contracted to supply horse haulage for boats on the canal. Despite its rural character, the canal was an important route for trade between two major centres, and so remained profitable long after many canals had become uneconomic. When most of the Shropshire Union system
819-541: Is now at Thinktank , the new science museum in Birmingham. One notable company was The London Works, manufacturing base of the Fox Henderson Company which made the cast-iron framework for the Crystal Palace . This was founded by Charles Fox , whose inventions included the first patented railway points. His notable employees included William Siemens , the notable mechanical and electrical engineer. The company
910-598: Is now managed by the Canal and River Trust and the basin beyond the site of the pumping station, which was replaced by a new engine house near Brasshouse Lane bridge in 1892, is used for residential moorings. When the Birmingham Canal was authorised by Act of Parliament in February 1767, the engineer James Brindley had expected to be able to tunnel through a ridge of higher ground near Smethwick . However, trial borings to assess
1001-614: The Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal Act 1826 ( 7 Geo. 4 . c. xcv), was obtained for the new line in May 1826, which authorised the company to raise a working capital of £400,000, with an extra £100,000 if required. The committee consisted of members from most of the other canals in the region, including the Ellesmere and Chester Canal, the Grand Junction Canal , the Warwick Canals,
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#17328452092311092-439: The 1965 Leyton by-election . The election of Griffiths led to Smethwick becoming notorious as 'Britain's most racist town'. Historian Rachel Yemm argues that the anti-immigration sentiment in the town was the result of a housing shortage, which local newspapers, such as The Smethwick Telephone , blamed on the migrants. Griffiths not only drew on these fears, but also raised racist concerns about ' miscegenation ' and argued for
1183-561: The Birmingham Corporation Tramways in 1906 and trams eventually ran from both the Dudley Road and Hagley Road direction. Dudley Road trams operated to Cape Hill and then diverged to either take the route towards Dudley (Route 87) via the High Street or towards Bearwood (Route 29) via Waterloo Road, terminating near the site of current Bearwood Bus Station and Kings Head public house. Route 34 from Birmingham to Bearwood along
1274-610: The Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company factory; screws and other fastenings from Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds (GKN); engines from Tangye ; tubing from Evered's; steel pen nibs from British Pens; and various products from Chance Brothers ' glassworks, including lighthouse lenses and the glazing for the Crystal Palace (the London works, in North Smethwick, manufactured its metalwork). Phillips Cycles , once one of
1365-603: The Black Country Museum expressed interest in transferring the building to its site in Dudley and so the transfer of the building began in 1989. It was finally opened to visitors at the museum in 1999, housing the museum's exhibition gallery and archive resource centre. Thimblemill Library is a Grade II listed building built in brick in the Moderne style . The town is notable for a somewhat turbulent political history. It
1456-992: The Coventry Canal , the Grand Union Canal , the Birmingham Canal, the Wyrley and Essington Canal , the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal , the Worcester and Birmingham Canal , the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, the Dudley Canal , the Stourbridge Canal , the Trent and Mersey Canal, the Shrewsbury Canal and even the Upper Avon . Thomas Eyre Lee was the Clerk. The project engineer was Thomas Telford , and work started from
1547-554: The Sandwell Metropolitan Borough, which was incorporated into the new West Midlands county. In 1888, there had been plans for Smethwick to be incorporated into the city of Birmingham, but the urban district council voted against these plans by a single vote. The archives for the Borough of Smethwick are held at Sandwell Community History and Archives Service . Smethwick has a long association with canals, which were
1638-462: The Smethwick Engine on Rabone Lane and the other was near Spon Lane. New Smethwick Pumping Station next to Brasshouse Lane was added later in 1892. Because of the locks, the canal through Smethwick became a bottleneck and Thomas Telford was commissioned in 1824 to look at alternatives. The new main line through Smethwick was completed by 1829 and completely bypassed all six remaining locks of
1729-701: The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal . Forming part of a major link between Liverpool and the industrial heartlands of the Midlands , the canal was opened in 1835, and merged with the Ellesmere and Chester Canal Company in 1845, which became the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company in the following year. In 1824, the Birmingham Canal was experiencing unprecedented levels of traffic, and asked
1820-417: The repatriation of migrants. At the beginning of 1965 Smethwick Council was planning "to purchase all available houses on Marshall Street to prevent their sale to immigrants". This made national headlines, and the plan was later stopped by the government. In February 1965, American black activist Malcolm X visited Marshall Street just days before his assassination . Earlier in his career he had advocated
1911-625: The 24-inch (61 cm) pump was moved to Ocker Hill , and a new 30-inch (76 cm) pump was fitted. By 1803 the engine was in poor condition, and was refurbished by Boulton and Watt, which included fitting a new 33-inch (84 cm) cylinder in place of the previous 32-inch (81 cm) one. A second engine was ordered in February 1804, and was operational from 2 May 1805. By 1824 the Birmingham Canal Navigations operated more than 70 miles (110 km) of canals, with connections to several independent canals. However, they were faced with
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#17328452092312002-538: The 87 in fact uses the same number. The West Midlands Metro , opened in 1999, is more of a light railway than a tramway. It follows the former Great Western Railway track bed from Birmingham Snow Hill station to the former Wolverhampton Low Level via West Bromwich until Priestfield in Wolverhampton. After that, it becomes a tramway proper and runs along the Bilston Road into Wolverhampton city centre. From late 2015
2093-560: The Anglo-Saxon letter eth . Until the end of the 18th century it was an outlying hamlet of the south Staffordshire village of Harborne . Harborne became part of the county borough of Birmingham and thus transferred from Staffordshire to Warwickshire in 1891, leaving Smethwick in the County of Staffordshire. The world's oldest working engine, the Smethwick Engine , made by Boulton & Watt , originally stood near Bridge Street, Smethwick. It
2184-737: The Camm family. During the Second World War , Smethwick was bombed on a number of occasions by the German Luftwaffe . A total of 80 people died as a result of these air raids. After the First World War about 50+ Sikh families settled in Smethwick beginning in 1917, with a majority of the men being veterans of the war. After the Second World War, Smethwick attracted a large number of immigrants from Commonwealth countries beginning in 1945,
2275-672: The Downing family, whose family home became Holly Lodge High School for Girls in 1922. The mass council house building of the 1920s and 1930s also involved Smethwick's boundaries being extended into part of neighbouring Oldbury in 1928. The Ruskin Pottery Studio, named in honour of the artist John Ruskin , was in Oldbury Road. Many English churches have stained glass windows made by Hardman Studios in Lightwoods House, or, before that, by
2366-605: The Exchequer Bill Loan Commissioners in November 1831, and another £24,600 in 1832. They were hopeful that the canal would be open by the end of 1832, but the Shelmore embankment took much longer than expected. Knighton Reservoir had been completed by the end of the year, and work on Belvide Reservoir had begun. The canal was finally finished in 1835, with the section from Autherley to Gnosall opening on 12 January and
2457-532: The Hagley Road and terminated at the top of Bearwood Road next to the route from Cape Hill, despite terminating so close to each other there was no physical link between route 29 and 34 in Bearwood. Route 34 was the first route in Smethwick to disappear, in 1930; the last tram route was closed in 1939 and replaced by motor buses. Both the current National Express West Midlands routes 82 and 87 are former tram routes and
2548-488: The Indian Workers' Association. The BBC had been intending to make a feature about a new black-led newspaper, and a BBC News journalist had a view to X having a debate with Griffiths outside a council house in Smethwick. Griffiths declined at late notice, and so an interview with X was conducted on the streets of Smethwick. This was to be one of X's last TV interviews before his assassination nine days later. The footage
2639-702: The MP was Sir Oswald Mosley , future founder of the British Union of Fascists . Mosley resigned the Labour whip in March 1931, but continued to represent the constituency until it was taken by the Conservatives at that year's general election . Labour won it back at the UK general election of 1945 , held on 26 July that year. However, the victorious MP, Alfred Dobbs , was killed in a car crash
2730-569: The Midland Red, West Bromwich and Birmingham. In the early 1970s, all local bus transport was taken over by the WMPTE until deregulation in the 1980s. Since then, National Express West Midlands has been the primary operator in the West Midlands. Steam trams started through Smethwick in 1885 operated by Birmingham and Midland Tramways. These were replaced by electric trams in 1904 and then merged into
2821-711: The North West, Rolfe Street and Spon Lane opened that year followed by Soho in 1853. In 1867 the Stourbridge Railway opened a link between the Great Western Birmingham, Wolverhampton & Dudley Railway (of 1852) near the current Hawthorns and Stourbridge with a station at Smethwick West and a link to the Stour Valley line towards New Street called Smethwick Junction, the Stourbridge Railway
Engine Arm - Misplaced Pages Continue
2912-626: The Shrewsbury Canal. The Ellesmere and Chester Canal obtained authorisation for their Middlewich branch as a similar time, giving the new canal connections to Manchester and the Potteries. A second contract for the High Offley to Church Eaton section was awarded to W. A. Provis in 1829, who also became responsible for construction of the Newport Branch to the Shrewsbury Canal. The third contract, for
3003-471: The Shropshire Union Canal in 1867, when another water agreement was negotiated, together with the reduction of the toll to 2 pence. Tolls for carriage of goods on the canal were set lower than had been proposed, due to the threat of railway competition. Lime and limestone were set at a half-penny per ton, with everything else being charged at 1 penny per ton. 5,144 boat journeys were recorded during
3094-499: The Smethwick Engine, at the corner of Rolfe Street and Bridge Street North. Boulton and Watt carried out major repairs to the original engine in 1853 and fixed failures to both engines in 1876. In March 1878, both engines were running 24 hours a day at full capacity. By 1891, they were reaching the end of their lives and were beyond economical repair, so in 1892 they were replaced by a new engine house near Brasshouse Lane bridge. It
3185-414: The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal charged for using the short stretch between the Birmingham Canal and Autherley Junction. This had originally been set at 2 shillings per ton , but they halved this to 1 shilling in 1831, while the new canal was still being built. In an attempt to drive down the charge, a group of men from the Birmingham Canal and the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal proposed
3276-427: The actual work which was carried out by the company's engineers. The redundant top three locks of each flight were filled in, although three new locks, running parallel to the originals, were constructed at the Smethwick end. The Spon Lane engine also became redundant, and although the company considered moving it to supply the locks at Toll End and Bradley Hall, they sold it to the Dudley Canal . The original location of
3367-533: The boats. [REDACTED] Media related to Engine Arm at Wikimedia Commons Smethwick Smethwick ( / ˈ s m ɛ ð ɪ k / ) is an industrial town in the Sandwell district, in the county of the West Midlands , England. It lies 4 miles (6 km) west of Birmingham city centre . Historically it was in Staffordshire and then Worcestershire before being placed into West Midlands county. In 2019,
3458-526: The bottom of the flight through a feeder tunnel, and another feeder tunnel delivered the pumped water to the upper level. The summit was only about 1,000 yards (910 m) long, and resulted in considerable delays as traffic levels increased. In 1786, the company decided to lower the level of the summit to the Wolverhampton Level of 473 feet (144 m), and contacted John Smeaton to act as engineer, but he does not seem to have played an active part in
3549-595: The building demolished in 1897. The newer engine was sold for scrap, but the older engine was transported by barge to Ocker Hill, where it was reassembled, so that it could be used for demonstrations. It was last steamed there in 1919 for the James Watt Centenary celebrations. Henry Ford tried to buy it in 1928 for his museum of Physical Science in Detroit, but the company did not want to part with it, and sold him an engine from Ashted. When Ocker Hill Works closed in 1960,
3640-401: The canal superintendend Samual Skey carried out trials in which a steam tug was used to haul trains of boats along the canal. These proved successful, and by late 1843 they had eight steam tugs which were used to haul boats from Autherley to Ellesmere Port. However, the Ellesmere and Chester Canal started to look at converting their canal to a railway in 1845, and argued that locomotive working on
3731-529: The centre of Birmingham near the International Convention Centre, National Indoor Arena and Broad Street. The old main line was completed through Smethwick by 1769. It required 12 locks to climb over the hill through the town; Brindley had found the earth too soft to dig a cutting through at the time. Water was supplied by two steam engines. One of them was located on the Engine Arm which led to
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3822-745: The civil engineer Thomas Telford to recommend how the canal could be improved. He reported his suggestions in September, and probably also recommended that an additional link northwards from the western end to the River Mersey would be beneficial, since the Birmingham Canal Company described him as the 'originator and proposer' of the route in January 1825. Faced with competition from a proposed railway line from Birmingham to Liverpool, they sprang into action, and asked their agent, Thomas Eyre Lee, to look at
3913-484: The complete separation of African Americans from whites, but he now showed his opposition to racial segregation , telling the press: I have come here because I am disturbed by reports that coloured people in Smethwick are being treated badly. I have heard they are being treated as the Jews were under Hitler . I would not wait for the fascist element in Smethwick to erect gas ovens. Malcolm X had been invited to Smethwick by Claudia Jones on behalf of Avtar Singh Jouhl of
4004-448: The constituency by the virulently anti-immigration Conservative Party candidate Peter Griffiths . Smethwick had attracted immigration from the Commonwealth in the economic and industrial growth of the years following the Second World War and Griffiths ran a campaign critical of the government's policy. His supporters had circulated the slogan "If you want a nigger for a neighbour, vote Liberal or Labour." Griffiths refused to condemn
4095-404: The construction of the Tettenhall and Autherley Canal and Aqueduct in mid 1835. This would be a short canal which would bypass the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal section from Aldersley Junction to Autherley Junction , crossing the Staffordshire and Worcestershire on an aqueduct. The Staffordshire and Worcestershire sent a delegation to meet the group in December 1835, but were unhappy with
4186-430: The engine was dismantled again, to be donated to the Birmingham Museum of Science and Industry. After a period in storage, it is now displayed in the Power Up Gallery at Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum . The end of the arm is used for residential moorings, with space for 16 boats. It is managed by the Canal and River Trust , and the site includes a facilities block, car parking for residents and electric hook-ups for
4277-497: The estate was entirely redeveloped with modern low-rise housing, and was renamed Galton Village. Another local housing estate called the Windmill Lane Estate, located near Cape Hill, was also redeveloped. There is a collection of red brick turn-of-20th century terrace, 1930s semi-detached, newly built modern housing and a number of high rise blocks of flats. Other estates and areas include Black Patch, Cape Hill, Uplands, Albion Estate, Bearwood, Londonderry and Rood End. In July 2013,
4368-408: The famous Birmingham & Midland Motor Omnibus Company (BMMO or Midland Red) was based on Bearwood Road on the site of the current Bearwood Shopping Centre until 1974. The garage later saw use as an indoor market until it was demolished in 1979. Smethwick never had its own Corporation Transport Department, like West Bromwich or Birmingham . Most bus services until the earlier 1970s were provided by
4459-542: The first half of 1836, carrying 71,405 tons of cargo. This was made up of 22,732 tons of general merchandise, 25,685 tons of iron, 9,631 tons of coal and coke, 4,532 tons of building materials, 8,546 tons of lime and limestone, and 279 tons of road materials, manure, etc. Income from tolls was £11,706 in 1836, rising to 30,859 by 1840, and then tailing off a little. The company became authorised to carry passengers and goods in 1842, and could also provide haulage for boats owned by other carriers. The engineer Alexander Easton and
4550-435: The largest bicycle manufacturers in the world, was based in Bridge Street, Smethwick. Nearby, in Downing Street, is the famous bicycle saddle maker, Brooks Saddles . The important metalworking factory of Henry Hope & Sons Ltd was based at Halford's Lane where the company manufactured steel window systems, roof glazing, gearings and metalwork. Council housing began in Smethwick after 1920 on land previously belonging to
4641-413: The largest ethnic group being Sikhs from the Punjab in India, the majority of whom had served in that War. The ethnic minority communities were initially unpopular with the white population of Smethwick, leading to the election of Conservative Party Member of Parliament (MP) Peter Griffiths at the 1964 general election , who campaigned by appealing to the racist element and whose supporters had used
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#17328452092314732-404: The late 18th century. In 1802, William Murdoch illuminated the foundry with gas lighting of his own invention. The foundry was later home to weighing scale makers W & T Avery Ltd. Rolfe Street public baths were among the first public swimming baths in the country when opened north of the town centre in 1888. The baths remained open for nearly a century before closing. In the late 1980s,
4823-469: The line between Birmingham Snow Hill and Smethwick West was restored and a new station called Smethwick Galton Bridge was constructed over both the Snow Hill and Stour Valley lines to provide an interchange. Smethwick West was due to close when Galton Bridge opened, but due to a legal error British Railways had to maintain a parliamentary train service to the station. Most local trains from Stourbridge to Birmingham were diverted into Snow Hill although it
4914-531: The main industry. A water mill named Briddismylne is recorded in 1499 as belonging to Halesowen Abbey , thought to be on the more recent Thimblemill site. In 1659, a mill in the Hockley Brook is recorded as belonging to a Mr. Lane. The mill which led to the street name "Windmill Lane" was built on land bought in 1803 by William Croxall, a miller. The last part of the windmill building was demolished in 1949. The Soho Foundry , opened in 1796 by James Watt and Matthew Boulton , trading as Boulton, Watt & Sons,
5005-422: The median age of Smethwick residents was 32. In terms of ethnicity: In terms of religion, 39.5% of Smethwick residents identified as Christian , 21.8% were Muslim , 15.7% were Sikh , 14.0% said they had no religion , 5.8% did not state any religion, 2.3% were Hindu , 0.3% were Buddhists , and 0.6% were from another religion. Until the end of the 18th century, Smethwick was largely rural, with farming as
5096-445: The money for the church and also for a local school. The chapel was later known as the "Old Chapel", and the public house next to it is still called this. In the church there are several fine memorials, including one to Dorothy Parkes. The Grade I listed Galton Bridge spans the New Line canal and railway. When built in 1829 by Thomas Telford , it was the highest single-span bridge in the world. Its name commemorates Samuel Galton ,
5187-436: The nature of the ridge revealed running sand and other material quite unsuitable for tunnelling through, so Brindley recommended that they go over the top of the ridge, with locks at both ends and fire engines to pump the water up to the summit level, because of the lack of local water sources. This was achieved by building the Smethwick flight of six locks at the eastern end and the corresponding Spon Lane flight of six locks at
5278-433: The new County Borough of Warley , part also went to the County Borough of West Bromwich and the County Borough of Birmingham , Smethwick was transferred into the county of Worcestershire . The parish was also abolished on 1 April 1966 to form Warley , part also went to West Bromwich and Birmingham. In 1961 the parish had a population of 68,390. Warley county borough in turn was merged with West Bromwich in 1974 to form
5369-405: The new Rotton Park Reservoir, Telford extended the Engine Arm eastwards, creating a basin beyond the engine house. This was fed with water from the reservoir by a new culvert. The Engine Arm was carried over Telford's new canal to rejoin the upper level by the cast iron Engine Arm Aqueduct , which was installed around 1828. It is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument , as are the excavated foundations of
5460-438: The new and old main line diverged at one end at Smethwick Junction near Bridge Street and rejoined at Bromford Junction near Bromford Road in Oldbury. Today Galton Valley is a nature area and of more historical interest than commercial, and used mainly for leisure rather than transporting commercial goods. The LNWR was the first to construct a railway through Smethwick in 1852 from New Street towards Wolverhampton and
5551-416: The new threat of a railway being built from Birmingham to Liverpool, and engaged Thomas Telford to advise them on improvements that could be made. He recommended that a new reservoir should be built at Rotton Park to improve the water supply, and that the main line should be improved by a number of deep cuttings, to enable it to follow a straighter route at a lower level than the old main line, as well as sowing
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#17328452092315642-432: The northern end when a contract for the section from Nantwich to High Offley was awarded to John Wilson, with Alexander Easton acting as resident engineer. As progress was made, links to the Donningtonn area and Shrewsbury were considered, and an act of Parliament, the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal Navigation Act 1827 ( 7 & 8 Geo. 4 . c. ii), was obtained for a branch from Norbury Junction to Wappenshall on
5733-420: The outcome. The group introduced a bill to Parliament in February 1836, and when it was due to receive its second reading, the Staffordshire and Worcestershire caved in, sent a delegation to London to negotiate and agreed a compensation toll of 4 pence per ton, at which point the bill was withdrawn. The threat of an aqueduct was a recurring theme, as it was used again in 1842 to get more water, and subsequently by
5824-426: The proposal. The canal would run from Autherley Junction, on the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal , close to the end of the Birmingham Canal, and head northwards to Nantwich where it would link up with the former Chester Canal , by then part of the Ellesmere and Chester Canal, to provide the connection to the Mersey at Ellesmere Port . Support for the new venture was widespread. The Ellesmere and Chester Canal
5915-429: The pumped water to the 473-foot (144 m) Wolverhampton level of the lowered summit. The arm was extended between 1825 and 1830 by Thomas Telford to carry water from Rotton Park Reservoir (now called Edgbaston Reservoir ) to the Old Main Line of the BCN Main Line Canal, and the Engine Arm Aqueduct was inserted to carry it over the new main line constructed at that time, which was 20 feet (6.1 m) lower. The arm
6006-419: The pumping station is not known with any certainty, but the engine, now known as the Smethwick Engine , was moved nearer to the canal around 1790, at a location where part of the existing supply tunnel could be reused. The feeder was made navigable at that time, so that coal could be delivered to the engine by barge. As the engine now only had to raise water by 20 feet (6.1 m), instead of 38 feet (12 m),
6097-557: The remainer of the canal from Church Eaton to Autherley, was given to John Wilson, and transferred to W. Wilson after John died. Telford faced a number of engineering problems during construction, including a number of long cuttings through marl, some up to 90 feet (27 m) deep. The rock was unstable and slippage was a constant problem. He also had to construct a diversion around the game reserves of Lord Anson at Shelmore, which involved an embankment around 1 mile (1.6 km) long and up to 60 feet (18 m) high. By this time his health
6188-469: The rest, including the Newport Branch, opening on 2 March. The total cost was around £800,000, with the extra money coming from shareholders and the Exchequer Bill Loan Commissioners. The length of the canal was 39.5 miles (63.6 km) and required 28 locks to drop the 176 ft (53.7m) from Autherley to Nantwich. These were mainly concentrated in flights, with five locks at Tyrley, another five at Adderley, fifteen at Audlem and two at Hack Green. There
6279-399: The seeds for the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal , to link the network to the River Mersey . The reservoir was built, and the improvements to the main line were completed in September 1827. Near Smethwick Summit, Telford's new main line ran close to the existing James Brindley Old Main Line, but was 20 feet (6.1 m) lower, as it avoided Smethwick locks. In order to get water from
6370-456: The service was extended from its former terminus at Snow Hill through the city centre to Grand Central . The metro can be caught at the Hawthorns railway station . Smethwick borders West Bromwich and Oldbury to the north and west, and the Birmingham districts of Handsworth , Winson Green , Harborne , Edgbaston and Quinton to the south and east. At the 2011 census , there were 48,765 residents in Smethwick in 18,381 households, and
6461-482: The slogan, "If you want a nigger for a neighbour, vote Labour". This came two years after race riots had hit the town in 1962; it was also set against a background of local factory closures. In 1961, the Sikh community purchased the unused Congregational Church on the High Street in Smethwick. Soon after, this was converted into a gurdwara , today known as the [Guru Nanak Gurdwara Smethwick]. Bearwood Primary School appointed Tony O'Connor as head teacher in 1967. He
6552-570: The slogan. Colin Jordan , a British Neo-Nazi and later leader of the British Movement , claimed that members of his group had produced the initial slogan as well as spread the publicised poster and sticker campaign which contained it; Jordan's group in the past had also campaigned on other slogans, such as: "Don't vote - a vote for Tory, Labour or Liberal is a vote for more Blacks!". Jordan would also use similar campaign tactics against Gordon Walker in
6643-456: The summit with a deep cutting. The Engine Arm and Stewarts aqueducts were built to carry their respective canals over the new mainline. The cutting was built through the land of the local businessman Samuel Galton and thus this cutting created the Galton Valley and Galton Bridge was named in his honour. The bridge was the longest single-span iron bridge in the world at the time. The canals of
6734-586: The town's first major transport links from a time before decent roads and of course railways. The Birmingham Canal Navigation Old and New Main Line Canals run through the industrial areas and right past the High Street, running parallel to the Stour Valley Line : all three end up in Wolverhampton . James Brindley was the engineer charged with building the canal, a man who gives his name to the busy district in
6825-486: The very next day. He is thus the shortest-serving Member of Parliament (MP) in British history, if one discounts a few cases of people being elected posthumously. In the resulting by-election , Patrick Gordon Walker won again for Labour. The seat remained held by Labour until 1964. At the 1964 general election , sitting MP Gordon Walker, who was Shadow Foreign Secretary , was defeated in highly controversial circumstances in
6916-455: The ward of Smethwick had an estimated population of 15,246, while the wider built-up area subdivision has a population of 53,653. It was suggested that the name Smethwick meant "smiths' place of work", but a more recent interpretation has suggested the name means "the settlement on the smooth land". Smethwick was recorded in the Domesday Book as Smedeuuich , the d in this spelling being
7007-526: The west of Smethwick was built. It was officially known as the West Smethwick Estate, but as all of the homes were constructed from concrete the estate was known locally as the "concrete jungle". The homes, mostly three or four storey townhouses, were prone to damp and other construction faults. By the 1980s, levels of crime and unemployment on the estate were high, and by the early 1990s, Sandwell Council had decided to demolish it. Between 1993 and 1997,
7098-501: The western end. The canal opened on 25 March 1772. Negotiations with Boulton and Watt began in August 1776, and the Spon Lane engine was installed by them and operational by April 1778, pumping reclaimed water back up to the summit level. Because of its success, a second engine was ordered for the Smethwick end. This was erected 0.75 miles (1.2 km) from the summit pound. It drew water from
7189-480: Was 5.25 miles (8.4 km) shorter, again with 30 fewer locks. When the Macclesfield Canal opened, it provided a shorter route to Manchester for boats using the Trent and Mersey, by some 4.75 miles (7.6 km), but the shorter distance was offset by it passing through 50 more locks than the journey using the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal. There was always contention over the compensation toll which
7280-517: Was a single lock at Wheaton Aston, and a stop lock at Autherley Junction to prevent the canal from taking water from the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal. It was built as a narrow canal, for boats with a maximum width of 7 ft (2.1m). The main supply of water was from the Belvide Reservoir, on the initial section near to where the canal crossed Watling Street (now the A5 road) on an aqueduct. This
7371-605: Was bankrupted in 1855 by the failure of an overseas railway to pay for work done. The site was later used by the GKN company. In 2015 the site was being cleared to build the new Midland Metropolitan University Hospital which aims to combine the Sandwell General Hospital at West Bromwich and City Hospital , Dudley Road. Work at the site later came to a standstill because of a crisis in the construction industry. Other former industry included railway rolling stock manufacture, at
7462-592: Was built to produce complete steam engines to Watt's designs. Waste dumped from the foundry gave rise to the name Black Patch to the field to the east. The Soho Foundry is now the headquarters of the Avery Company . Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal The Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal was a canal in England which ran from Nantwich, where it joined the Chester Canal , to Autherley, where it joined
7553-427: Was failing, but William Provis was a competent contractor, and managed to overcome the difficulties, under the direction of William Cubitt , who had been asked by the proprietors to assist, and effectively took over the day-to-day work from Telford as his health continued to decline. The company also faced financial pressures, as by the end of 1831 they had already spent £442,000 on the work. They borrowed £160,000 from
7644-525: Was first created as a separate parliamentary constituency in 1918, having previously been part of the Handsworth constituency . At that year's general election , Christabel Pankhurst , standing as a Women's Party candidate, narrowly failed to become one of Britain's first woman Members of Parliament. She lost to the Labour candidate by 775 votes in a straight fight. Labour held the seat until 1931; from 1926,
7735-508: Was merged into the Great Western in 1870. Not until 1931 was a railway station was constructed at the Hawthorns, although it was a 'halt' primarily for the football ground; this station closed in 1967. From 1854 the Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Company was based in Smethwick until its closure in 1963. The company not only built trains, but also London Underground stock, buses and
7826-508: Was never screened until Stephen C Page, a community artist, uncovered the footage in 2005. Labour candidate and actor Andrew Faulds defeated Griffiths in the 1966 general election , remaining as an MP until his retirement at the 1997 general election , 23 years after Smethwick became part of the Warley East constituency. Griffiths subsequently moved away from the area and later served as Conservative MP for Portsmouth North . Originally
7917-485: Was not adequate, and so in 1836 it was doubled in size; it now has a capacity of 70 million cubic metres. This was later supplemented by the outflow from the Barnhurst sewage treatment works which was built near Autherley Junction, to serve the people of Wolverhampton. The company worked closely with the Ellesmere and Chester Canal Company, which owned the canals from Ellesmere Port to Chester and from Chester to Nantwich, in
8008-428: Was not until 2004 that the last regular service used the route into Birmingham New Street via Smethwick Junction. Soho TMD is located next to Soho rail junction; road access is just off Wellington Street. It is the principal train depot for West Midlands Trains ' Class 323 train fleet, which are often seen providing local train services in the area. The town of Smethwick has a long association with buses. From 1914
8099-465: Was particularly keen, and co-operation with them would be easy, since Telford was their consulting engineer. The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal stood to loose some traffic, and so negotiated compensation tolls and protection for their water supply. The Trent and Mersey Canal were also concerned about loss of traffic, and the proposal spurred them on to start work on their Harecastle Tunnel , which had been authorised in 1823. An act of Parliament ,
8190-557: Was the first black head teacher in the UK, having been born in Jamaica and moved to Britain with the RAF in 1943. Smethwick received bad publicity when, the day after the announcement of his appointment, racist slogans and swastikas were daubed around the school. However, O'Connor was well liked by both parents and children; he eventually retired in 1983. In the mid- to late 1960s, a large council estate in
8281-429: Was the last pumping engine to be installed on this section of canal and initially contained two vertical compound engines with centrifugal pumps. These could pump enough water to fill 200 locks each day. It remained in use until 1905, when one of them was moved to Bentley. The remaining engine continued to be used until the 1920s. The two beam engines remained on site for another five years, until they were dismantled and
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