Reader recalls another local canal disaster - your letters, plus Vikings and Saxons descend on Trysull in a 1977 archive picture

​More echoes of canal disaster

In the aftermath of the Shropshire canal drama I was interested to read the recent account of the Dudley Port disaster, when part of the canal collapsed. It reminded me of another, less well known, disaster on the Stourbridge Canal at Silver End, between Dudley and Stourbridge.

Here there was a basin on the West side of the canal, known as Wheeley's Basin, between the Brettle Lane road bridge and the GWR railway bridge. On Saturday 14 November 1903 a large section of the bed of this basin, together with a stretch of the tow-path, collapsed into old mine workings and resulted in the draining of a considerable length of the canal, from the bottom of Delph Locks, to the top of the Stourbridge 16 locks as well as the Fens branch and part of the Stourbridge Extension Canal. The resultant huge rush of water inundated the brickworks, ironworks, and coal and clay pits situated around the canal.

As the disaster happened on a Saturday when all the works and pits were closed for the weekend, there was no loss of life, apart, sadly, from one unfortunate pit pony that could not be rescued in time. By superhuman efforts through traffic was resumed on the canal on December 14, and most of the works re-opened, but many of the miners did not return to work for some time after that until the huge volumes of water still in the pits had drained away.

The aforementioned is an outline from the bookley "The Brettle Lane Canal Didaster 1903" produced by Amblecote History Society.

Incidentally, the Wheeley's were ironmasters and also had coal mines in that area and in 1829 built the little-known Dennis Rail Road down the valley from their pits to the canal at Coalbournebrook, no doubt so that their products could reach the canal quicker than they would by the slow descent of the Stourbridge 16 locks.

Michael Willis, Wombourne

Promises shown to be just empty

I was surprised to read that Powys CC has expressed an interest in housing asylum seekers in new council houses. The Labour Liberal coalition leadership is apparently very keen to back the officers of Powys CC in this scheme.

However, apparently, there are 3,700 local people on the council waiting list, so the officers and the leaders of the council can indulge in some left-wing scheme and the people of Powys can be pushed out in the cold.

This present administration came to power promising to keep open small village schools but once voted in they ignored the village schools and joined the officers in closing them as soon as possible. So much for the promises of our elected councillors. Considering their track record they must be voted out at the next election.

Harold Nicholls, Llandrindod Wells

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