Talk:Wyrley and Essington Canal

William Pitt

Good work; but which William Pitt? Andy Mabbett 11:56, 10 August 2005 (UTC)

None of them! Have removed the link until someone creates an appropriate William Pitt article. I know nothing about him apart from the fact that he was engineer of the W&E, so not really even enough to create a stub. StephenDawson 19:57, 10 August 2005 (UTC)

Branches

The article was really helpful when trying to finalise the map. Does anyone know the name of the two small branches between Pelsall Jn and Catshill Jn? They appear on the map on the Lichfield and Hatherton Trust site (http://www.lhcrt.org.uk/history.htm) but I am not sure if they are the Gilpins, Slough or Sandhills arms mentioned in the article. That site also mentions 5 locks on the Essington branch off the Sneyd to Wyrley Bank line. Can anyone confirm five or four? Also, where did Lord Hayes branch start from? At 14 miles, it is difficult to see where it would fit. There is a picture of its start on (http://tuesdaynightclub.co.uk/tour_00/BCNplus13.html), and the sequence would suggest between Pelsall Jn and Birchills Jn. Thanks for any help. Bob1960evens 16:54, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

Further investigation would suggest the Lord Hayes branch turned off in a NW direction, about 1 mile west of Pelsall Jn, and that its length was 1.4 miles (2.2km) rather than the 14 miles (22.5km) quoted. Would anyone like to agree? Bob1960evens 17:40, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

The Historical Map of the Birmingham Canals by Richard Dean (see references) shows Lord Hayes starting where you said, but going westwards for one mile or so. It aso confirms 5 locks at Essington and 4 on the Sneyd branch leading to them (called Sneyd Locks on the old map, Wyrley Locks on your icon map). Route map added with kml links to Google map and Googlre Earth if you want to follow it all by air. Oosoom ^Talk to me 15:31, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

Bradshaws Guide of 1904 lists the length as 7 furlongs (0.8 miles), which seems a safer bet than the 14 miles originally quoted, and probably more accurate than the 1.4 miles I changed it to. This length also fits your co-ordinates. 1.4 miles in a fairly straight line would cause it to cross the Wyrley branch. Bob1960evens 12:36, 17 September 2007 (UTC)

Lichfield Canal

There's quite alot of duplication between this article and the Lichfield Canal article, without actually referencing each other. I think some merging or at least separation of the working and dialect parts might be productive. Eg. there is the Lichfield Aqueduct which is not mentioned/linked from the W&E article, but which is from the LC article; despite being shown (merely as "M6 Toll") on the map. —Sladen (talk) 13:35, 11 September 2008 (UTC)