Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Compton Lock brings the end of the summit pound. This is where Brindley began building
his canal and, until it was recently rebuilt, the lock was reputed to have been the oldest lock
in the West Midlands.
Compton Wharf Lock is the first of 31 dropping the canal 81m down to the River Severn.
Wightwick Lock looks across to the 29ha of Victorian/Edwardian gardens with topiary, yew
hedges, terraces, ponds and woods that surround Wightwick Manor. Ornately timbered in Ja-
cobean style, the house dates from 1887-1893, was furnished in Arts & Crafts style and con-
tains Kempe stained glass, original William Morris wallpaper, tapestries and fabrics, paint-
ings, de Morgan ware and other pre-Raphaelite works of art, and there are also stables, along
with a pottery, studio workshop and antiquarian bookshop.
Many of the lock weirs on this canal are of an unusual design: a circular weir protected by
a circular brick wall and a birdcage arrangement in the centre to keep out both people and
debris. The example at Awbridge Lock is typical of a number of these weirs.
The three Bratch Locks were originally built as a staircase but extra gates were later added
to give 1.5m gaps between the locks. A side pond curving away to the right between the
closely spaced locks tempts the unwary although, thinking about it, there is no way narrow-
boats can reach it. The correct route is down the flight and through the delightfully complex
brick access stairways at the bottom lock. Watching over everything is a strategically sited
18th century octagonal toll house. The area is one of the gems of the canal system, no less so
for the restoration work carried out by British Waterways in 1994.
The Round Oak and the Waggon & Horses mark the two ends of the jig through Giggetty,
the westward extension of Wombourne. There are also some large industrial units by the
canal, giving way to a wildlife centre at Smestow before the two Botterham Locks.
What appears to be an isolated round weir opposite a section of wooded hillside well away
from Gothersley Lock is the remains of Gothersley Roundhouse, rebuilt as a picnic area. Ori-
ginally three storeys high with a rectangular extension, this tower was built in 1805 to house
a wharfinger.
A cave cut into the red cliff, the Devil's Den, can really only be approached from the canal
but at a point where the water is too shallow for large craft to get close.
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