Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
and it is now 94m long with a triangular cutwater at each pier. It was built as a hunting access
bridge for the Earl of Essex to Cannock Chase, 50km 2 of heath and an Area of Outstanding
Natural Beauty.
A Brindley aqueduct carries the canal on six brick segmental arches over the River Trent
and this is the first time since Stoke that the river can be seen from the water, although the two
have run side-by-side for 30km. Brindley's Bank takes its name from the canal's engineer.
The Bloody Steps date from 1839 when Christina Collins was carried up to the Talbot Inn.
She had been raped and murdered by the drunken Pickfords boat crew, with whom she had
been a passenger; two were hung and one transported for 14 years for the crime. The sand-
stone steps, since replaced, were said to ooze blood on the anniversary and ghostly sounds
and apparitions are still experienced. Another Rugeley miscreant was Dr William Palmer,
publicly executed in Stafford in 1855 as a multiple poisoner.
After passing the Plum Pudding Inn and the Spode Cottage pub, the canal winds round the
back of the church in Armitage with its Saxon font, its 1690 tower and the rest rebuilt in the
19th century in Saxon- and Norman-style. Inside is a loud 200-year-old organ originally from
Lichfield cathedral.
Near Wood End Lock the canal reaches its most southerly point, turning sharply north-east
to continue its journey. To the south can be seen the spires of Lichfield cathedral. To the north
is the open farmland of the Trent valley. A stream runs northwards and it is the valley of this
that causes the pronounced corner in the canal's route. A former airfield is seen through the
trees to the east.
Spode House, now Hawesyard Hall, has given its name to fine porcelain .
Shade House and Fradley Middle Locks drop the canal to Fradley Junction, locks here
being the busiest in the country, accompanied by an 18th century Grade II workshop. The
Coventry Canal joins opposite the Swan Inn, built to serve the boat trade.
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