Join me for a very tranquil ride of less than ten miles along the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal. Along the way I encounter the local wildlife: herons and a Cetti’s Warbler, and explore some of the history of Pratt’s Wharf, Falling Sands Lock and Kidderminster. That’s all despite a somewhat inauspicious start!
so a problem has beset with me in the first mile the front wheels falling out look so I’ve got to ride back get a span and tighten it up I rode it a mile not noticing so surely I can ride it another Mile and it’ll be all right that’s the logic I’m going to [Music] follow after the in aici start I took brought the spanner with me just in case cuz it Doesn’t front wheel doesn’t fit in the Dropout very well but this is the staffer Musta Canal that we’re [Music] on built by James Brindley I want to say it began in [Music] 1756 and then it finished in starport in 1770 2 [Music] I headed off to kinster to buy the cycling weekly and some other bits and pieces on bu so uh go to H Minster to get the cycling weekly a tool for the to fix the to get the Freewheel off Eddie try and fix that and that’s the bridge that we’re at got to come under here twice once on the way and once on the way back I’ll have to get off here cuz it’s very low that’s a gray Heron nice to see them on the on the canal oh looks like he caught something which shall pursue unfortunately my foot fell off the pedal just then [Music] m [Music] what I’ve Disturbed his hunting this is alington [Music] Bridge not nice spot though good picture Okay video it’s always tricky with the filming there and probably be see him again on the way back only just be on the bridge and I’ve Disturbed a heron if it’s the same one I’m not sure [Applause] there it is so we’ll be seeing him again in a minute I’ll just ride past the next time cuz I have to get on and so does he probably I’ll see you in a bit see you on the way back hopefully and this just coincidentally around the corner I thought this was further on but this is called plat swarf now but originally it was called Pratt swarf and you can’t see it but in the winter you can see the remains of the old lock down into the river Stow which was navigable river Stars over there and then down here is the winding hole and the turning down there there was a steel Works down over by there somewhere and that’s what I think this lock was for there’s another aspect of canal Wildlife that you often see but I think the Herm was a bit of a treat this morning e for [Applause] you join me at falling Sand’s lock I’ve just put the camera somewhere a bit or just on there on the lock gate and then down into the icy depths down there uh so just get off the gate this is falling Sand’s lock you see it’s not a very deep lock but here you could just see the remains of the straight line of the undergrowth and underneath that is where the old Cottage used to be for the lock keeper it’s just foundations now I’ll see if I can put up a picture you can sort of see where it used to be cut into the cut into the hillside I can’t remember what what year it was demolished I think it’s just about within living [Music] memory all the way down down there there’s the bike so we’re going to press onto kidster now there’s another lock before we get into kinster cold wall loock and then there’s one final lock before we get to saintsbridge I’ve seen one guy on a bike going the opposite way to me two ladies together on bicycles and a man on a bike going the same way there me and a woman walking the opposite direction with the camera so we’ll leave Falling Sand and head off to the next lock this is always a nice curve curve around that’s a slle to let the water out into the river star if the canal needs to be drained makes a nice picture so we’ll speak in a bit so here we’re just passing under this new bridge that was built say 5 years ago I think morning thank you that’s built to connect the basically to connect one side of kinster to the other after they built a housing estate up there then here is I can’t remember the name of this bridge but the name’s on it so we’ll see in a minute falling sounds number 11 and then behind it is the seven Valley Railway Viaduct and the new bridge and there’s a blue plaque there which I’ve not noticed before so I’ll have a look at that a plaque to read in commemoration of the seven navis who died building the seven Valley Railway between 1858 and 1862 and the three navis whose deaths were recorded building the kidmin to Beauty Loop line between 1875 and 1878 many others were injured during the construction of the Railway I’ve noticed two plaques on the wall there so we’ll have a look at them as well information about the construction of the archers and the restoration so I’ll put the photographs up for you to read and there’s also back boxes [Music] [Music] this is Cal wall lock and its overflow you can see all the Sandstone they’ve had to cut away we’re almost in kinon now the next bridge and you’re in the town and this path used to be concreted with slabs which covered a cable Gully it used to make a musical noise which was quite entertaining anyway this is kidderminster now this is the Watermill [Music] Pub that in front is the piano building so called because from the the air it looks like a piano grand piano and it’s accompanying chimney probably a carpet mill most things here have to do with the carpet industry this is Tesco that’s new build nice Pub there with the beer garden overlooking the canal demolished something there if they’re going to put more houses up is land of a [Applause] pigeon and then there’s lots of bridges which were constructed so the boats could go directly inside the factories that looks like it’s been vandalized it’s a sort of thing that would happen that’s the part of the college that is in there oh Frankin Benny’s has gone they’ve resurface that bridge which is welcome and then you can just Freewheel over the top look at the car Parks been put up taken up this is all old old industrial workings from the past and then that’s a retail Park Pizza Hut there there’s Matalan very little industry none compared to what they used to be still a bit that goes on they do make Specsavers lenses in this town so that’s something that’s actually useful and and I’m going to get off here because that hill is too steep to ride up probably with the fact that there’s all the pedestrians so that’s all all graffiti I don’t know who that person is so I Shan comment so we’ll walk up the hill and onto to the other side of the canal cuz the toe path changes sides here that is the Church of St Mary and there are actually some finally currently standing on an aqueduct over the river star this is what lock was this called I can’t remember there’s a boat just gone down down the hill through the lock go squirrels chasing each other is he just I think he’s just fallen off there and down into the river oh dear hopefully squirrels can swim quite Hardy yes beyond that concrete bridge the other concrete bridge is the Road Bridge takes you to saintsbridge and you can see crossly retail Park where I have to go to alford’s and that bridge is the bridge where the alcoholics and drug addicts sit but there’s none there today the church looks nice rather bu colic I’m very lucky and great ful that nobody picked my phone up I was at Halfway Around SSB and quite nice was halfway around sabur and I realized I’d forgotten it so I’ve I’ve hidden the cycling weekly behind another magazine so we go back and get that cuz that was the only one in the shop so now I can shop a bit easier there olow we’ve left the excitement of sabes boat going has either come in or it’s come out so cold wall lock the Heron’s [Music] back fish just jumped or two fish actually that was a very nice sight that was I wonder if that’s the same Bird that’s gone all the way up the canal so we’ll be around the corner in a minute back at the viaduct it’s all the same way back so I Shan film as much [Music] ow let make sure I don’t get hit by the van that’s coming out of there that’s a self storage place I don’t know what time the Train’s going to be that was an unlucky coincidence last time y this is a nice wide bit it’s a good straa segment but hang on [Music] [Music] nice to see a preserved diesel better timing than last time as well the next lock is falling Sands we’ll ride past there and uh head back into head back towards home I thought I’d stop and say a brief bit about the bike it isn’t mine it belongs to my dad and here he acquired it from my uncle whose son broke the rear wheel after trying to take it along some BMX jumps and he was going to scrap it but Dad rescued it it’s a rally Pioneer I think it’s one of the last rallies built in Britain but I’m not sure it does have it’s got the Nottingham England on it and I think that’s the only original thing about it is the frame no it’s a very good very good Canal bike morning well the saddle’s slightly too low but not far off and the front wheel stayed in which is is good that’s always helpful so we’ll yeah press on back to back to the town just stopped at pratz WF to do a w w ride by and the chattis Warblers just sung can’t hear it now though I don’t know if this is going to work cuz I haven’t got my tripod into the bridge unless I unless I put it on the ground on this grassy tum there was another that was a bit of a was a flat bit there [Applause] [Applause] hi yeah all right [Applause] the chatties might have got that on the microphone but he’s in that bush probably won’t see him cuz they are quite shy but they sing very loudly rather sweet that’s two 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 what the she County Council have been up and about I have no idea how they got that jeep down there this is the bridge over the Staffordshire and musterer Canal again where I was only yesterday actually another place to end the video so I’ll say thank you very much for joining me on a trip to sabd I’m sure it was most interesting good bird life I was pleased with that the Heron and the chatties and the bike ran well after I put the front wheel back in thanks for watching and until next time cheerio [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music]