 |
Restoration Plan: Lapal
West; Phase-3 |
WP3 The
St Mary's (Heritage) Section [LWMH] :
This approximately ? yds (?m) long section includes
the three sub-sections of Manor Way, St Mary's and the Abbey Lands, and is
being identified as the Phase-3 restoration project.
It has already been noted that this Phase-3
restoration project need not be undertaken until the
restoration of the Lapal Tunnel itself is deemed to be viable
or has already been achieved. Indeed, this section, while still unrestored,
may provide the necessary access route for plant involved in restoring the
Lapal Tunnel.
WP
3.1 A456
“Manor Way” Crossing [LWMW - LW7]
Originally,
the A456 was a country lane and its then Manor Lane bridge crossed obliquely to
the Black Horse Public House where the lower car-park now occupies the former
channel (the original bridge was of such a sturdy construction that it had to be
blown-up - twice - to be demolished!). These
days the reconstructed Manor Way is a major dual-carriageway feed for the nearby
M5 motorway and a level-water crossing is no longer viable along the original
line.
WP
3.1.1 Three Options for Crossing the A456
There
are five principal options for achieving a navigable link across Manor Way: (i)
restoration of the canal on the original line and level. This option, however, would necessitate a major re-alignment of the level
of the A456 Manor Way in order to allow for a navigable head-room underneath the
dual-carriageway road; (ii) a short tunnel taking a restored waterway underneath
the present alignment of the A456, in a drop-lock; or (iii) the construction of an aqueduct to
take a restored waterway over the A456.
WP3.1.2 Preferred Strategy
Of
the options outlined above, the most widely-favoured proposal involves an
aqueduct crossing. In this general
vicinity, the A456 runs on an incline and is increasingly below the required
level to the west (i.e. towards Halesowen) of the original line. Thus, an aqueduct of a modern design could afford adequate vehicle
clearance if it was situated about 60 yards to the west; being a point 'down the hill' from the original crossing
point. It could connect up with the former coal-arm; this being the short 'spur'
canal which served the nearby coal mine and would provide much of the required
detour route to the aquaduct.
WP 3.1.3 Alternative Phase-3 Strategy
If
this is the adopted solution, then the [ ] footway [LW6P] need not be disturbed
but could be replaced by a new alignment that begins at Fordrove Bridge and runs
to the west of the former line. It would run perpendicular to the A456 and 'arrive' in-line with the
aqueduct.
WP3.2
The Abbeylands [LWAL]
[insert
map]
WP3.2.1
Abbey Lands - North [LW8]
WP
3.2.1
Preferred Strategy
Much
of the restoration strategy in this particular Sub-section will be dominated by
the ultimate option adopted for crossing the A456. The original line of the canal is situated in the car park of the Black
Horse Public House and the preferred means of crossing the A456 - by aqueduct -
necessitates a new line being constructed to provide the requisite height to
cross Manor Way. On the south side
of the A456, the 'departure' canal could
be achieved by a new alignment that gradually turns east to rejoin the original
line, near to the former 'Fish Ponds' bend [LW8F] adjacent to the St Mary’s
(or Hales Owen) Abbey ruins and well to the south of the Black Horse Public
House. As noted above, the former coal-arm could provide at least 'half' of
this detour route. WP
3.2.2
Integrated Development
This
expedient would create a triangle of land in which the pub might be rebuilt to
optimise its new waterfront aspects. Land-ownership
issues have a significant bearing on this proposal, whereas the purely physical
impediments are small. The land to
the south of the A456 is rural (although it was once the site of a coal mine)
and to the north is a currently disused portion of an industrial premises.
WP.3.2.3 Pedestrian Access Across Manor Way
While
the aqueduct will achieve a suitable crossing just for the navigation,
pedestrian continuity could be provided by a sub-way (or foot-bridge) that
crosses the A456 along the original line. This
would provide the much-needed safe pedestrian access to the Black Horse and
hence, to the several country walkways in the rural land thereabouts, including
the nearby St Mary's Abbey. The
present pedestrian crossing is approximately where the aqueduct might be
installed and is an unsafe provision across this fast-flowing road, being
suitable only for the able-bodied pedestrian. Conversely, the sub-way provision could easily be constructed to afford
access for wheel-chair users as a continuation of the present footway along the
in-filled section of canal in the Halesowen Backlands Sub-section. It is also likely to increase the number of Halesowen residents who might
both wish to use the Black Horse as their 'local' and make use of the splendour
of the surrounding countryside.
WP 3.2.4 Fish Ponds Bridge
However,
this proposal may also require a
further roving bridge, to the south of the Black Horse, to return the towpath to
the south-side of the canal and thence to the existing rural ramble paths
[LW9F]. Again, this could occur at
Fish Ponds Bend having 'arrived' as a walkway, along the former Abbeylands -
North [LW8] line. This whole
arrangement also avoids the additional problems posed by high-voltage
power-lines that now rise from the former Abbeylands - North channel between the
Black Horse and Fish-Ponds Bend.
WP
3.3
Abbey Lands - East [LW9]
The
short [ ] yards ([ ]m) line from
Fish-Ponds Bend to the Western Portal [LW9P] of the Lapal Tunnel has become
obscured by significant volumes of in-fill, being the spoil that was removed
when the A456 was reconstructed as a dual carriageway. However, there is every reason to conclude that the channel lining and
retaining walls for the canal are intact and in a sound condition beneath the
in-fill.
A
footpath meanders between Lapal Lane South and the Halesowen Abbey ruins, being
approximately one field's remove from the true line of which only the hedgerow
now remains. It serves little
purpose to restore this final approach length until it is done as part of the
Tunnel restoration. Somewhat like
its counterpart through the road stone premises in the East [LE8], this Section
should remain dry to become the plant access route for tunnel restoration.
Indeed, tunnel restoration may well require some of this length to become
a temporary but substantial roadway that connects directly with the A456. A winding in the vicinity of the Fish-Ponds bend would serve as a
suitable navigation limit, until the tunnel becomes operational. However, the possibility that this stretch could be restored to feature,
perhaps, a re-excavated tunnel portal thereby creating another ‘linear lake’
is not discounted in this Plan.
WP
3.3.1 The Brewin Narrows
When
Brewin’s accelerator pump was installed in [ ], at a distance of approximately [
]yards
([ ] metres) from the Western
Portal, where a set of narrows was constructed [LW9N]. These narrows, which featured a single stop-gate, were necessary to
regulate the water levels in the Tunnel as part of the unique system which
‘flushed’ boats through the Tunnel. It
is assumed that, like the rest of the channel along this section, the narrows
are still intact beneath the in-fill. Accordingly,
when this section is eventually restored, the narrows should be retained for the
purpose, not least, of providing a convenient means to isolate this section of
canal.