A Boatmans Life.

 We had a lovely walk around the Buckpool and Fens reserves and ponds on a nice day and then we set off the next day to head down the Stourbidge locks.

The top locks is just by Leys Junction and between here and the next lock, on the offside, a new industry was set up at the end of the 1800's. Well new to the area, and taking advantage of the clays found in the coal seams around the area. This was the making of encaustic wall and floor tiles, that were the archetype Victorian tiles

At Lock 3 it looks like there should have been a wharf over by the road to the left of this photo, but I can see no evidence of one on old maps. That is despite there being Nagersfield old Colliery and the later  Nagersfield Brickworks just beyond. It would have been very convenient for a loading berth.

I'm pretty sure this is Lock 4.

And I have obviously gone back after preping the next lock to close up after the boat. The Samson and Lion Pub is just over on the right.

In September 1924 the body of Noah Webb was recovered from the canal near Lock 5. Noah was 62 but there was nothing unusual about finding bodies in the canal, from new born babies to aged folk, as the papers were full of suicides, murders and accidents. Hundreds and hundreds found their way into the canals. This is possibly why, as a child, my Mum always emphasised the dangers of the canal. What made this stand out was the fact that Noah was a well known boatman and had been born on a narrow boat and lived only about 200 yards away, so was the last person you would think would have ended up in the canal. He had been born in 1862 the eldest son of a boatman. They were living ashore in Ledbury, Herefordshire, so must have worked the Hereford and Gloucester Canal and River Severn.

By 1871 Henry and his with Eliza (from Tewksbury) were to be found on a narrow boat on Crescent Wharf, which was just by what is now Cambrian Wharf at the top of the Farmer's Bridge locks.  He was called a Master so I assume they owned it. Their boats name was the 'Henry and Anne', the names of their 2nd and third children. I expect that they must have another boat named 'Noah' too! By the next census Noah was a boatman, at 18 but his father was publican in Lower Delph. In 1880 Henry had six boats but through bad luck and bad trade he lost them all and got into debt. He seems to have been fiddled by the trusted person he used to wind up his affairs and he still owed money in 1888. He appears to have sold his boats to a man called Humphries,  In 1881 he was the publican at the Britannia beer house with his wife and seven children. It was in Lower Delph and he remained there 1878 until 1882. In 1885 he was working for Humphries but on ruinous terms as he went to work for him as boatman but on terms that he should pay for any repairs! In 1891 he was on a boat called 'Staffordshire' moored at Eton? It definitely says on the canal so maybe this was on the Slough Arm. He had his wife and four of his children, two sons 12 and 8 and two daughters 19 and 14, as well as a Mate called William West.

In 1881 Noah was 18 at home at the Brittania, but written as a boatman. In 1883 he married Emma Hollies in Dudley. In 1891 we find Noah on a boat called 'Samuel' moored at Silvertown, West Ham, London. This is part of the Royal Docks estate and was probably there for a cargo of sugar. He just had a Mate with him, Thomas Parsons age 16. Meanwhile his wife and six children were at home at the Delph waiting for him. By 1901 they had taken a beer house, The Stores, in 1900, but Noah was still heading off on the boats, so was probably just to give his wife something to do! As if she needed anything else to do with all the children. The first pub was opened in an old shed to serve the navvies that constructed the new locks that opened in 1858 and was found close by the bottom of the flight. It was knocked down in 1938 and a new pub built called the tenth lock. In turn that has been demolished this year and bungalows are to be built on the site. Eventually they had 13, of which 9 survived. However between 1905 and 1911 Emma died and Noah is found at the Stores still but also as a boatman. There were still 8 children at home. 

I think that Noah may have been the first steerer of the steam narrow boat 'Vulcan' that worked between Birmingham and London as a fly boat working general cargo in 1908. He would be working to Fellows Morton and Clayton account at that time. Noah seems to have started to make his way with his haulage business by 1911 as his eldest son was a horse driver at 25, next a boatman on the canal next another horse driver and another working on the boats. It was said that at one time he owned 40 horses and nearly as many boats. He seemed to be a regular on the run to London and was a recommended carrier by the Stourbridge Canal Co. In 1912 he was fined 2s 6d for contravening the Canal Boat Act. One of his boats was found at Tipton not having a Registration Certificate,  not supplied with a water can and no bilge pump. Noah Webb, in his defense, stated that normally this boat would have been on the London run, and would then be fitted with all this equipment but presently it was going to Cannock for coal and as the men did not live aboard it he did not think it necessary. He also ran a carting business in the area, coal and slack from pits to wharves mainly. He seems to have been a bit of a character as he was fined for being drunk in his own pub, and was lucky to keep the licence! He was also found guilty of cruelty to his horses and in 1911 was fined £5 and the cost of putting a horse down. The fine was high as he had been caught several times. He also lost a horse in an unusual way as it was swallowed up in a 25' x 8' x 6' hole that appeared due to subsidence near his pub. It fell and broke its neck, so was buried where it lay. 

I glimpse at the trials of a boat owner were revealed in a court case of 1911. Noah Webb had given Joseph Adams £7 10s on a Friday to take a pair of boats and two horses to London and back, with his wife and two men. He heard rumours and headed to Birmingham to find the two boats and everything other than the steerer! He then went his home and when questioned vaguely stated that he got off the boat and 'lost' the money so couldn't continue. Noah then gave him a further 30s and told him he had to start the trip on Saturday morning. Noah checked the next day and he was still there so he employed somebody else at £6 to take the boats. In court Noah stated that he could make £1 a day from his boats. He was claiming £10 from Adams. The Court granted him the £10 but at 10s per fortnight. Four months later he was back in court as he had only received 7s and Adams was given 40 days in prison as well as the 10s per two weeks.

Over his life in the area Noah Webb was documented as pulling at least 2 bodies out of the canal and now it was his turn to end up there. He had been to the pub to pay his 'club' money but everybody styated he was sober when he left in the evening. He was greeted by passers by a couple of times but ended up in the canal about 200 yards from his home. It just goes to show we all need to take care on locks and by the canal.

We are now down to Locks 9 and 10. These two are as close as you can get to been a staircase pair, but they do have a tiny pound between them. There are great views down the cut to Dadford's Shed and the Red House bottle kiln.

Looking back at the pair of locks 9 and 10.

Known as Dadford's shed it was a transhipment shed for the basin alongside. Dadford was the builder of the canal.

There are still several glass cones surviving in the area, but this one at Redhouse Glassworks is the best preserved at the old Stuart Crystal works/museum. Over the road is the Whitehouse Glassworks museum, and there were several more works in the area.

The old flour mill a little past the glass cone would have been a source of traffic for the canal judging by the warehouse doors in the centre of the building. It has now been converted to flats.

At Wordsley Junction we continued straight on. The trip down the arm to the Bonded Warehouse and Stourbridge is well worth it, but no time on this voyage.

Helen heading off without me! Just a little past the bridge is a small aqueduct over the River Stour. We didn't go much further and found a length of piling with a view across to New Wood.