Author Topic: Wasthills Tunnel and area  (Read 9012 times)

planetmalc

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Re: Wasthills Tunnel and area
« Reply #11 on: March 30, 2016, 02:38:24 PM »
Don't think you will see anything around the Lapal end, but if you go to Selly Oak see around the large island that leads upto the new Queen Elizabeth hospital and Battery Park apparently that's where they have started working - opposite the park and old bus depot
 
I know where you mean.     Back in the 90's, it was possible to access that former industrial land from the Bournville canal, and I recall using a piece of tree branch to dig away a load of earth that had been used to block the bridge under the Outer Circle Bus route, which then allowed access to the old dried-up canal that runs to Lapal Tunnel, obviating the need for cyclists/walkers to negotiate busy roads to get from one canal to the other.     A few days later, some mean-spirited jobsworth had filled it all in again! :o       Clearly, preventing trespass is more important than people's safety, in the eyes of some folk. ::)
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sandra01

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Re: Wasthills Tunnel and area
« Reply #12 on: March 30, 2016, 09:05:14 PM »
If you Google it, you can find out about their intentions, all sounds good, doing a marina in selly oak apparently . But will probably take years, hope I'm around to see it all !
Do you remember Goodmans old yard by the side of the canal next to the bridge, that's been empty and derelict for ages be nice if that was in the plans.

planetmalc

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Re: Wasthills Tunnel and area
« Reply #13 on: March 31, 2016, 02:46:20 PM »
If you Google it, you can find out about their intentions, all sounds good, doing a marina in selly oak apparently . But will probably take years, hope I'm around to see it all !
Do you remember Goodmans old yard by the side of the canal next to the bridge, that's been empty and derelict for ages be nice if that was in the plans.

Thanks for that, I'll have a look   -   sounds good! O0
 
Was Goodmans on the RH side of the bridge?     If so, I think we may have a photo of it on the forum.
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sandra01

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Re: Wasthills Tunnel and area
« Reply #14 on: March 31, 2016, 05:27:38 PM »
If you were going into the city it was on the left just before you went under the bridge, the Station pub then on the right

planetmalc

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Re: Wasthills Tunnel and area
« Reply #15 on: April 01, 2016, 04:57:44 PM »
If you were going into the city it was on the left just before you went under the bridge, the Station pub then on the right
 
Yeah, that's the place I was thinking about.     I think Alton Douglas has a photo of it in one of his nostalgia books, and I'm pretty sure there's one on the forum, too.
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Phil

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Re: Wasthills Tunnel and area
« Reply #16 on: April 01, 2016, 05:10:15 PM »
Sandra

This was Goodman's in 1958.
Phil died in 2020. RIP.

planetmalc

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Re: Wasthills Tunnel and area
« Reply #17 on: April 01, 2016, 05:19:09 PM »
Sandra

This was Goodman's in 1958.
 
Cheers, Phil! O0
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roy one

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Re: Wasthills Tunnel and area
« Reply #18 on: April 01, 2016, 05:22:03 PM »
the other side of that was a café then the cut and a firm called the Birmingham battery and co
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sandra01

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Re: Wasthills Tunnel and area
« Reply #19 on: April 01, 2016, 07:27:23 PM »
Remember the area well, my nan used to live in Dale Road so I often went to the park off North Road and Bristol Road just below the "Dares "bridge in the school summer holidays

Phil

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Re: Wasthills Tunnel and area
« Reply #20 on: April 02, 2016, 12:34:49 PM »
Sandra

I thought you might find this interesting. It's a story of two young lads who decided to try to navigate the Lapal Tunnel in 1961. The story comes from the Evening Mail 1993 March edition of Old Brum magazine. In 1961 Edwin & Andrew Fasham built a boat from two halves of a packing case and equipped with two inner tubes as life belts, bicycle lamps and a borrowed flash camera set out.

They managed to get into the tunnel at the Selly Oak end and managed to get about three quarters of a mile into the tunnel where they were stopped by a large oak beam wedged across the tunnel. They tried to manhandle their boat over the beam but couldn't so they fixed a metal plate to the beam to mark their visit and abandoned the attempt.

They later tried again with a lighter borrowed canoe and were able to negotiate their way over the beam. Travelling a little further into the tunnel they came to a point where the side of the tunnel had collapsed but they were able to make their way around that fall, but a little way further up the tunnel was completely blocked by another collapse, So once again they fixed another plate to the wall and abandoned their journey.

 
Phil died in 2020. RIP.

Phil

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Re: Wasthills Tunnel and area
« Reply #21 on: April 02, 2016, 12:37:23 PM »
3 more photos from the previous post,

The Lapal Tunnel interior
The small side collapse of the tunnel
The tunnel blockage.
Phil died in 2020. RIP.


 

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