Chasewater Reservoir on the Wyrley and Essington Anglesey Branch

Tuesday, 09 February 2010 21:48

Chasewater Reservoir is being de-watered

The £3 million repair project on the 211 year old (1799) Chasewater Dam has begun. The dam was built of rubble and stones to create Chasewater Reservoir, which supplies the water to the Midlands canals.

We wandered along the towpath today, towards the Chasewater Reservoir and Dam

Anglesey Basin and dam

If the dam failed, the water would rush towards 2,000 homes in Shenstone and Tamworth, not to mention flooding the canals!

There are homes immediately below the dam

This is the overflow weir in full spate by the mooring rings!

This was also the site of the No. 1 pit of the Cannock Chase Colliery Company, known as "The Marquis" and opened in 1849. It closed in 1856 and a plaque commemorates this coal pit.

Pit plaque by overflow weir

Walking up the slope to the dam we could just see Epiphany moored

We arrived at the dam wall just in time to witness a spectacle! One of the local fisherman had caught a rather large fish and his friend helped him to weigh it. We asked him if we could take photos for our blog.

Weighing the fish - 22½ lbs!

The wonderful catch - a pike

We asked the fishermen about the emptying of the reservoir - they agreed that it had begun and were worried about the fish in the reservoir - millions they said! According to the BBC report today there are 50,000 fish. We speculated whether they would drain it completely and need to do a "fish rescue". Yet again the BBC today confirmed that the fish and the rare great crested newts and sphagnum moss will also be protected.

The whole process is going to take a while - 3 months to drain the reservoir and the repair until the end of this year. The reservoir will then have to be filled again and this could take 2 - 4 years.

Panorama of emptying reservoir

The sluice house is an octagonal building typical of the BCN

The views from the dam towards the canal were good too! Panorama from the dam across the canal -

The overflow weir and canal from near the sluice house

So if you are planning a visit to the Anglesey Branch, it needs to be in the very near future, otherwise there may be water problems. It is a shame to miss this bit of the BCN - the Wyrley and Essington is a wonderful canal and visiting all its Branches makes it a really interesting trip. Once again it is a case of "Use it or Lose it" so come on folks - do your bit!