Canalside Structure - What is it ?

MarkV · #1

Can anyone help with what this is, before the the bridge ?

It's constructed of concrete, both the flat top and supporting legs.

I thought initially some sort of WWII defence, but the bfridge doesn't carry a lane or road, in fact nothing now. At best it would have been a farm track in the past.

It's on the GU near Knowle.

Just one of those things i'm keen to find out !

John H · #2

Maybe narrowboats carried milk churns or farm produce in the past ? If they did, I assume the farmer would leave his produce there to be picked up by the next boat. Or maybe i'm talking through my wobbly cheeks.

MarkV · #3

You could be right John, but I thought if it was a farm related structure, i'd expect it to be wood or metal frame, not concrete with re-inforced metal rods in the legs ???

Notice how the flat top is slightly thicker at the back than the front, seemingly by design.

#4

Not 100% certain but you may find some grooves under the canal bridge where they used to insert thick wooden planks into the water when a section needed to be drained. They used to keep these planks under that concrete structure, sometimes it was a wooden structure. I guss there was a wooden one there originally and it was replaced by a concrete one - there are one or two about.
These planks had U shaped metal at the ends to lift them.
I think these were there basically to keep the planks as dry as possible.

MarkV · #5

Bill - I'll have another look this week and see what else I can see.

#6

Pretty sure that is right, you can actually see grooves on the pic, (bottom of bridge).

John H · #7

I think you're right Bill. It's the logical place to to put the planks in the cut, where it narrows for a bridge, if you wanted to drain either side.

#8

For keeping stop planks in plank Groves in bridge hole an narrows