Mystery of The Canal Crane

The canal crane, with steamer President and butty Kildare

The Canal Crane

I have just about finished writing a book on the Shropshire Union Canal as it passes through Audlem, but there's one thing I need to clear up before the book gets printed.

Where did the crane by the canal come from? I've heard many times that it came from the Audlem station site – but did it? In his piece on Saturday on Audlem Online, Jeremy Nicholls says that the crane came from within the goods shed at Audlem station. Certainly, the crane originated from within a building, and was not free-standing in a goods yard. We can see that from the top of the wooden post – there is a cast iron boss of the type that slotted into a socket fixed to the building, allowing the crane to move round in an arc.

And in a Chatbox entry in March 2019, Norman Huntbach says that the crane came from Audlem station, donated by Baxters when they demolished it.

But three things worry me. Firstly, I believe that the crane is a standard London & North Western Railway (LNWR) item – but the railway line through Audlem was operated by the Great Western Railway for most of its life. So why would there be a LNWR crane at Audlem?

Secondly, the railway at Audlem was closed in 1967, but (from dated photographs I have) I know that the crane was not put up by the canal until 1972. Where was it in between? Perhaps still inside the slumbering goods shed. If so, in which year was that demolished, and, if there is a gap, where did the crane go until it was put up by the canal?

Thirdly, and importantly, I discussed the crane with our good friend Harry Arnold MBE, only months before he died in 2018. Harry was probably the best known professional canal photographer and journalist in Britain, who had travelled round the country taking photos and writing press reports for nearly 60 years. He was adamant that the crane at Audlem was one of the three moved by British Waterways from canal/railway transhipment depots in the West Midlands. That would tie in with the fact that the crane is of LNWR origin. There was a significant number of these depots, roughly half of which were built by the LNWR. British Waterways's chief architect Peter White organised the crane moves. The other two cranes were 'planted' outside the then new "Longboat" pub at Cambrian Wharf in Birmingham, and at Diglis Basin in Worcester. Harry said that he was in Audlem about the time the crane was erected here; I suspect that's true, as he worked on some of the woodwork inside what is now The Shroppie Fly when it was being converted.

So, what really is the origin of the crane? If it came from the station, is there anyone around who was actually involved in that move, with first-hand knowledge? Information please to 01270 811059 or info@audlemmill.co.uk

The new book ("Audlem Locks – A Walk Through History") will be available from Audlem Mill from late April.

A footnote: there's not actually much left of the crane as originally constructed – only the cast iron fittings. The vertical post and jib (both English oak) and the three steel support legs, date from the 2019 renovation. But the crane does look good, and continues to be a significant feature of the canal at Audlem (even though it's not the original crane, and it's not in the original place).

Peter Silvester

Audlem Mill