Wyken canals and tramways

[dutchman]

I was unable to make sense of this explanation myself Flapdoodle but perhaps you can?

http://www.coventry-walks.org.uk/potter ... ridor.html

A narrow gauge horse drawn line was built to transport coal mined at Craven Colliery and to connect with the Oxford canal at Sowe Common. The line left the colliery, crossed Henley Road and went N then NE until it met and crossed Woodway Lane (this part of the route is clearly visible today) . It then turned left and continued along the right-hand side of the lane until opposite the 'Jolly Collier' Pub where it crossed the lane again and went NW to the old arm of the canal. Until the widening of Woodway Lane in the 1970's the site of the railway was clear by the wide verge on the side of the lane, indeed this is still apparent today north of the lane's junction with Ringwood Highway where the wide verge still exists. The coal was then loaded into barges moored on the arm of the canal which connected with the Oxford canal and where there was originally an iron bridge - which was dismantled in the 1980's and re-erected at Spon End.

In the other direction the canal arm went on to the Alexander Colliery basin just west of Deedmore Road and where the 'Clod' banks were, before being leveled to provide ground for the present day Industrial Estate. From here the canal arm doubled back on itself to be again crossed by a bridge in Deedmore Road to a further basin at Alexandra Colliery. The canal also continued from the Alexandra Colliery basin to rejoin the Oxford canal just before the junction to the Wyken Arm (currently Wyken Basin).

There was another colliery tramway from Alexandra colliery that crossed Deedmore Road by a level crossing - the gates were still there until comparatively recently - which then headed off across the 'burning banks' towards Wyken Basin. From here there was a L & N.W.R. branch line linking to the Coventry-Nuneaton railway. This tramway was extended down to Craven colliery by the early 1920s.

[dutchman]

If you type the approximate post code CV2 2AB into the "Old Maps" site viewtopic.php?f=8&t=17878 it will display a selection of detailed maps from 1880 onwards.

As far as I can see Flapdoodle the canal only ever served Wyken Main, not the Alexandra pit which relied on a tramway. A loop on the canal took it about half way towards the Alexandra just beyond the Boat Inn on Shilton Lane (hence the name). The loop was still shown on maps as late as 1967 but had disappeared by 1974.

The tramways were removed when the Wood End council estate was built circa 1955. Legend has it that an old passenger coach is buried under Deedmore Road school but I'm very skeptical of the claim as it was only ever a narrow gauge mineral line.