On 3 March 2016 I visited the 8 locks extending over a stretch of canal 1 km long which make up the Ryders Green Locks.

This is in the Midlands Black Country conurbation. It traditionally served the magnificent innovative industries of the area creating jobs for local people – in not too healthy environments.

This has now thankfully been replaced by splendid new industries running alongside the 8 locks. Travelling north along the canal the old industries are to the left the new industries to the right with super modern buildings.

It is an area worth travelling through to see the contrast of what was and is now. But, perhaps not an area to moor for the night…just a supposition of mine.

On the day I found it well frequented by apparently local residents, including two CRT chaps who had been called out to rescue  a boat from some sort of impediment to progress (I didn’t really get the details). These chaps  are included in the images below. Having solved the problem, they were working the locks for the boaters to make up for lost time and frustration. How good is that!

Below is a gallery of photos I took.

To view photos:
1. Display an enlarged gallery – Left Click on an image – use the large side arrows to move between images – Left Click outside an image or press ESC to close the enlarged gallery.
Or…
2. View a larger version of a single image in a separate page – Right Click on the image then Left Click on “Open link in new tab” or “Open link in new window”.

Click  in the map below to display a list of locations marked.