GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

Hockley and Duddeston: gwrhd720

Whilst at first glance this seems to be water tower, it is not. As seen in image 'gwrhd680' the GWR had an adjacent interexchange facility at Hockley with Birmingham's canal system. Due to the canal being at a higher level the GWR installed a two-road wagon hoist (pictured) at the north side of All Saints Street. Initially hydraulic powered it was converted to electric and was actively used until the 1950s when the canal trade declined markedly as did later rail traffic due to competition from road transport.

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