Flooding the dock

The dry dock at Norton Canes has a long and interesting history, enough for a blog all of its own.

The site of Yates Boatyard, it was used to build and repair the "joey" boats and "Wharf" or "Hampton" boats and the tugs. These boats were used to carry coal from the Cannock pits to the factories of the Black Country and the Walsall power station.

Yates are said to have had up to 400 boats and local folklore says that boats were built here by the mile and then cut to whatever length you wanted!

In more recent times the yard was used to film the BBC Play For Today "Atlantis" by Peter Terson. A classic piece and in my opinion an equal to the more well known "The Bargee".

Today part of the yard is home to Canal Transport Services who have been building boats here since 1964.

To learn more about the local boats, type "BCN tug" into a search engine and see what comes up.