Part of the Stourbridge Canal was found drained of water this morning (Thursday January 4th 2024).

A keen walker shared these images with The Stourbridge News after snapping the almost empty stretch of canal, between Amblecote and Wordsley, at around 9am today.

He said he later noticed the lock gates had been opened to allow water to flow back in and it looked as if the dried-up waterway had been refilled although water levels still appeared lower than usual.

The Canal and River Trust has been contacted for comment.

Photographs courtesy of Alan Meese / Stourbridge News.

Update 6th January:

A Trustee at Stourbridge Navigation Trust became aware of the problem and acted accordingly. He advises that whilst latterly the local youth have left the canal alone it does still occur occasionally. On this occasion the top gate of the bottom lock was opened and a paddle drawn at the bottom end sometime on Wednesday evening.

He put the paddle down again and reported it to CRT before 9 o’clock on Thursday morning as he couldn’t shut the top gate due to debris which require a long handled rake to clear. The pound was full again by 10.30 as a boat was coming down.

This sort of malevolent activity is not confined to Stourbridge as sadly it happens all over the country from time to time.