IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Shaw Lane, BROMSGROVE, B60 4EA

The Bayer warehouse at Stoke Works under construction in the autumn of 1983. This is the site of a former salt works.

Image shows the warehouse being constructed 30 years earlier, and the canal on the other side of it. This is a glimpse from a passing train on the railway line between Cheltenham and Bromsgrove. The later brick building to the right is Myers House, consisting of offices.

The Worcester and Birmingham Canal was constructed in stages between 1791 and 1815. Grain, timber and agricultural produce were carried to the Midlands. Industrial goods and coal were carried down towards Worcester, often for onward transport to Bristol. Pairs of donkeys were often used in preference to horses, maybe because they could easily be put onto the boats which had to be legged (or pulled by tug) through the tunnels near Birmingham. Stoke Works owes its presence mainly to the enterprise of John Corbett. Salt had been mined at Droitwich since before Roman times, but in the 1850s the engineer, John Corbett, discovered a method of extracting it by digging a shaft down to the seam. He would then pour water in, then pump out the brine from which the salt could be retrieved. He made a huge fortune. However, he built good houses for his workers and assisted in many philanthropic enterprises. On the right is the bridge carrying the main line towpath where an arm of the canal (now filled in) entered Corbett's salt works.

Note the former canal basin entrance on the right.

New industrial sheds face an old salt works canal arm.

Looking north past the pipe bridge.

The Worcester and Birmingham Canal was constructed in stages between 1791 and 1815. Grain, timber and agricultural produce were carried to the Midlands. Industrial goods and coal were carried down towards Worcester, often for onward transport to Bristol. Pairs of donkeys were often used in preference to horses, maybe because they could easily be put onto the boats which had to be legged (or pulled by tug) through the tunnels near Birmingham. Stoke Works owes its presence mainly to the enterprise of John Corbett. Salt had been mined at Droitwich since before Roman times, but in the 1850s the engineer, John Corbett, discovered a method of extracting it by digging a shaft down to the seam. He would then pour water in, then pump out the brine from which the salt could be retrieved. He made a huge fortune. However, he built good houses for his workers and assisted in many philanthropic enterprises. Beyond the buildings on the right is a bridge carrying the main line towpath where an arm of the canal (now filled in) entered Corbett's salt works.

Modern warehouses on the north side of the canal.