File:Stourbridge Canal, empty above Lock No 17, Stourton, Staffordshire - geograph.org.uk - 971861.jpg

English: Stourbridge Canal, empty above Lock No 17, Stourton, Staffordshire This is the canal in the pound above Lock No 17, the fourth one up of the Stourton four. The picture shows a drained canal at the winding hole (where boats up to 70 feet in length can turn round - but not today)!

Following the collapse of the embankment just over a mile to the east on the night of September 7th, the canal has drained out. Heavy rain, often continuous through the summer weakened the embankment, and according to one stranded boatman, the water was six inches above the tow path before the breach, and within twenty minutes or so the canal was empty and he was on the bottom. Now, nearly a fortnight later, BWB have plans to pump water into the canal below Middle Bridge (SO874689) on Monday September 22nd. This will enable all boats stranded in this pound to exit down the Stourton Locks, and allow the boatyard just east of here to resume some activity.

To rub salt into the wound, it hasn't rained for over a week, and there may be too little water flowing down the River Stour to do the job. Some boatmen are praying for more rain!