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(Canals in various public and private sector ownership)
The Lichfield and Hatherton Canals are simplified terms for two restoration projects whose primary purpose is to provide an easy access to the presently under-visited northern areas of the Birmingham Canal Navigations. The Lichfield Canal consists of the abandoned Ogley to Huddlesford length of the Wyrley and Essington Canal. The Hatherton Canal consists of the abandoned Hatherton Branch of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, which The Lichfield and Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust plans to complete by building a new section of canal to replace the Churchbridge Branch and part of the Cannock Extension canal which were lost to coal mining. The threat posed by the building of the M6 Toll Motorway was overcome by the construction of two culverts at Churchbridge on the Hatherton Canal and the installation of an aqueduct on the Lichfield Canal near Muckley Corner. The Trust acquired the former lock cottage at Ogley Junction in January 2006,continues regular work parties on both the Lichfield and Hatherton sections, and is working to overcome potential obstacles posed by the construction of a new bypass road to the south of Lichfield, and planned-widening of the M6 motorway near Calf Heath Junction at the eastern end of the Hatherton Branch. The later work may eventually provide a means of getting the restored canal under the existing M6, where it is current in-filled.
