Albert Rooke was Birmingham’s last Inland Harbour Master – maintaining the locks at Farmers Bridge and supervising visitor moorings in the city centre
He worked from the Toll House at the top of the locks near Cambrian House.
As a lad he used to work horses for pocket money pulling cargo boats up Farmers Locks and riding the horse back to the Aston stables.
He retired in April 2003 after 20 years of service but continued to work on the canals as a volunteer (including helming the litter boat) for the rest of his life. Some of Wild in Birmingham's founder members can recall having a cup of tea and a chat with Albert in Cambrian House after an enjoyable morning's gardening!
During his career, Albert witnessed the transformation of central Birmingham's canals from derelict factories to the development of vibrant new areas such as the International Convention Centre, Brindleyplace and many new canalside homes. The regeneration of canals led to them becoming an attraction for visitors and residents of the city to enjoy walking, cycling or just relaxing.
Albert's garden
Sadly, Albert passed away in 2021 and Wild in Birmingham team felt that it would be fitting to develop a new garden in his memory. The area of Albert's Garden had previously been cleared as it had been very overgrown with shrubbery and trees that had encroached across the towpath so we started with a fairly blank canvas.
Planting so far includes dogwood, salvias, roses, penstemons and lavenders. There are also dogwoods which have brightly coloured stems in winter, aronia – a plant related to roses which have berries that are rich in antioxidants and vitamin C, viburnum, osteospermum, red hot pokers, and a globe artichoke which has an edible flower bud.
Development of the garden is continuing. We have recently installed ‘Salcombe Sally’, a small boat, filled with sand, to add nesting opportunity and improve habitat for urban bees. It is filled with drought tolerant plants that will attract pollinators – in fact a honey bee came to visit before we’d even completed the planting! We are grateful to West Midlands Combined Authority for funding this project.
We collect dead branches and twigs at the back of the border, as insects, such as stag beetles, like to nest in dead and rotting wood. We have also installed a number of bug hotels in our gardens which we hope will attract a wide variety of insects and pollinators.
To read more about Albert Rooke's career please follow these links:
BBC News article April 2003
The Free Library/Birmingham Post and Mail article March 1998
