Canals of Birmingham

[harlechjoe]

In the 1870s the night soil was carted to various wharfs in the occupation of the Corporation, viz., Holliday Street, Coventry Road, Great Barr Street, and Shadwell Street. A small proportion sent away to the country from a siding on the Midland Railway at Lawley Street.

Brilliant - thank you so much !

 

[ER Allen]

Hi, I'm researching my husbands family, the Worleys, they married into the knight family but I haven't got much info yet, can you fill in any gaps, I'd appreciate it, thanks, Maggie

When you click on photo link you get:

Oops! We ran into some problems.​

 

[ER Allen]

Absolutely, I think it is called laziness, when folks do not dispose of such items responsibly, it is also very selfish and costly to the councils and waterways to put right. Unfortunately there have always been and will always be those who think this is acceptable behaviour.

The first known canals were built in Mesopotamia around 4000 BC. Human nature being what it is, they probably tipped chariot wheels, kitchen hearths, clay pots, wheelie bins, pallets, and whatever they used for traffic cones into their canals.

 

[mikejee]

When you click on photo link you get:

Oops! We ran into some problems.​

It works for me. This is what it says


For this week’s blog I decided to return to an ‘On this day….’ format. With this in mind I searched our catalogue for an interesting event occurring on the 6th March at some point in the past. During my search I stumbled across an entry for a copy of an Act (dated 6th March 1793) for the creation of the Birmingham and Warwick Canal.

The Act is entitled:

An Act for making and maintaining a navigable Canal from or nearly from a Place called The Saltisford in the Parish of St Mary, in the Borough Of Warwick, into or near to the Parish of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, and to terminate at or near to a certain navigable canal in or near to the Town of Birmingham called the Digbeth Branch of the Birmingham and Birmingham and Fazeley Canal Navigations

Built during the ‘Golden Age’ of Canals (1760 – 1830), this canal was proposed in order to supply Warwick and surrounding areas with coal, iron, stone, flour and grain, and to allow supplies between Birmingham and Warwick to pass unhindered. One of the first canals, the Bridgewater Canal, was built for much the same reason. The Bridgewater Canal, completed in 1761, was supervised by James Brindley and funded by the Duke of Bridgewater. This canal, affectionately known as the “Duke’s Cut”, was built to carry coal from Bridgewater’s mines in Worseley to Manchester. Often known as the first truly man-made canal in Britain, now this canal extends from Worseley to Runcorn and connects to the Trent & Mersey Canal and the Manchester Ship Canal among others. For more information about the Bridgewater Canal, please click here.

The Act authorized the building of a canal from Saltisford, Warwick for 22 miles to the Digbeth Branch of the Birmingham Canal. It became known as the Warwick and Birmingham Canal. The Act states that the Canal would pass through many areas including Hatton, Kingswood, Knowle, Yardley and Aston-juxta-Birmingham. There is some suggestion on p 52 of the Act that the canal company had to pay rent to the owners of the land they would cut through to build the canal, and this financial agreement would have to be reached, either rent agreed or the land purchased etc, before any work could be started. Once the agreement was reached, work could begin immediately. There is also a suggestion that those living on the banks of the canal, or close by, were able to use the canal for free for certain activities.


Part of the Act detailing penalties and settlements, should property be damaged as a result of executing the powers of the Act. [Finding Number MS 20/378]
At the time of the Act there were many canal companies that were vying for contracts and often competing with each other. It seems to have been this Act that ordered the unification of a number of these canal companies into one ‘Body Politic and Corporate’ ‘by the Name of Warwick and Birmingham Canal Navigation’. This ensured that from 1793 onwards there was one Birmingham based canal company to take on contracts. This meant canals were built quickly and efficiently, and with collaboration with other West Midlands canal companies.

Creation of the ‘Body Politic and Corporate, by the name of The Company of Proprietors of the Warwick and Birmingham Canal Navigation’. [Finding Number MS 20/378]
The Act was first submitted to the House of Lords on the 26 February 1793. On the 27 February it was ordered that a select Committee of Lords were to meet the following Friday to consider the Act. After some small amendments, debated and discussed over the following days, the Bill was passed in both Houses on the 5th of March 1793 and given Royal Assent, by King George III, on the 6th March 1793.

In our archive we have a copy of this Act which is housed within a bundle of papers that once belonged to Christopher Wren! Now, before people get too excited, it is not that Christopher Wren, but may be his son and Grandson, helpfully all called Christopher! The bundle from which the copy of the Act comes from does contain a family tree of the Wren family of Wroxall, Warwickshire.

Wren family tree. [Finding Number MS 20/378]
As you can see from the images above, the tree, comprised of numbered boxes with a key next to it, lists the family members and where they sit in the tree. The tree begins with Christopher Wren born 1675. This Christopher was the son of Sir Christopher Wren and was born at Wroxall Abbey in Warwickshire. Christopher Wren the Younger was the second, but first surviving son of Sir Christopher, educated at Eton and Pembroke College, and on his return from an architectural tour of Europe, began working with his father, as a clerk of works. For a brief period, he was a Member of Parliament, representing Windsor between 1713 and 1715, retiring to Wroxall after losing his seat in 1716. Wroxall Abbey had been acquired by his father in 1713 as a family home. Christopher Wren the Younger left behind 2 surviving sons Christopher (born 1710) and Stephen (born 1722), Christopher went on to inherit the Abbey. It is possible that the papers in the bundle belong to Christopher Wren the Younger and his descendants.

The Act is comprised of 156 pages and covers sections on the process of building the canal, recompense for lands used, the sourcing of water, legal obligations to pay for the use of the canal, and the exemptions and punishments for not paying. It is an interesting Act and shows the industrious nature of Birmingham folk in solving the problems beginning to show themselves at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. It shows businesses finding faster and more efficient methods of transporting their goods to all areas of the country. It shows a city and its people wanting to connect with the rest of the country.

If you are interested in viewing this Act or the bundle it is part of, you will need to make an appointment in the Wolfson Centre for Archival Research and request the item using the Finding Number: MS 20/378.

 

[ER Allen]

It works for me. This is what it says


For this week’s blog I decided to return to an ‘On this day….’ format. With this in mind I searched our catalogue for an interesting event occurring on the 6th March at some point in the past. During my search I stumbled across an entry for a copy of an Act (dated 6th March 1793) for the creation of the Birmingham and Warwick Canal.

The Act is entitled:

An Act for making and maintaining a navigable Canal from or nearly from a Place called The Saltisford in the Parish of St Mary, in the Borough Of Warwick, into or near to the Parish of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, and to terminate at or near to a certain navigable canal in or near to the Town of Birmingham called the Digbeth Branch of the Birmingham and Birmingham and Fazeley Canal Navigations

Built during the ‘Golden Age’ of Canals (1760 – 1830), this canal was proposed in order to supply Warwick and surrounding areas with coal, iron, stone, flour and grain, and to allow supplies between Birmingham and Warwick to pass unhindered. One of the first canals, the Bridgewater Canal, was built for much the same reason. The Bridgewater Canal, completed in 1761, was supervised by James Brindley and funded by the Duke of Bridgewater. This canal, affectionately known as the “Duke’s Cut”, was built to carry coal from Bridgewater’s mines in Worseley to Manchester. Often known as the first truly man-made canal in Britain, now this canal extends from Worseley to Runcorn and connects to the Trent & Mersey Canal and the Manchester Ship Canal among others. For more information about the Bridgewater Canal, please click here.

The Act authorized the building of a canal from Saltisford, Warwick for 22 miles to the Digbeth Branch of the Birmingham Canal. It became known as the Warwick and Birmingham Canal. The Act states that the Canal would pass through many areas including Hatton, Kingswood, Knowle, Yardley and Aston-juxta-Birmingham. There is some suggestion on p 52 of the Act that the canal company had to pay rent to the owners of the land they would cut through to build the canal, and this financial agreement would have to be reached, either rent agreed or the land purchased etc, before any work could be started. Once the agreement was reached, work could begin immediately. There is also a suggestion that those living on the banks of the canal, or close by, were able to use the canal for free for certain activities.


Part of the Act detailing penalties and settlements, should property be damaged as a result of executing the powers of the Act. [Finding Number MS 20/378]
At the time of the Act there were many canal companies that were vying for contracts and often competing with each other. It seems to have been this Act that ordered the unification of a number of these canal companies into one ‘Body Politic and Corporate’ ‘by the Name of Warwick and Birmingham Canal Navigation’. This ensured that from 1793 onwards there was one Birmingham based canal company to take on contracts. This meant canals were built quickly and efficiently, and with collaboration with other West Midlands canal companies.

Creation of the ‘Body Politic and Corporate, by the name of The Company of Proprietors of the Warwick and Birmingham Canal Navigation’. [Finding Number MS 20/378]
The Act was first submitted to the House of Lords on the 26 February 1793. On the 27 February it was ordered that a select Committee of Lords were to meet the following Friday to consider the Act. After some small amendments, debated and discussed over the following days, the Bill was passed in both Houses on the 5th of March 1793 and given Royal Assent, by King George III, on the 6th March 1793.

In our archive we have a copy of this Act which is housed within a bundle of papers that once belonged to Christopher Wren! Now, before people get too excited, it is not that Christopher Wren, but may be his son and Grandson, helpfully all called Christopher! The bundle from which the copy of the Act comes from does contain a family tree of the Wren family of Wroxall, Warwickshire.

Wren family tree. [Finding Number MS 20/378]
As you can see from the images above, the tree, comprised of numbered boxes with a key next to it, lists the family members and where they sit in the tree. The tree begins with Christopher Wren born 1675. This Christopher was the son of Sir Christopher Wren and was born at Wroxall Abbey in Warwickshire. Christopher Wren the Younger was the second, but first surviving son of Sir Christopher, educated at Eton and Pembroke College, and on his return from an architectural tour of Europe, began working with his father, as a clerk of works. For a brief period, he was a Member of Parliament, representing Windsor between 1713 and 1715, retiring to Wroxall after losing his seat in 1716. Wroxall Abbey had been acquired by his father in 1713 as a family home. Christopher Wren the Younger left behind 2 surviving sons Christopher (born 1710) and Stephen (born 1722), Christopher went on to inherit the Abbey. It is possible that the papers in the bundle belong to Christopher Wren the Younger and his descendants.

The Act is comprised of 156 pages and covers sections on the process of building the canal, recompense for lands used, the sourcing of water, legal obligations to pay for the use of the canal, and the exemptions and punishments for not paying. It is an interesting Act and shows the industrious nature of Birmingham folk in solving the problems beginning to show themselves at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. It shows businesses finding faster and more efficient methods of transporting their goods to all areas of the country. It shows a city and its people wanting to connect with the rest of the country.

If you are interested in viewing this Act or the bundle it is part of, you will need to make an appointment in the Wolfson Centre for Archival Research and request the item using the Finding Number: MS 20/378.

I still get same when I click on link, but now I can read it on your post. Much thanks!

 

[ER Allen]

Just found this gem of a PDF download book Called "Birmingham Canal Navigations, Cruising and walking Guide" Dated 1984. Great details and basic drawings.

The file is too large for attaching but you can access it here: https://bcnsociety.com/bcn-resources/

If you navigate down the page displayed "books maps and videos" it shows the PDF blue book that you can view online or download. Also some great pictures on this site. There is a section on guaging on the BCN with a drop down database. I know my great grandfather was a boatman and worked for W Swingler, not certain of the name of his barge

You've given me some homework to do. I will enjoy uh... navigating.. the selections!

 

[ER Allen]

View attachment 176847

The architecture of canals by Pratt, Derek (2005)

“The pumping station at Brasshouse Lane, Smethwick, stands between two canals. The upper one is the winding Birminghan) Old Main Line and the lower one is Telford's dead straight New Main Line.”

Would that be Salisbury and Canterbury Towers in the background?

 

[Richard Dye]

It works for me. This is what it says


For this week’s blog I decided to return to an ‘On this day….’ format. With this in mind I searched our catalogue for an interesting event occurring on the 6th March at some point in the past. During my search I stumbled across an entry for a copy of an Act (dated 6th March 1793) for the creation of the Birmingham and Warwick Canal.

The Act is entitled:

An Act for making and maintaining a navigable Canal from or nearly from a Place called The Saltisford in the Parish of St Mary, in the Borough Of Warwick, into or near to the Parish of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, and to terminate at or near to a certain navigable canal in or near to the Town of Birmingham called the Digbeth Branch of the Birmingham and Birmingham and Fazeley Canal Navigations

Built during the ‘Golden Age’ of Canals (1760 – 1830), this canal was proposed in order to supply Warwick and surrounding areas with coal, iron, stone, flour and grain, and to allow supplies between Birmingham and Warwick to pass unhindered. One of the first canals, the Bridgewater Canal, was built for much the same reason. The Bridgewater Canal, completed in 1761, was supervised by James Brindley and funded by the Duke of Bridgewater. This canal, affectionately known as the “Duke’s Cut”, was built to carry coal from Bridgewater’s mines in Worseley to Manchester. Often known as the first truly man-made canal in Britain, now this canal extends from Worseley to Runcorn and connects to the Trent & Mersey Canal and the Manchester Ship Canal among others. For more information about the Bridgewater Canal, please click here.

The Act authorized the building of a canal from Saltisford, Warwick for 22 miles to the Digbeth Branch of the Birmingham Canal. It became known as the Warwick and Birmingham Canal. The Act states that the Canal would pass through many areas including Hatton, Kingswood, Knowle, Yardley and Aston-juxta-Birmingham. There is some suggestion on p 52 of the Act that the canal company had to pay rent to the owners of the land they would cut through to build the canal, and this financial agreement would have to be reached, either rent agreed or the land purchased etc, before any work could be started. Once the agreement was reached, work could begin immediately. There is also a suggestion that those living on the banks of the canal, or close by, were able to use the canal for free for certain activities.


Part of the Act detailing penalties and settlements, should property be damaged as a result of executing the powers of the Act. [Finding Number MS 20/378]
At the time of the Act there were many canal companies that were vying for contracts and often competing with each other. It seems to have been this Act that ordered the unification of a number of these canal companies into one ‘Body Politic and Corporate’ ‘by the Name of Warwick and Birmingham Canal Navigation’. This ensured that from 1793 onwards there was one Birmingham based canal company to take on contracts. This meant canals were built quickly and efficiently, and with collaboration with other West Midlands canal companies.

Creation of the ‘Body Politic and Corporate, by the name of The Company of Proprietors of the Warwick and Birmingham Canal Navigation’. [Finding Number MS 20/378]
The Act was first submitted to the House of Lords on the 26 February 1793. On the 27 February it was ordered that a select Committee of Lords were to meet the following Friday to consider the Act. After some small amendments, debated and discussed over the following days, the Bill was passed in both Houses on the 5th of March 1793 and given Royal Assent, by King George III, on the 6th March 1793.

In our archive we have a copy of this Act which is housed within a bundle of papers that once belonged to Christopher Wren! Now, before people get too excited, it is not that Christopher Wren, but may be his son and Grandson, helpfully all called Christopher! The bundle from which the copy of the Act comes from does contain a family tree of the Wren family of Wroxall, Warwickshire.

Wren family tree. [Finding Number MS 20/378]
As you can see from the images above, the tree, comprised of numbered boxes with a key next to it, lists the family members and where they sit in the tree. The tree begins with Christopher Wren born 1675. This Christopher was the son of Sir Christopher Wren and was born at Wroxall Abbey in Warwickshire. Christopher Wren the Younger was the second, but first surviving son of Sir Christopher, educated at Eton and Pembroke College, and on his return from an architectural tour of Europe, began working with his father, as a clerk of works. For a brief period, he was a Member of Parliament, representing Windsor between 1713 and 1715, retiring to Wroxall after losing his seat in 1716. Wroxall Abbey had been acquired by his father in 1713 as a family home. Christopher Wren the Younger left behind 2 surviving sons Christopher (born 1710) and Stephen (born 1722), Christopher went on to inherit the Abbey. It is possible that the papers in the bundle belong to Christopher Wren the Younger and his descendants.

The Act is comprised of 156 pages and covers sections on the process of building the canal, recompense for lands used, the sourcing of water, legal obligations to pay for the use of the canal, and the exemptions and punishments for not paying. It is an interesting Act and shows the industrious nature of Birmingham folk in solving the problems beginning to show themselves at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. It shows businesses finding faster and more efficient methods of transporting their goods to all areas of the country. It shows a city and its people wanting to connect with the rest of the country.

If you are interested in viewing this Act or the bundle it is part of, you will need to make an appointment in the Wolfson Centre for Archival Research and request the item using the Finding Number: MS 20/378.

Mike, thank you for that, very informative article!

 

[Heartland]

I think the post regarding the Wren archive deserves clarification.
MS 20 is the Richard Fowler Collection of Birmingham Library Archives. I looked at the valuable canal records in that collection over time from the 1990s. In those days access was on the 7th Floor for the many informative archives there. Birmingham Council chose to destroy that educational asset and transfer the archives to the present site where they are now accessed at the Wolfson Centre in sadly a much-restricted way!

 

[Vivienne14]

This may be an odd question but did canal carriers of night soil use their vessels for transporting other things ? Or would those vessels have been used exclusively for nightsoil ? Viv.

 

[Richard Dye]

This may be an odd question but did canal carriers of night soil use their vessels for transporting other things ? Or would those vessels have been used exclusively for nightsoil ? Viv.

Very good question!

 

[Janet Hunt]

This may be an odd question but did canal carriers of night soil use their vessels for transporting other things ? Or would those vessels have been used exclusively for nightsoil ? Viv.

According to this article they were also used to remove ashes from the refuse destructors

Salvage department

I've seen a couple of bcn boats with 'salvage department' painted on the cabin. Was that actually a real department? Did other canal companies have them too?

www.canalworld.net

 

[Vivienne14]

Thanks Janet. The link seems to suggest the boats only carried night soil, and it wasn't until later that they were turned over to ash transport. If they were used for transporting other items at the same time I expect it became a particularly insanitary process. I doubt even cleaning boats down would be much help with very limited means of disinfecting vehicles. And in any case, in the early days of the canals I doubt there was too much concern about hygiene. In fact one post in Janet's link tells us of dumping of night soil into the canal itself if a boat was heavily loaded.

Anyone know how night soil was transported on these boats ? Hopefully in some sort of containers ? Horrendous if not. And what a dreadful job it must have been.

Viv.

 

[Pedrocut]

Around 1861 at the Saltley Sewage Farm... 2 Tanks each 43 acres, sewage passed through each one month at a time, one filling 100 tons per day, and the other being emptied. Large staff of men and horses employed on a filthy disagreeable labour and expense, to remove from the deep holes and placing on the adjacent land to dry, lying for 6 months and again removed to boats.

Suggested purchase of more land as Fazeley canal was 450 yards from the sewage outlet, also proposed three tramways from the sewer outlet.

 

[Pedrocut]

1868 at the Saltley Farm… Canal basin, capable of holing six boats has been completed. Six new trucks for conveying the manure from tanks or drying beds to canal in course of construction. In 1867, 284 boats sent out.

 

[Richard Dye]

1868 at the Saltley Farm… Canal basin, capable of holing six boats has been completed. Six new trucks for conveying the manure from tanks or drying beds to canal in course of construction. In 1867, 284 boats sent out.

Pedro, how much did each boat hold/carry?

 

[Pedrocut]

The 1945 issued OS Map shows the Saltley Sewage Farm’s basin on the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal and a little further east “Trout Pool Bridge.” In August 1872, Birmingham Daily Post (below) shows an advert for free loading of manure from near the bridge. In 1910 an account of housebreaking mentions a Trout Pool Cottage about 20 yards from the Bridge that may have been the home of the engine man for the Sewage Farm.

(The land to the south of the canal was later sold for generation of electricity)

 

[Heartland]

It is important to separate night soil from the dried sludge of the filter beds. I have often come across the movement of night soil by corporation boats and such, as noted, can appear in minutes. The development of a sewer system for the filter beds was a later development. Saltley was a nineteenth-century sewage farm that came into being to deal with the matter brought by sewer replacing the previous system of night soil collection. The drying beds produced a substance that was suitable as manure. Saltley and other beds such as Coleshill and Minworth were operated by the Upper Tame & Rea Drainage Authority and most came to use light railways to move the matter either to a canal or railway. These light railways were horse-drawn, but later used locomotives. During the early part of the twentieth century there was a movement of ashes from the destructors or the power stations by boat hauled by a tug to Minworth, where a narrow gauge steam locomotive took the ashes into the works.

So it was a developing a changing story. There was a time when there were a manure works owned by Guanogen that used the disused aircraft hangers to process the sludge, brought by tramway, into manure and out onto the LMS railway in railway wagons. Such was progress.

The Minworth railway system used steam locomotives, early electric locomotives, and petrol and diesel locomotives. They even adapted the methane made from the sludge as fuel for some of their locomotives!

 

[Pedrocut]

Stink in Solihull.

In 1878 Birmingham Corporation used seven wharves situated in the Solihull Union for depositing nightsoil. Many thousands of tons of offensive matter at Solihull Lodge, accumulated over years, and 500 tons recently. within ten yards of road, a portion within 20 yards of a dwelling house. No provision after rain to prevent run off into the River Cole.

Canal Company wharf at Hern Field, Knowle, 40 tons of nightsoil deposited by side of canal and road. At Knowle Hall men found loading into carts and told in addition fish offal and other market refuse had been brought there. Liquid running into canal.

30 or 40 tons at Copt Heath, liquid all over the place and entering the River Blyth

At Waterloo in the Parish of Yardley within 300 yards of houses thousands of tons accumulated over years. Liquid entering River Cole. At Kenwood Mill a fatal case of typhoid. Since report 20 men employed in levelling and some removal.

Large deposit in the Parish of Lapworth. Canals and locks in most foul condition from the carriage of the matter. Men in charge of boats ladling out liquid filth into canal.

Call to abate the nuisances, the removal of refuse must be in a different manner. Deodorised before leaving Birmingham, large accumulations discontinued, tips properly constructed, water-tight.

 

[Pedrocut]

Saltley Sewage Farm came into being in the mid 19C (1859 ish) for the best mode of distributing the sewage of Birmingham and applying it to beneficial and profitable uses.

The filter beds were developed to filter the solid and liquid components of the night soil. There was also the component sent into the sewer from the road run off during wet weather. Further there was the chemical toxic waste fed in to the sewers by a host of manufacturing companies.

A Commission had been set up, including Brunel, to look into the problem that needed immediate attention. The population was rapidly expanding and there was a need to remove nightsoil to a safe distance from residences.

In 1862 The Town Clerk…"We were compelled to adopt the present tank system, in consequence of legal proceedings taken to prevent fouling of the river. Even if not compelled the quantity of silt and carbonaceous matter in the sewage would have rendered it necessary. I think the solid matter at the bottom of the tanks is of considerable value, notwithstanding the analysis by chemists. I beleive the overflow of the tanks is also extremely valuable. The principle manurial value is in the water which flows off after interception.”

 

[Pedrocut]

1876 at Shadwell Street and Montague Street Wharves.

“At present not less than 50,000 tons of pan exreta were mixed with ashes every year at the depot in Shadwell St. and Montague St….Contents of pans on being brought to the works were thrown into vessels and then passed into a boiler, in which was placed a mixture of lime and magnesia. A large quantity of ammonia was then distilled into sulphuric acid. Ammonia mixed with phosphate of lime and magnesia to make phosphate magnesia. Water extracted.”

 

[Vivienne14]

Sounds almost like recycling - although no idea what phosphate magnesia would be used for. Viv.

 

[mikejee]

Phosphate and magnesium are both essential plant nutrients, so presumably as fertiliser. The "distillation" of ammonia into sulphuric acid directly must have produced quite a witches brew, as the reaction would have produced a lot of heat

 

[Lloyd]

...no idea what phosphate magnesia would be used for. Viv.

Magnesium phosphate is one of the highly beneficial substance in various application areas. Magnesium is a vital mineral which plays a role in nearly 300 enzyme reactions in the human body. Its several functions consist of aiding in muscle as well as nerve functions, regulating blood pressure, and supporting the immune system.
It is also used in water purification, and as a quick-drying cement with little shrinkage.

 

[harlechjoe]

To all members of the Birmingham History Forum

Thank you so much to everyone for the advice you given that informed my journey and subsequent story. I have acknowledged the helpful information you have gone out of you way to provide about the Birmingham Main Line, Birmingham Worcester Canal, Tolls and the movement of rubbish.

The purpose of my work was to raise the spirits of my 92 year old neighbour Roy who recently lost his wife. Roy comes from Uttoxeter and lived on the Midlands canal network until his wifes health made it mare desirable to live on land. So they moved to Harlech and I became their neighbour some 25 years ago. He regularly speaks about his love of canals and that is why I rode his favourite route to take photos and write a story to bring back happy memories.

The story is on my cycling blog that attracts thousands of readers including people living in other countries, I’ve attempted to explain things that are obvious to local people.

The weakness of my story is I have never stepped foot on a narrowboat and know next to nothing about canals, narrowboats or places of interest close to the banks of the canal. So this story is based on the books I read, an Internet search with its own shortcomings and most valuably of all the advice you have given. If I have written anything wrongly, simply let me know and it will be corrected in a heartbeat.

The story is called ’Navigating the Stourport Ring…by bicycle’ and can be read by clicking this link: www.harlechjoe.wordpress.com.

If pressing this link doesn't work simply cut and paste the web address on to your browser.
Many thanks
Joe

 

[ER Allen]

For those of you who enjoyed Fawlty Towers, Prunella Scales (Sybil Fawlty) and her husband, Timothy West, did a series called Great Canal Journeys. Here are several links which may bring you to the one featuring Birmingham, "Birmingham to Braunston".

https://www.channel4.com/programmes/great-canal-journeys/on-demand/62008-002; https://www.televisioncatchup.co.uk/great-canal-journeys/birmingham-to-braunston-142544

 

[Richard Dye]

For those of you who enjoyed Fawlty Towers, Prunella Scales (Sybil Fawlty) and her husband, Timothy West, did a series called Great Canal Journeys. Here are several links which may bring you to the one featuring Birmingham, "Birmingham to Braunston".

https://www.channel4.com/programmes/great-canal-journeys/on-demand/62008-002; https://www.televisioncatchup.co.uk/great-canal-journeys/birmingham-to-braunston-142544

Excellent video! Thank you….,

 

[Pedrocut]

Worcester & Birmingham Canal at Kings Norton; its junction with the Stratford Canal (right) showing the quondam canal manager's house. (No date)
(A pictorial history of canals by Gladwin, David Daniel Francis.)



View attachment 175686

An alternative view of the Canal House.

“St Nicholas's Church sits above the Canal House (1796) and junction of the Worcester and Birmingham and Stratford canals at King's Norton.”

Positively Birmingham, Berg, Jonathan (1994)

 

[Heartland]

Following the Stourport Ring can be a cycle ride through history and those that follow that route can like Tony Blair once said, be touched by history. It is a ring that the Canal and River Trust has a route that links, Aldersley Junction with Birmingham and then via the Worcester & Birmingham, the River Severn and the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal back to Aldersley.

The route from Aldersley follows the old and new main lines of the Birmingham Canal to Gas Street Basin when it joins the Worcester & Birmingham and follows that canal all the way to the Severn at Diglis. A cyclist follows the towpath of the canals and the horse towing path routes from Diglis to Stourport. All aspects had different histories and different periods of construction.

The Old main line of the Birmingham Canal was initially surveyed by James Brindley, but was much altered before completion in 1772. The Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal was another Brindley project built from Compton to Stourport. Then it opened in stages back to Wolverhampton as contractors worked their way further north to the Trent & Mersey Canal at Great Haywood reaching Aldersley before the BCN made the junction through the original deep lock No 20. The Worcester & Birmingham Canal was made in stages, but over a lengthy period, and was finally completed in 1815. The Severn was a free navigation with a healing path, for haulage by men. The horse-towing paths came later. They charged tolls, and needed acts of parliament. An initial plan for locks in 1786, failed, but locks were made later and this ring passes those at Bevere, Holt and Lincombe

In working days this route was the preserve of the horse for haulage. Once steam-powered craft came into being the Severn had its share and so with the canals, on specific routes later. With the introduction of the hot bulb (semi-diesel) engine the motorboats traveled along the ring with carriers such as Fellows, Morton, and Clayton and the Severn Canal Carrying Co and these fleets were subsequently absorbed by the Docks & Inland Waterways Executive

 

[Pedrocut]

Guillotine locks are nice peaceful things. belying their name. This. no longer operative, version is sited at Kings Norton on the Stratford-on-Avon Canal but rarely do cruisers realize it was once a control lock, designed so that every boat passing from the Stratford paid a lockful of water (that vital canal commodity) to the Worcester 8 Birmingham Canal. Although the difference in water levels was only 2 in (5 cm). in a year's working the cubic volume can only have been an embarrass only have been an embarrassment. Work commenced on adjusting the levels in 1959,

A Pictorial History of Canals by Gladwin, David Daniel Francis (1977)



View attachment 175698

Another view from King’s Norton.

“The Guillotine Lock, King's Norton.…At the lunction of the Stratford Canal and the Worcester and Birmingham
Canal this lock maintained a 6-inch difference in water level right up to canal nationalisation in 1948.”

Positively Birmingham by Berg, Jonathan, Publication date 1994