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The changed face the canals in Birmingham

Heartland

Heartland

master brummie
There has been a considerable transformation in recent decades with the canals of Birmingham following the end of general commercial carrying and the newer age of the pleasure and residential boat replacing it. The canal side has also changed with new buildings often of a residential nature as factories and works closed and industry declined. The canals had provided the means of transporting manufactured goods for a lengthy period of years which extended long into the period of the railway age and the need to have coal delivered for industry and domestic use. Even then coal required for electricity generation lasted longer on the waterways and later still there was the carriage of rubbish, phosphorus waste and the by products of town gas making that retained waterways traffic. The greatest change in transport that led to the final demise of canal carrying were the roads and the move of industry away abroad or to other parts of the country.

In the 1970's and 1980's it was still possible to recognise canal heritage in Birmingham, but much has now disappeared falling victim to change.

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Some may recall this scene at Farmers Bridge Junction where the land about had been cleared. Gone are the former factories which included a bedstead factory, tube works, a timber yard and former wharves leaving spaces for the developers to work upon.

The island in the foreground had been made during the Second World War in order to enable stop planks to seal of parts of the canal which otherwise was a wide waterway and in the fear that bombing might damage the railway tunnel beneath the canal.
 
Without the pleasure and residential boat activity, no doubt much of Birmingham's canal mileage would have been filled in and built over in the latter half of the last century.
 
I heard something on the radio today about miles of canals being closed and drained because of the cost of dredging and repairing walls and tow paths.
 
splinter555 said:
I heard something on the radio today about miles of canals being closed and drained because of the cost of dredging and repairing walls and tow paths.
Click to expand...
All I have found after a search is this: "Several canals in the UK are currently being closed and drained for various reasons, including repairs, water management, and restoration projects. For example, parts of the Bridgewater Canal are being repaired due to a breach, and sections of the Grand Union Canal are being closed for lock gate replacements. "

I do only hope you misheard this.
 
I dont think this is true. As I gather, a number of canals are being restricted because of water shortage with the lack of rain. In addition, some are closed or restricted, as Lloyd states, for normal maintenance. But I think that is all, though of course water shortages in the future may be a problem. Thames Water are even considering (though as one of a number of possible part options), reopening the Cotswold canal inorder to move water from the Midlands to the South. (https://www.thameswater.co.uk/about...fer-from-the-river-severn-to-the-river-thames). Water transfer by canal has been proposed about 15 years ago. I took part in a (my one and only) focus group for Thames Water and we suggested this option. It was completely ignored then.
 
The water supply has led recently to closure of stretches of canals such as Wolverhampton Locks and as mentioned there are other repair issues with the Bridgewater Canal storm damage led to embankment and aqueduct failures, but these are part of the every day challenges to keep the waterways network open for the boaters. The Bridgwater Canal is still a privately owned waterway (Peel Ports) and thee Environment agency also has navigable rivers under their control and there is also the Trust that looks after the Warwickshire Avon. So our present navigable system of waterways has a variety of ownership who still find the boaters traffic important.

It is also important to recognise that such use has kept our waterways open and has also kept the developers busy in finding new ways for residential use close to the water
 
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