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Yes Waterglass is how I know it also which brings me back to why name the development Glasswater Locks? They even seem to use the term wharf in the wrong context. A wharf is a transport interchange point be it water/ railway, water/road, or road/railway. The buildings being constructed stand on...

It does appear to be a term used in Chemistry Glasswater Is a chemistry term for a water mixture equalling 138% w/w solution of sodium silicate. It is made by combining 138 grams of anhydrous sodium silicate per 100 milli-liters of water. Which is an American description, I gather.

The flight of locks from Curzon Street leading up to Ashted Canal Tunnel has undergone a change in recent times, as the former industrial premises were demolished and new properties are erected. Near the canal side the Unversity Locks Building provides accommodation for students and the former...

On Radio WM last week, a Lichfield Trader complained about his business being affected by road closures for HS 2 and queried why the work was still ongoing if all work was to stop! Such is the misinformation passed on by the press, such a misunderstanding can happen. At present, the work on the...

Vivian Bird first produced a smaller version of the book for City of Birmingham Information Department in 1969 and the larger version was made in 1970 with reprints in 1974 and 1979.

The complicated infrastructure of HS2 London to Birmingham is gradually being revealed as sections are shown and the building commences. The extent of the project is immense when considered against the making of railway networks throughout the country. Artist's impressions show how the railway...

The Guillotine lock is on the Stratford upon Avon Canal and replaced the earlier barge dimension lock there. It had to be barge dimensions to allow for John Walls barge to pass to Hockley Heath Wharf. Wall's barge seems to have been the only one, though. William Whitmore supplied the ironwork...

The rooms under the booking office were once occupied by CHESS as seen in this view beside the original platform

John Holbeach surveyed a plan of the lower pool and mill in 1860 which is part of the Bickley Collection in Birmingham Library

There was a time whenever a journey was made by train in this area, the signal box was a familiar sight along the line. The mechanical signal box came into being when interlocking points and signals became part of the improved requirement for safety on the railway. With the electrification and...

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...

There was also a signal box there:

There was talk of a passenger service to Aldridge, but that plan has yet to progress, and may not do so. Castle Bromwich Station belongs to the new group of suggestions for opening, however.

The line to Sutton Park that crosses over the Sutton to Lichfield line will be closed for engineering work over Easter as will the Cross City Line. Part of the work to be undertaken will be the replacement of the rail bridge. There are two bridges here a metal railway bridge and a brick footpath...

There has been a thread on the canal page regarding transport of night soil by boat to various canal wharves for distribution by the farmers. Birmingham, it seems, adopted a progressive approach from the early 1850's towards the transport of sewage. That began with the making of interception...

Lawley Street was the terminus of the Birmingham & Derby Junction Railway and from that early start formed part of the growing Midland Railway network of railways that extended to Bristol, London, Leeds, and Carlisle. They had a locomotive roundhouse on the Lawley Street Goods Station site which...

I understand that the ticket platform was called Edgbaston first and indeed LNWR staff records refer to it as Edgbaston

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...

May be this is a topic which needs to be revised as so much history can be lost when new developments are made on previously industrial sites. When Brindley Place was made little seems to have been done to look at the foundations of the former Brasshouse there, for example.

The HS 2 archeology team have been successful in uncovering many features of past life along the route from Birmingham to London. It will be of interest to see what will be revealed on the line to Crewe. As to the locomotive shed which is now buried again, will it ever be seen again, I wonder.