The length of the canal is 29.3 miles of which 3 miles runs through south Birmingham.

Refresh page if map does not show or go to our map page for the Birmingham and Stratford Canal

View Larger Map

This map only shows the route of the Birmingham and Stratford Canal through Birmingham and not beyond to Stratford.

The Birmingham and Stratford Canal enters Birmingham in Yardley Wood, passing beneath this bridge on Yardley Wood Road.

It then meanders westwards for roughly 300 metres, past wooded parkland and a belt of copses screening industrial/suburban development, before arriving at Warstock Lane.

From Warstock Lane, the canal swings southwards and then westwards past Cocks Moors Woods Golf Course.

It then passes the Limekiln Industrial estate, shortly before arriving at the A435 Alcester Road.

The Alcester Road bridge is barely 100 metres from the Horseshoe, a traditional canal side pub.

From there, the canal continues westwards past the 1950's Woodthorpe Farm Estate before skirting the north side of Monyhull Hospital which has been regenerated as a modern housing estate

After passing Monyhull Hospital, the canal enters the Brandwood Tunnel which carries it beneath Sheffield Road and Brandwood Road.

The tunnel, which is 322 metres long, was built by Josiah Clowes in 1791. It is broad enough for two narrow boats to pass side-by-side. There is no towpath.

The west portal of the Brandwood Tunnel features a voussoir elliptical arch and weathered bust of William Shakespeare flanked by two empty niches.

After emerging from the tunnel, the canal meanders westwards for three-quarters of a mile past Brandwood Sports Centre, Lindsworth Park, and the Lakeside Business Centre.
 

The route then takes the canal beneath Lifford Lane and through the Kings Norton Guillotine Stop Lock.

The lock, which is grade-two-listed, consists of a pound between two vertical (guillotine) gates that are raised and lowered by an overhead winch.

It was installed in 1815 to prevent water draining from the Birmingham and Stratford Canal into the Birmingham and Worcester Canal.

Heading westwards from the guillotine stop lock, the canal continues another 200 metres to Kings Norton Junction where it joins the Birmingham and Worcester Canal by this brick roving bridge (circa 1800).