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Birmingham and Worcester Canal (1/2)

 

 

 

 

 

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Canals in Birmingham
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Wast Hill - Edgbaston via Kings Norton, Bournville and Selly Oak
 
Overview
 
The Birmingham & Worcester Canal was cut between 1792 and 1815. It is 30 miles long and connects the River Severn at Worcester to Gas Street Basin in Birmingham.

A seven mile section of the canal, between Wast Hill Tunnel in Kings Norton and Gas Street Basin, runs through Birmingham.

 
Map of the Birmingham and Worcester Canal (Top)
 

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

 
Wast Hill Tunnel (Top)
 
Wast Hill Tunnel (south portal). Original image copyright David Stowell. Image (cropped and resized by Brumagen) licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic License

The Birmingham and Worcester Canal enters Birmingham through Wast Hill Tunnel which carries the canal beneath a hilly ridge from rural Worcestershire to Primrose Hill in the Three Estates area of Kings Norton.

The tunnel, which was completed in 1797, is 1.5 miles long and the 12th longest in the UK. It contains several ventilation shafts drilled through the surrounding landscape which has been distorted by excavation mounds.

The northern portal at Primrose Hill features an elliptical brick wall with a voussoir arch and keystone beneath a stone band and tablet. The tablet contains a badly-weathered, and now illegible, inscription.

 
Wharf Road and the Navigation Inn (Top)
 

Heading northwards from Wast Hill Tunnel, the canal continues for around 500 metres before passing beneath Wharf Road.

The Navigation Inn is barely 100 metres from the bridge that carries Wharf Road above the canal.

 
Kings Norton Junction (Top)
 
Roving Bridge at Kings Norton Junction in birmingham. Original image Oosoom.Image (cropped and resized brumagem) licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 2.0 License

From Wharf Road, the canal continues northwards reaching Kings Norton Junction after barely 500 metres.

Kings Norton Junction connects the Birmingham and Worcester Canal and the Birmingham and Stratford Canal. It features a brick roving bridge (1800) with stone-coped parapets that enabled barge horses to cross from one towpath to another.

 
Kings Norton Tollhouse (Top)
 
Kings Norton Junction Tollhouse. Original image courtesy of Oosoom. Image (cropped and resized by Brummagen) licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 3.0 License

This tollhouse at Kings Norton Junction was built in brick with stone dressings in 1802. The main entrance, on the Birmingham and Worcester Canal, possesses a Doric column entablature.

A reproduction of a freight charge notice (1793) is attached to the wall of the tollhouse. The charge for lime was one halfpenny per ton per mile and for finished goods, one penny and three farthings per ton per mile.

 
 
 
 
Lifford Reservoir (Top)
 
Lifford Reservoir. Original image (cropped and resized brumagem) released into the public domain by its author Philip Deeley

Heading northwards from Kings Norton Junction, the canal passes under Lifford Lane and skirts the western side of Lifford Reservoir.

Lifford Reservoir was dug by the Birmingham and Worcester Canal Company in 1815 in order to compensate Lifford Mill which had been powered by the River Rea until large volumes of water began to drain into the canal.

 
Camp Hill Viaduct and Wharfside Leisure Complex (Top)
 
From Lifford Reservoir, the canal turns north-westwards and passes beneath the Camp Hill Railway Viaduct before arriving at the Wharfside Leisure Complex which contains a bar, live music venue and adventure playground.
 
Bournville Chocolate Factory (Top)
 
Bournville Railway Station. Original image copyright Roger Kidd. Image (cropped and resized brumagem) licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 2.0 License

Heading northwards from the Wharfside Leisure Complex, the canal passes under the A441 Pershore Road before reaching Bournville.

At Bournville, the route runs alongside the Cross City Railway, passing Bournville Railway Station and the Cadbury chocolate factory.

 
Bournville Lane to Selly Oak Railway Station (Top)
 
Birmingham and Worcester Canal at the Bristol Road. original image copyright David Stowell. Image (cropped and resized Brumagem) licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 2.0 License

From Cadbury's, the canal continues northwards on the east side of the Cross City Railway passing under Bournville Lane and then Raddlebarn Lane by Selly Oak Hospital.

The canal then travels under a viaduct, switching from the east to the west side of the Cross City Line, before passing Selly Wharf and Selly Oak Railway Station.

A man suffered suspected spinal injuries after falling into this stretch of the canal at roughly 8pm on Thursday 24/06/10 (News Archive 25/06/10).

 
Bristol Road and Selly Oak Junction (Top)
 
From Selly Oak Railway Station, the canal travels beneath the A38 Bristol Road and through the former site of the Battery Works which is now a retail park with a Sainsbury's superstore.

The Battery Works was once the location of the now-defunct Selly Oak Junction which connected the Birmingham and Worcester Canal to the Lapal Canal.

 
Lapal Canal (Top)
 
Back-filled section of the Lapal Canal in Selly Oak.Oriignal image copyright David Stowell. Image (cropped and resized by Brummagen) licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic License

The Lapal Canal (aka Dudley Number 2 Canal) connected the Dudley Canal at Netherton to the Birmingham and Worcester Canal at Selly Oak.

The eleven mile route, which was completed in 1798, had to negotiate an elevated plateau at Woodgate and rather than install locks, the engineers drilled a 2.2-mile tunnel: the fourth longest in the UK.

This tunnel was structurally unsound and continually collapsed until the canal closed in 1917. Parts of the backfilled waterway are still visible in Selly Oak Park.

 
University of Birmingham (Top)
 
The Birmingham and Worcester Canal at University Station in birmingham. original image copyright Peter Whatley. Image (cropped and resized brumagem) licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 2.0 LicenseHeading north-eastwards from Battery Retail Park, the canal crosses beneath the Cross City Railway and continues on the eastern side of the line, skirting the Edgbaston campus of Birmingham University before reaching University Station by the new QE Super Hospital

From there, the route continues in a north-easterly direction beneath Pritchatts Road through Birmingham Research Park and then under Somerset Road and alongside the western perimeter of the Vale Student Village.

 
Edgbaston Tunnels (Top)
 
Edgbaston Canal Tunnel. Original image copyright Chris Hoare. Image (cropped and resized by Brummagen) licensed for reuse udner the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic License

From the Vale Student Village, the canal runs in a north-easterly direction alongside the Cross City Railway, passing through the 96-metre Edgbaston Tunnel which carries it beneath Church Road and into the Calthorpe area of Edgbaston.

The Edgbaston Tunnel has two portals: one for the railway and one for the canal. The canal tunnel, which has a towpath with a handrail and sodium lights, is notorious for its eerie echoes and winter icicles.

 
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