Birmingham Canal Navigations

  • The Birmingham Canal Navigations consists of over 100 miles (160km) of narrow canals with junctions, locks, loops and tunnels.
  • Based on mileage, Birmingham (100 miles) claims to have ‘more canals than Venice’ (25 miles) and Amsterdam (60 miles).

Black Country Living Museum

  • The Museum is a 26 acre canalside village located on the Birmingham Canal Navigations at Dudley, West Midlands.
  • Historic buildings have been transported and rebuilt in the village, the experience of working down a mine has been recreated, and actors in costume re-enact characters from the industrial revolution.

History

  • Beginning with the ‘Canal Mania’ (c. 1790-c. 1810), Birmingham eventually built 180 miles (290km) of canals with 216 locks.
  • Because Birmingham was built on a plateau located 200 feet (60m) above the adjacent countryside, it was being by-passed during the early years of ‘Canal Mania’.
  • The first canal was the 10 mile (16km) Birmingham Canal which in 1794 merged with the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal to form the Birmingham Canal Navigations.
  • The North was connected by the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal to the Coventry Canal and the Trent and Mersey Canal.
  • The Tame Valley Canal followed which connected to the Walsall Canal.
  • The Northwest was connected by a link to the Staffs and Worcs Canal.
  • The Southeast was connected by a link to the Grand Union Canal.
  • The South was connected by the Worcester and Birmingham Canal.
    • The Kings Norton Junction connects this canal with the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal.

Kings Norton Stop Lock

  • The Kings Norton Stop Lock is a rare example of a guillotine gated stop lock on a canal, although others exist on the tidal waterways of East Anglia.
  • Guillotine stop locks are used where there is a small height difference between two waterways. In this case, the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal was six inches higher than the Worcester and Birmingham Canal.
  • The wooden gate is suspended above the canal and held in a cast iron girder frame with a gantry supporting the overhead lifting gear.
  • This consists of wheels operated by a chain linked to a counterweight concealed inside the lock wall.
  • The gate is raised and lowered by a winch mechanism, although it has not been in regular use since 1959.

Other Museums in Birmingham

 

Black Country Living Museum

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