Not quite all the story!

Tuesday, 22 December 2009 09:00

In Brum, but not the centre yet!

We moved from our moorings at Windmill End fairly early as we had a few hours cruising ahead of us to get to the city centre before dark!

It was a glorious morning

The Junction is a "cross roads", to the left is the Boshboil Branch - once the northern end of the Bumblehole Branch which made a loop of the original the Dudley Canal. It is now severed due to subsidence. To the right the Dudley No.2 Canal continues down to Hawne Basin (another rail/canal exchange basin), travelling through Gosty Hill Tunnel.

We were now on the BCN Main Line, Netherton Branch

The chimney is part of the remains of  Cobbs Engine House - or Windmill End Pumping Station. It was built in 1831 to drain the coal, iron and clay mines. Blast Furnaces, brick kilns and open hearths also lined the canal, belching out the black poisonous smoke that gave this part of England the name "The Black Country".

Netherton Tunnel - the last tunnel to be built during the "Canal Age"

It was built to relieve the bottle neck of Dudley Tunnel. Although it has towpaths each side and is wide enough to allow "two way" working, it too became a scene of congestion as boats vied to be first in!

The Netherton Tunnel Branch is one of the three ways onto the straight New Main Line, built by Thomas Telford and known as the "Birmingham Level". I have mentioned Dudley tunnel before and the third way is via the Gower Branch from the "Wolverhampton Level" or Old Main Line, built by James Brindley.

The BCN is a complicated network of canals and as we explore I will attempt to explain! But I cannot hope to do it justice in a blog - it is worth exploring yourself!

The Old Wolverhampton Line crosses on Tividale Aqueduct

We reached Dudley Port Junction and turned right onto the Birmingham Level.

This New Line (Birmingham Level) was built as a more direct route from Birmingham centre to meet up with the Old Wolverhampton Line and the Dudley No. 1 Canal at Factory Junction to the NW.

To illustrate the straightness, these photos are first looking back to the NW (towards Wolverhampton), and second looking forward to the SE (towards Birmingham City Centre).

We passed a number of Junctions - Albion Junction where the aforementioned Gower branch leaves the Main Line, Pudding Green Junction which takes the boater onto the Walsall Canal, still part of the BCN, and

Bromford Junction which leads to the Spon Lane Locks

These locks climb to the Old Wolverhampton Main Line which travels parallel with the new one through Smethwick. At the top of the locks there is another choice - to carry on and rejoin the New Line via Smethwick Locks or to explore more of the Old Main Line to the south.

Back on Telford's New Main Line, we carried on under the M6 and the Stewart Aqueduct (carrying the southern Old Main Line) which is dwarfed by its younger brother - the result of our desire for "personal transport"!

M6 and Stewart Aqueduct beyond

Spon Lane Bridge has two "faces" - what a contrast they make! West and East!

Galton Tunnel follows, only 122 yards long

Smethwick Pumping Station sits between the upper Old Main Line and the lower New Main Line.

Looking back at pumping station

This ornate Aqueduct carries The Engine Arm over the New Main Line

This navigable arm was built as a water feeder to the Old Line. It leads to Birmingham Culvert and another feeder, linking it to Rotton Park Reservoir, now known as Edgbaston Reservoir. The aqueduct, with its Gothic structure is an Ancient Monument. The iron work was manufactured at Horseley Iron Works at Tipton - as were many of the footbridges in the BCN.

If I went into all the detail of the journey you would be reading this blog for ever!  The next blog will get us into the City centre and then, over the Christmas period, I will put up some of the other interesting bits for your entertainment when you get bored with the festivities!