Birmingham Canal Navigations: A History

The Birmingham Canal Navigations comprise the greatest concentration of waterways in Britain.
The Birmingham Canal Navigations comprise the greatest concentration of waterways in Britain. Over the course of a century, from the original Birmingham Canal of 1769, they grew to their greatest extent of almost 160 miles, all within about a 12-mile radius of their geographical centre of Walsall. The network was a major driver of the great industrial development of Birmingham and the Black Country, carrying vast quantities of raw materials and finished goods into the twentieth century. Following decades of decline, the BCN is once more an important player in the regeneration of the region’s centres and the growth of leisure. With 140 illustrations, including maps and archive photographs, this book includes: The beginnings and expansion of the networkSubsequent improvements to the systemSupplying the waterThe people who worked the BCNTrials and tribulations, including inclement weather, subsidence, breaches, wartime and accidentsThe impact and influence of the railwaysIts decline and subsequent transition into a New Canal Age.