Birmingham Canal Navigations: A History

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 network; subsequent improvements to the system; supplying the water; the people who worked the BCN; trials and tribulations, including inclement weather, subsidence, breaches, wartime and accidents; the impact and influence of the railways, and finally its decline and subsequent transition into a New Canal Age.

A former geography and history teacher, Phil Clayton has walked up all of the hills and mountains over 2000 feet in England and Wales at least three times. Wondering why his feet got wet doing this was the spark of inspiration for Headwaters. A regular contributor to local history magazines, Phil Clayton is also the author of On High Yorkshire Hills (Dalesman). He lives in Wolverhampton.