The BCN Main Line, or Birmingham Canal Navigations Main Line is the evolving route of the Birmingham Canal between
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
and
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...
in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.
The name ''Main Line'' was used to distinguish the main Birmingham to Wolverhampton route from the many other canals and branches built or acquired by the
Birmingham Canal Navigations
Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN) is a network of canals connecting Birmingham, Wolverhampton, and the eastern part of the Black Country. The BCN is connected to the rest of the English canal system at several junctions. It was owned and oper ...
company.
BCN Old Main Line
![Birmingham Canal Office print](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Birmingham_Canal_Office_print.jpg)
On 24 January 1767 a number of prominent Birmingham businessmen, including
Matthew Boulton
Matthew Boulton (; 3 September 172817 August 1809) was an English manufacturer and business partner of Scottish engineer James Watt. In the final quarter of the 18th century, the partnership installed hundreds of Boulton & Watt steam engine ...
and others from the
Lunar Society
The Lunar Society of Birmingham was a British dinner club and informal learned society of prominent figures in the Midlands Enlightenment, including industrialists, natural philosophers and intellectuals, who met regularly between 1765 and 1813 ...
,
held a public meeting in the White Swan, High Street, Birmingham
[''Smethwick and the BCN'', Malcolm D. Freeman, 2003, Sandwell MBC and Smethwick Heritage Centre Trust]
to consider the possibility of building a canal from Birmingham to the
Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal
The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal is a navigable narrow canal in Staffordshire and Worcestershire in the English Midlands. It is long, linking the River Severn at Stourport in Worcestershire with the Trent and Mersey Canal at Haywoo ...
near
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...
, taking in the coalfields of the
Black Country
The Black Country is an area of the West Midlands county, England covering most of the Metropolitan Boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall. Dudley and Tipton are generally considered to be the centre. It became industrialised during its ro ...
. They commissioned the
canal engineer
A canal engineer is a civil engineer responsible for planning (architectural and otherwise) related to the construction of a canal.
Canal engineers include:
China
* Yu the Great (c.2200BCE-c.2100BCE), first Dynast of China, founder of the fir ...
James Brindley
James Brindley (1716 – 27 September 1772) was an English engineer. He was born in Tunstead, Derbyshire, and lived much of his life in Leek, Staffordshire, becoming one of the most notable engineers of the 18th century.
Early life
Born i ...
to propose a route. Brindley came back with a largely level but meandering route via
Smethwick
Smethwick () is an industrial town in Sandwell, West Midlands, England. It lies west of Birmingham city centre. Historically it was in Staffordshire.
In 2019, the ward of Smethwick had an estimated population of 15,246, while the wider bu ...
,
Oldbury,
Tipton
Tipton is an industrial town in the West Midlands in England with a population of around 38,777 at the 2011 UK Census. It is located northwest of Birmingham.
Tipton was once one of the most heavily industrialised towns in the Black Country, w ...
,
Bilston
Bilston is a market town, ward, and civil parish located in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It is close to the borders of Sandwell and Walsall. The nearest towns are Darlaston, Wednesbury, and Willenhall. Historically in Staffordshi ...
and Wolverhampton to Aldersley.
On 24 February 1768 an Act of Parliament
Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...
was passed to allow the building of the canal, with branches at Ocker Hill
Ocker Hill is a residential area of Tipton in the West Midlands conurbation, West Midlands of England.
Details
It is situated in the northern part of the town, on the main A461 road between Dudley and Wednesbury. The area was first developed du ...
and Wednesbury
Wednesbury () is a market town in Sandwell in the county of West Midlands, England. It is located near the source of the River Tame. Historically part of Staffordshire in the Hundred of Offlow, at the 2011 Census the town had a population of ...
[ where there were coal mines. The Staffordshire and Worcestershire company was given the right to make the connection to their canal if the Birmingham company failed to do so within six months of opening.][ On 2 March][ Brindley was appointed ]engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...
.[ The first phase of building was to Wednesbury whereupon the price of coal sold to domestic households in Birmingham halved overnight.][ Vested interests of the sponsors caused the creation of two terminal wharves in Birmingham. The 1772 Newhall Branch and wharf (now built upon) originally extended north of, and parallel to Great Charles Street. The 1773 Paradise Street Branch split off at ]Old Turn Junction
Old Turn Junction, or Deep Cutting Junction () is a canal junction in Birmingham, England, where the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal meets the Birmingham Canal Navigations Main Line Canal. The junction features a circular island.
History
When t ...
and headed through Broad Street Tunnel, turned left at what is now Gas Street Basin
Gas Street Basin () is a canal basin in the centre of Birmingham, England, where the Worcester and Birmingham Canal meets the BCN Main Line. It is located on Gas Street, off Broad Street, and between the Mailbox and Brindleyplace canal-side d ...
and under Bridge Street to wharves on a tuning fork-shaped pair of long basins: Paradise Wharf, also called Old Wharf. The Birmingham Canal Company head office was finally built there, opposite the western end of Paradise Street
Paradise Street is a short street in the core area of Birmingham City Centre, in England. Paradise Street runs roughly from Victoria Square to Suffolk Street and Broad Street. The street existed in 1796 when a congregation gathered at a meeti ...
.
By 6 November 1769, [ had been completed to Hill Top collieries in ]West Bromwich
West Bromwich ( ) is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is north-west of Birmingham. West Bromwich is part of the area known as the Black Country, in terms of geography, ...
, with a one-mile summit pound at Smethwick. Brindley had tried to dig a tunnel through the hill at Smethwick but had encountered ground too soft to cope with. The canal rose from what is now the Birmingham Level
The Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN), a network of narrow canals in the industrial midlands of England, is built on various water levels. The three longest are the Wolverhampton, Birmingham, and Walsall levels. Canal lock, Locks allow boats t ...
through six narrow (7 ft) locks
Lock(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
*Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance
*Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal
Arts and entertainment
* ''Lock ...
to the summit level and descended through another six at Spon Lane. Water was brought from purpose-built reservoirs: Smethwick Great Reservoir (now built upon, holding 1514 locks of water), another smaller pool at Smethwick (holding 500 locks),[ and then from Titford Pool][ to supply the summit level.][
In 1770 work started towards Wolverhampton, from above the third Spon Lane lock at what is now the ]Wolverhampton Level
The Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN), a network of narrow canals in the industrial midlands of England, is built on various water levels. The three longest are the Wolverhampton, Birmingham, and Walsall levels. Locks allow boats to move from ...
.[ On 21 September 1772][ the canal was joined with the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal at ]Aldersley Junction
Aldersley Junction () is the name of the canal junction where the Birmingham Main Line Canal terminates and meets the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal near to Oxley, north Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It opened in 1772.
Histo ...
via another 20 locks[ (increased to 21 in 1784 to save water).][
Brindley died a few days later. The canal measured 22 miles and 5 ]furlong
A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and United States customary units equal to one eighth of a mile, equivalent to 660 feet, 220 yards, 40 rods, 10 chains or approximately 201 metres. It is now mostly confined to use in hors ...
s (22⅝ miles),[ mostly following the contour of the land but with deviations to factories and mines in the ]Black Country
The Black Country is an area of the West Midlands county, England covering most of the Metropolitan Boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall. Dudley and Tipton are generally considered to be the centre. It became industrialised during its ro ...
and Birmingham. A branch led to Matthew Boulton's Soho Manufactory
The Soho Manufactory () was an early factory which pioneered mass production on the assembly line principle, in Soho, Birmingham, England, at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. It operated from 1766–1848 and was demolished in 1853.
Be ...
.
Water shortage
The original Birmingham Canal was extremely successful but there was a problem with supplying sufficient water to the Smethwick Summit. Matthew Boulton's partner, James Watt
James Watt (; 30 January 1736 (19 January 1736 OS) – 25 August 1819) was a Scottish inventor, mechanical engineer, and chemist who improved on Thomas Newcomen's 1712 Newcomen steam engine with his Watt steam engine in 1776, which was fun ...
, had just patented an improvement to the steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...
involving an external condenser which improved the efficiency (and therefore reduced the amount of coal needed to run it). Steam engines were constructed at either end of the Smethwick Summit to pump water used in the operation of the locks back to the summit.[ The ]Smethwick Engine
The Smethwick Engine is a Watt steam engine made by Boulton and Watt, which was installed near Birmingham, England, and was brought into service in May 1779. Now at Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum, it is the oldest working steam engine and ...
(5 June 1779) pumped water from the Birmingham side of the summit, and another, the Spon Lane Engine (April 1778)[ operated from the Wolverhampton side.
In 1784, after two years of counter-productive attempts at legislation, the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal Company (created to propose a competitive canal from the coal fields to Birmingham and also a link to the ]Coventry Canal
The Coventry Canal is a navigable narrow canal in the Midlands of England.
It starts in Coventry and ends to the north at Fradley Junction, just north of Lichfield, where it joins the Trent and Mersey Canal. It also has connections with the ...
at Fazeley
Fazeley is an industrial town and civil parish in the Lichfield District in Staffordshire, England.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : Fazeley is located on the outskirts of Tamworth and the civil parish of Fazeley also in ...
) merged with the Birmingham Canal Company[ (ten years later the name of the merged company was changed to the Birmingham Canal Navigations Company) and the ]Birmingham and Fazeley Canal
The Birmingham and Fazeley Canal is a canal of the Birmingham Canal Navigations in the West Midlands of England. Its purpose was to provide a link between the Coventry Canal and Birmingham and thereby connect Birmingham to London via the Oxford ...
was started. This created an even greater need for water to supply the thirteen locks at Farmer's Bridge and eleven at Aston, all running downhill and taking water out of the Birmingham system.
Smeaton's improvements
There were problems of congestion at Smethwick caused by the time taken to traverse the locks and with supplying sufficient water to the summit level. John Smeaton
John Smeaton (8 June 1724 – 28 October 1792) was a British civil engineer responsible for the design of bridges, canals, harbours and lighthouses. He was also a capable mechanical engineer and an eminent physicist. Smeaton was the fir ...
was engaged to advise on a solution. He specified a 1000-yard cutting through the top eighteen feet of the summit, eliminating three locks from each end, and doubling the capacity of the descent at Smethwick locks by building a parallel flight of three locks,[ in use until the 1960s. The changes were made in two phases with a new cut to the side to remove two locks from each end and lower the summit by twelve feet, and then another parallel cut another six feet lower, removing another lock at each end and the provision of a parallel set of three locks at the Smethwick end.][ In 1790, after 2½ years the cutting was completed. The canal was closed for only 14 days. The lowered summit was at the ]Wolverhampton Level
The Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN), a network of narrow canals in the industrial midlands of England, is built on various water levels. The three longest are the Wolverhampton, Birmingham, and Walsall levels. Locks allow boats to move from ...
and simplified water supply. Water was also pumped from several local coal mines. The Spon Lane engine was removed and sold but the Smethwick Engine continued to be used to pump used water from the Birmingham Level
The Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN), a network of narrow canals in the industrial midlands of England, is built on various water levels. The three longest are the Wolverhampton, Birmingham, and Walsall levels. Canal lock, Locks allow boats t ...
.
Other changes
The Act allowed for branches to extend from the main line, and for private wharves and basins. In May 1821 the loop of the main line around Oldbury was bypassed by a straight cut, shortening the route between Birmingham and Wolverhampton.
BCN New Main Line
Over the next thirty years, as more canals and branches were built or connected it became necessary to review the long, winding, narrow Old Main Line. With a single towpath boats passing in opposite directions had to negotiate their horses and ropes. As traffic grew the locks at Smethwick Summit were still a constriction.
In 1824 Thomas Telford
Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE, (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scotla ...
was commissioned to examine alternatives.[ He famously travelled the route of the Old Line and reported the existing canal as:][
]
"… little more than a crooked ditch, with scarcely the appearance of a towing path, the horses frequently sliding and staggering in the water, the hauling lines sweeping the gravel into the canal, and the entanglement at the meeting of boats being incessant; whilst at the locks at each end of the short summit at Smethwick, crowds of boatmen were always quarrelling, or offering premiums for the preference of passage; the mine owners injured by the delay, were loud in their just complaints."
Telford proposed major changes to the section between Birmingham and Smethwick, widening and straightening the canal, providing towpaths on each side, and cutting through Smethwick Summit to bypass the locks, allowing lock-free passage from Birmingham to Tipton. Telford's proposals were swayed by the threat of a new Birmingham to Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
railway.[
His suggestions were accepted and he was appointed chief engineer on 28 June 1824.
By 1827 the New Main Line passed straight through, and linked to, the loops of the Old Main Line, creating Oozells Loop, Icknield Port Loop, Soho Loop, Cape Loop and Soho Foundry Loop, allowing continued access to the existing factories and wharves.
A year earlier he had built an improved Rotton Park Reservoir (]Edgbaston Reservoir
Edgbaston Reservoir, originally known as Rotton Park Reservoir and referred to in some early maps as Rock Pool Reservoir, is a canal feeder reservoir in Birmingham, England, maintained by the Canal & River Trust.Environment Agency public regist ...
) on the site of an existing fish pool, bringing its capacity to . A canal feeder took water to, and along, a raised embankment on the south side of the New Main Line to his new Engine Arm
The Engine Arm or Birmingham Feeder Arm near Smethwick, West Midlands, England, is a short canal which was originally part of a feeder tunnel for a pumping engine. When the Smethwick flight of locks were reduced from six to three, the pumping e ...
branch canal and across an elegant cast iron aqueduct to top up the higher Wolverhampton Level at Smethwick Summit. The reservoir also fed water to the Birmingham Level at the adjacent Icknield Port Loop.
The Smethwick Summit was bypassed by 71 ft cutting[ through Lunar Society member, Samuel Galton's land, creating the Galton Valley, 70 feet deep and 150 feet wide, running parallel to the Old Main Line. Telford's changes here were completed in 1829.][
Telford designed a cast iron bridge, the ]Galton Bridge
The Galton Bridge is a cast-iron bridge in Smethwick, near Birmingham, in central England. Opened in 1829 as a road bridge, the structure has been pedestrianised since the 1970s. It was built by Thomas Telford to carry a road across the new mai ...
, to span his cutting. It was cast in the Horseley Iron Works, as was the Engine Arm Aqueduct
The Engine Arm Aqueduct near Smethwick, West Midlands, England, was built in 1825 by Thomas Telford to carry a water feeder, the Engine Arm, from Edgbaston Reservoir over the BCN New Main Line canal to the adjacent and parallel Old Main Line. It ...
and many of the wide roving bridge
A roving bridge, changeline bridge, turnover bridge, or snake bridgeWilliam George Victor Balchin, ed., ''The Country Life Book of the Living History of Britain'', 1983, , p. 109 is a bridge over a canal constructed to allow a horse towing a bo ...
s.
In 1837, after Telford's death, a new section of his planned canal was opened together with the 360 yard Coseley Tunnel, complete with double towpath,[ cutting out the long detour around ]Coseley
Coseley ( ) is a village in the north of the Dudley Metropolitan Borough, in the English West Midlands. Part of the Black Country, it is situated approximately north of Dudley itself, on the border with Wolverhampton. Though it is a part of ...
and Wednesbury Oak, and therefore relegating it as the Wednesbury Oak Loop
The Wednesbury Oak Loop, sometimes known as the Bradley Arm, is a canal in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is part of the Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN), and was originally part of James Brindley's main line, but became ...
. As with many of the branch canals on the BCN, most of the Wednesbury Oak Loop became officially abandoned from 1954, but the northern stretch remains navigable to the British Waterways
British Waterways, often shortened to BW, was a statutory corporation wholly owned by the government of the United Kingdom. It served as the navigation authority for the majority of canals and a number of rivers and docks in England, Scotland ...
workshops at Bradley
Bradley is an English surname derived from a place name meaning "broad wood" or "broad meadow" in Old English.
Like many English surnames Bradley can also be used as a given name and as such has become popular.
It is also an Anglicisation of t ...
.
By 1838 the New Main Line was complete: 22⅝ miles of slow canal reduced to 15⅝;[ between Birmingham and Tipton, a lock-free dual carriageway. It was also called the Island Line as it was cut straight through the hill at Smethwick known as the Island.][
]
Later
In 1892 the Smethwick Engine was replaced by a new pumping house between the old and new canals, just north of Brasshouse Lane Bridge in Smethwick.
Late in the 20th century, a pair of concrete tunnels near Galton Bridge were built to carry the Telford Way road.
Ryland Aqueduct, built in 1836 carrying the canal over the main A461 road
List of A roads in zone 4 in Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island ...
at Dudley Port, Tipton
Tipton is an industrial town in the West Midlands in England with a population of around 38,777 at the 2011 UK Census. It is located northwest of Birmingham.
Tipton was once one of the most heavily industrialised towns in the Black Country, w ...
, was rebuilt in the late 1960s at a cost of £170,000 (). Demolition of the old aqueduct took place in September 1967. In 1991 at a cost of £22,000 its bare concrete structure was painted blue and white and included an frieze of a canal barge crossing an old-fashioned brick aqueduct.
The Smethwick Summit - Galton Valley Conservation Area protects the Old and New lines between the Birmingham city boundary and Spon Lane locks.Galton Valley Conservation Area - Review of boundaries
Features
Junctions
Other features
Gallery
File:01 Birmingham city night, UK - バーミンガム.jpg, Bridge over Old Main Line in downtown Birmingham
Image:Winson Green Junction toll island.jpg, Two Horsley Ironworks
The Horseley Ironworks (sometimes spelled Horsley) was a major ironworks in the Tipton area in the Counties of the United Kingdom, county of Staffordshire, now the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England.
History
Founded by Aaron Manby ...
bridges and derelict toll island
In the United Kingdom a toll point or toll island is a place on a canal where a fee was collected as boats carrying cargo passed. These were sited at strategic points such as the stop lock at the transition from one canal company to another wher ...
at Winson Green Junction.
Image:Roving bridges at Smethwick Junction.jpg, Roving bridge
A roving bridge, changeline bridge, turnover bridge, or snake bridgeWilliam George Victor Balchin, ed., ''The Country Life Book of the Living History of Britain'', 1983, , p. 109 is a bridge over a canal constructed to allow a horse towing a bo ...
s at Smethwick Junction
Smethwick Junction is a junction on the Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster Line. With Galton Junction, northbound trains on the West Coast Main Line's Rugby-Birmingham-Stafford Line can join the Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster L ...
.
Image:Octagonal BCN canal Toll house at Smethwick top lock.jpg, Recently constructed octagonal BCN Toll house at Smethwick top lock.
Image:Engine Arm Aqueduct west.jpg, The Engine Arm Aqueduct
The Engine Arm Aqueduct near Smethwick, West Midlands, England, was built in 1825 by Thomas Telford to carry a water feeder, the Engine Arm, from Edgbaston Reservoir over the BCN New Main Line canal to the adjacent and parallel Old Main Line. It ...
.
Image:New Smethwick Pumping Station.jpg, The New Smethwick Pumping Station (restored).
Image:Galton Bridge and tunnel.jpg, Galton Bridge
The Galton Bridge is a cast-iron bridge in Smethwick, near Birmingham, in central England. Opened in 1829 as a road bridge, the structure has been pedestrianised since the 1970s. It was built by Thomas Telford to carry a road across the new mai ...
and tunnel.
File:Stewart Aqueduct BCN with train.jpg, Stewart Aqueduct
The Stewart Aqueduct (or Steward Aqueduct) in Smethwick, West Midlands (but formerly in Staffordshire), England carries the BCN Old Main Line Canal (1770) over the BCN New Main Line Canal (1828).
Alongside and above the New Main Line Canal is ...
— Motorway (M5) over rail over canal over canal.
Image:Bromford Junction.jpg, Bromford Junction
Bromford Junction () is a canal junction at the foot of the Spon Lane Locks where the Spon Lane Locks Branch meets the BCN New Main Line near Oldbury in the West Midlands, England.
History
The location of the junction was originally on the ...
- Spon Lane bottom lock visible through one of the Horseley Ironworks
The Horseley Ironworks (sometimes spelled Horsley) was a major ironworks in the Tipton area in the county of Staffordshire, now the West Midlands, England.
History
Founded by Aaron Manby, it is most famous for constructing the first iron stea ...
bridges.
Image:Watery Lane Junction.jpg, Watery Lane Junction and Caggy's Boatyard, near Toll End
Toll End is a residential area of Tipton in the West Midlands of England. It was developed during the 19th century during the Industrial Revolution which saw previously rural Tipton developed as one of the most prolific manufacturing and mining ...
, Tipton
Tipton is an industrial town in the West Midlands in England with a population of around 38,777 at the 2011 UK Census. It is located northwest of Birmingham.
Tipton was once one of the most heavily industrialised towns in the Black Country, w ...
.
File:Tividale Quays Basin, Dudley Port.jpg, Tividale Quays
Tividale Quays is a residential area of Tipton in the West Midlands, England, centred on Monins Avenue.
It was developed in the early 1990s on derelict and former industrial land in the Tividale area of the town. The area consists of one- and ...
Basin, Dudley Port
Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...
, Tipton
Tipton is an industrial town in the West Midlands in England with a population of around 38,777 at the 2011 UK Census. It is located northwest of Birmingham.
Tipton was once one of the most heavily industrialised towns in the Black Country, w ...
, on the Old Main Line
See also
*Canals of the United Kingdom
The canals of the United Kingdom are a major part of the network of inland waterways in the United Kingdom. They have a varied history, from use for irrigation and transport, through becoming the focus of the Industrial Revolution, to today's ro ...
*History of the British canal system
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
*Water levels of the Birmingham Canal Navigations
The Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN), a network of narrow canals in the industrial midlands of England, is built on various water levels. The three longest are the Wolverhampton, Birmingham, and Walsall levels. Canal lock, Locks allow boats t ...
* Waterscape
References
External links
Coal chutes at Sandwell, before demolition
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bcn Main Line
Birmingham Canal Navigations
Transport in Birmingham, West Midlands
Transport in Wolverhampton
Canals in the West Midlands (county)
Tourist attractions in the West Midlands (county)
Tourist attractions in Birmingham, West Midlands
Works of Thomas Telford
Canals opened in 1838
1838 establishments in England