Worcester and Birmingham Canal at Stoke Works

Image: © Roger D Kidd Taken: 23 Aug 2010

The Worcester and Birmingham Canal was constructed in stages between 1791 and 1815. Grain, timber and agricultural produce were carried to the Midlands. Industrial goods and coal were carried down towards Worcester, often for onward transport to Bristol. Pairs of donkeys were often used in preference to horses, maybe because they could easily be put onto the boats which had to be legged (or pulled by tug) through the tunnels near Birmingham. Stoke Works owes its presence mainly to the enterprise of John Corbett. Salt had been mined at Droitwich since before Roman times, but in the 1850s the engineer, John Corbett, discovered a method of extracting it by digging a shaft down to the seam. He would then pour water in, then pump out the brine from which the salt could be retrieved. He made a huge fortune. However, he built good houses for his workers and assisted in many philanthropic enterprises. On the right is the bridge carrying the main line towpath where an arm of the canal (now filled in) entered Corbett's salt works.

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