Kings Road Bridge near Tyseley, Birmingham

Image: © Roger D Kidd Taken: 21 Aug 2012

Bridge No 88 across the Grand Union Canal. It will be noticed that most canals retain the old 18th and early 19th century bridges, with a navigable width of about nine to ten feet. This canal, however, (formerly the Warwick and Birmingham), was considerably modernised in the 1930s so that wider and heavier boats could use it. This included fourteen foot wide locks for pairs of narrowboats and new wider bridges. In and around Birmingham this included the provision of fireman's hatches in the parapets (seen here painted red) to allow easier access for their hoses in an emergency. The money ran out by the time this canal reached the top of Camp Hill Locks in Birmingham, so the project was never completed.

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