View of Worcester & Birmingham Canal looking south from Bath Row, Birmingham

Image: © A J Paxton Taken: 22 Mar 2022

The canal was built between 1792 and 1815, starting from the Birmingham end at Gas Street basin. It connected Birmingham with the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal at Kings Norton and, eventually, with the River Severn at Worcester. The first 17 miles (27km) out of Birmingham are level, without locks, at a height of 453 feet (138m), and include a tunnel through the Wast Hills outside the city. There is then a drop of 428 feet (130m) to the Severn, achieved mainly through the long flight of locks at Tardebigge. For more details, see the Wikipedia article on the canal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worcester_and_Birmingham_Canal . The bridge visible in the photo carries Islington Row Middleway, part of the ring road, over the canal and the railway. The banks of the canal around Bath Row are now built up with apartment blocks; on the left can be seen Waterside on Wheeleys Lane, on the right, Broderick House, a block of student flats on Bath Row.

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