Black Country Ring
Industry and engineering
THE Black Country Ring, also known as the Staffordshire Ring, follows parts of the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal, Coventry Canal, Trent & Mersey Canal, Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal and Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN).
This historic route swings from urban to rural, from lock-free calm to energetic lock flights and contrasts the winding and straight routes by two of the greatest canal engineers, James Brindley and Thomas Telford.
The ring sets off from the thriving heart of Birmingham’s waterways. The bronze bull of the Bullring, the markets, Antony Gormley's sculpture, designer shopping, multi-cultural panache and a spectacular controversial library – that’s Birmingham.
Yet first impressions don’t give away the city’s biggest secret. It is at the heart of Britain’s canal network and spaghettis more miles of water than Venice (more than 100 navigable miles of it). The great spaghetti of canals that converge in Birmingham was once the beating heart of the Industrial Revolution. The big business of Britain’s canals was to link the nation to world markets and cargoes of coal, glass, porcelain, chocolate crumb and the heavy trade of the Black Country were carried by canal boat to and from Birmingham. The historic waterside hub is now alive with tourism, bars, restaurants and shopping.
Leaving the city from Old Turn Junction under the cast-iron Horseley bridge along the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal, a quick succession of locks – 13 Farmer’s Bridge Locks followed quickly by 11 Aston Locks, takes the canal down to Salford (or Spaghetti) Junction and a right turn past the city’s trailing outskirts. Back in the countryside and through the diminutive Curdworth Tunnel (57yd/52m long), the 11 Curdworth Locks descend towards Fazeley.
Kingsbury Water Park lies to the right of the canal at Bodymoor Heath. Created from industrial gravel and sand extraction pits, the resulting 600-acre park has around 30 pools and lakes. A visitor centre sets out the history of the park and as many as 230 different species of bird have been spotted here.
Turning left at Fazeley Junction, the route heads through open countryside. Although the Coventry Canal heads north- east at the junction, the Birmingham & Fazeley carries on for a couple of miles to the north-west, as the Coventry Canal Company ran out of money at Fazeley – though it later managed to buy the section from Whittington through to Fradley Junction, now a stranded part of the Coventry!
No boat mooring is allowed by the wooded hillside at Hopwas as this is the Whittington Firing Ranges (boaters and walkers have to look out for danger flags). A stone by Bridge 78 at Whittington marks where the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal changes to the Coventry Canal and just beyond is Huddlesford Junction, with the short remains of the Lichfield Canal now providing moorings.
Fradley Junction is where the Coventry Canal meets the Trent & Mersey Canal. This is a bustling hotspot with pub, teashops and an award-winning nature reserve. The Trent & Mersey heads west climbing past woodland and winding slowly through glorious countryside, with a lock-free nine miles after Wood End Lock. The River Trent comes close as the canal passes through Handsacre and Armitage, best known for Armitage Shanks bathrooms but also with links to the pottery family made famous by Josiah Spode the Elder. Just outside Armitage, the canal narrows to one boat width where there was once a tunnel.
The distinctive chimneys of Rugeley’s power station can be seen, before the canal crosses the River Trent over an aqueduct and the river stays close for the next few miles. The huge expanse of Cannock Chase lies to the south. This Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) covers 26 square miles and was once a Norman hunting ground. A herd of fallow deer are descended from generations of deer who grazed here.
Above Colwich Lock, Shugborough Hall peeps over the canal. The estate, dating back to 1693 and now a National Trust property, was once ancestral home of the Earls of Lichfield of which the 5th Earl, Patrick Lichfield the photographer, was perhaps the most well-known.
Just above Haywood Lock, Great Haywood Junction is where the Trent & Mersey Canal carries on northwards while the Ring takes a sharp turn under the historic bridge to follow the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal. The canal crosses the River Trent on a small aqueduct and after a short treelined stretch arrives at Tixall Wide. In the 18th century Clifford Thomas occupied Tixall Hall, and when canal builders first arrived to dig an ugly water-motorway of his era, he was ferociously unimpressed. To avoid spoiling his view from his
window, he insisted the canal builders widened the water to disguise it as a little sweet lake. The meadow alongside the water is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and home to a variety of nesting birds, so it’s a popular mooring spot.
There are views across fields from Tixall Lock towards the castellated entrance to Shugborough Railway Tunnel beyond. A four-mile stretch without locks follows the River Sow for much of the way, until just beyond bridge 106 where the canal crosses the river on the aqueduct built by James Brindley. Between bridges 98 and 99, the county town of Stafford is a short hop away.
The canal is lifted via a series of locks to Penkridge, a small town with a locally renowned weekly market, and a history that spans coaching inns, racehorses, canals and railways. Further locks lead the canal southwards under the former Roman road Watling Street, now the A5, to Gailey Wharf. The tower-shaped building next to Gailey Top Lock was once the old lock keeper’s cottage, and today houses a small gift shop. Continuing south, pipe bridges from a chemical works span the water. The canal wiggles past the entrance to the former Hatherton Branch until it straightens out just beyond the M54 motorway.
Pendeford Rockin’ is a very narrow rock cutting where boats have to use designated passing places. At Autherley Junction, the Shropshire Union Canal heads off northwards, and shortly afterwards, at Aldersley Junction, the Ring now turns on to the Birmingham Main Line, part of the Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN).
After the Wolverhampton Flight of 21 locks, the canal leaves Wolverhampton and heads south towards Coseley and the short Coseley Tunnel (360yd/329m long), its winding route the original route chosen by the canal engineer James Brindley. At Factory Junction, a short detour right towards the Dudley Tunnel offers the opportunity to tie up next to the 26-acre Black Country Living Museum for a special encounter with the region’s past.
The region’s historic buildings were saved from demolition and rebuilt brick by brick at the museum site creating an urban canalside village, where staff dress in costume, craftsmen demonstrate Black Country skills and heritage boats are moored.
Boat trips are run by the Dudley Canal & Tunnel Trust into the Dudley Tunnels network of limestone caverns. The ‘Dudley Tunnel’ was begun in 1775. It took nine million bricks to line the tunnel and, almost unbelievably, each brick was handmade by women and children. A labyrinth of caverns and branches connect with the main tunnel and are separated on three levels by only 10 precarious feet of rock and history.
The ring now follows the Birmingham Level via Factory Locks for Thomas Telford’s straight route via Galton Bridge and Galton Tunnel (122yd/112m long), full circle back into Birmingham.
The Black Country Ring tells a story of the industrial heart of England. From the heart of Birmingham city’s historic canal centre, this heritage trail uncovers the places and engineering marvels that helped create the Industrial Revolution and is now a popular green corridor through uplifting landscapes.