More Miles than Venice?
Birmingham Canal Network Investigated
How extensive is the canal network and how did it support the West Midlands area?
It is often rumoured that Birmingham has more miles of canal than Italy's Venice. Is this true? Well, the Birmingham Canal Network has approximately 160 miles of waterway; although to be fair this is not just within Birmingham but covers the whole of the West Midlands area. However, the Grande Canal in Venice is only 4 Kilometeres long and Birmingham (Paradise Street) to Wolverhampton (Aldersley Junction) is 15 miles long and the Birmingham Fazeley canal is 20 miles long. There are also numerous loops, extensions and other canals within this area though it is difficult to determine if Birmingham itself really has more miles of canal than Venice.
Birmingham itself was little more than a hamlet before the Industrial Revolution left its mark on the area. The lifeline of the industry was the canal network, interlinking with other canals and waterways, providing easy passage for coal and finished materials. The canals were instrumental in reducing the price of coal and that meant cheaper manufactured products; trade and industry within the West Midlands grew exponentially.
The canals kept their usefulness with trade growing until after the First World War when road, rail and other political and economic factors caused a downturn in traffic across the network. The canals still carried commerical traffic until 1980 when many of the original routes fell into disrepair. The good news is that a program of restoration has seen traffic increase on many of the old routes and the development of canal-side walks (particularly in Birmingham) has improved the appearence and maintenance of these canals.
Submitted by: Peter Gallant, 11 August 2003
