Text and photographs copyright of Jim Shead.

Worcester and Birmingham Canal

Description: Runs 30 miles from Worcester Bar (Gas Street Basin, Birmingham) where it joins the Birmingham Canal Navigations, to Worcester, where it joins the River Severn

History: Promoted by Acts of 1791, 1798, 1804, 1808 and 1815. Opened in 1815.
For more details see the History page.

Navigation Authority: MD's Office: Southern Waterways, General Manager: Central Shires Waterways, Peel's Wharf, Lichfield Street, Fazeley, Tamworth, Staffordshire B78 3QZ : Telephone 01827 252000 : Fax 01827 288071 :

The Tardebigge flight in 1963.

Related Articles

• More than a Mooring - Hanbury Wharf
• Canal Cruising in the Sixties
• Cruise the Bardic Ring

Related Books

• Lock Keeper's Daughter by Pat Warner, Edition: Softback, ISBN: 0 906986 08 7, 158 pages, Published by Shepperton Swan, in 1987, Autobiography of life on the Worcester & Birmingham Canal... Order now from .
• Walking the Canals of the West Midlands by Michael R Kettle, ISBN: 0 907 616 47X, 96 pages, Published by Abel Publishing, in 1999, Walking guide to parts of the Worcester & Birmingham, Stourbridge and Staffordshire and Worcestershire canals.. Order now from .
• Nicholson/Ordnance Survey Guide to the waterways - 2 by Not known, ISBN: 978-0-00-728161-9, 170 pages, Published by Nicholson, in 2009, Severn, Avon and Birmingham. Includes the BCN, Gloucester & Sharpness, Severn, Staffordshire & Worcester Canal, Stourbridge, Dudley, Stratford-on-Avon and Worcester & Birmingham canals.. Order now from .
• Nicholson/Ordnance Survey Guide to the waterways - 3 by Not known, ISBN: 978-0-00-728162-6, 170 pages, Published by Nicholson, in 2009, Birmingham and the Heart of England. Includes the Ashby, BCN, Birmingham & Fazeley, Coventry, Erewash, GU Leicester Section, GU main line (part), Oxford, Staffordshire & Worcstershire, Worcester & Birmingham Canals and part of the Trent & Mersey.. Order now from .
• Pearson's Canal Companion: Severn and Avon by Michael Pearson, Edition: Sixth, ISBN: 978 09 5491165 2, 96 pages, Published by J M Pearson & Son, in 2006, This edition now also contains details of the Cotswold Canals (i.e. the Stroudwater and Thames & Severn canals) and the the River Thames above Oxford.. Order now from .
• Working Boat: Warwickshire & Worcestershire Trades by Ray Shill and Tom Foxon, ISBN: 0 9517755 2 9, 64 pages, Published by Heartlands Press, in 2002, The waterways of these counties and the history of the trade carried by their working boats.. Order now from .
• The Canals of the West Midlands (2nd Ed) by Charles Hadfield, 352 pages, Published by Augustus M Kelley, in 1969,

Related videos

• The Worcester & Birmingham Canal , 0 minutes Produced by VideoActive, tape DVD. Order on video tape from . Order on DVD from

Related photographs

• Worcester and Birmingham Canal: Hanbury Junction
• Worcester and Birmingham Canal: Hanbury Junction
• Worcester and Birmingham Canal: Tardebigge Lock No 50 The Atherstone in the Tardebigge flight
• Worcester and Birmingham Canal: Tardebigge Lock No 57 Narrowboat waiting for lock
• Worcester and Birmingham Canal: Tardebigge Lock No 57 View up flight
• Worcester and Birmingham Canal: Tardebigge Lock No 57 Bow of boat and church
• Worcester and Birmingham Canal: Diglis Locks Nos 1 & 2, Diglis Basin
• Worcester and Birmingham Canal: Diglis Locks Nos 1 & 2, Diglis Basin
• Worcester and Birmingham Canal: Diglis Locks Nos 1 & 2, Diglis Basin
• Worcester and Birmingham Canal: Diglis Locks Nos 1 & 2, Diglis Basin
• Worcester and Birmingham Canal: Diglis Locks Nos 1 & 2, Diglis Basin

Related External Web Sites

• Alvechurch Boat Centres Holiday narrowboat hire from 7 bases. Also boat building and brokerage.
• Black Prince Holidays Five bases, covering the canal system of England and Wales, with 80 narrowboats for hire.
• Worcester Vista A general site about Worcester that contains some interesting pages on the local Canals.
• Viking Afloat Four bases (Worcester, Whitchurch on the Llangollen Canal, Rugby and Gailey) hiring narrowboats.
• Worcester and Birmingham Canal Society Well presented and interesting canal society pages.
• Wychcraft Traditional crafts of the English canals at Hanbury Wharf in Worcestershire. A one stop shop for traditional Roses and Castles canal painting, signwriting, and interior boat design and fit.
• Eagle and Sun A pub by Hanbury Wharf and Junction on the Worcester & Birmingham Canal.
• Canal Boat Holidays Canal boats to sleep 4 or to sleep 6, depending on the size of boat from seven bases.

Related Cruising Logs

• 1st June 1963
• 1st July 1995
• 25th July 1996
• 30th May 1997
• 5th August 1999
• 24th April 2000
• 29th June 2004
• 1st July 2004

Other Related Pages

• Cruising Times
• Introducing Route Planning
• My Holidays on Inland Waterways - Cruise II

Lock Sizes and maximum craft dimensions: Length 71 foot 6 inches, beam 7 foot. NOTE: For more details of maximum lock and craft sizes and the basis of these figures see Craft and Lock Sizes Page

Worcester and Birmingham Canal: Table of distances			Miles	Locks	Navigable (N)	Grid ref	OS Map No
Worcester Bar, Gas Street Basin	Junction with BCN Main Line Birmingham Canal Navigations junction		0	0	N	SP062865	139
Bridge No 86	A4540 road to city centre		0.6	0	N	SP060859	139
Edgbaston Tunnel			1.1	0	N	SP054852	139
Edgbaston Bridge No 84			1.8	0	N	SP050843	139
University Bridge No 82			2.4	0	N	SP044836	139
Selly Oak Station Bridge No 80	Former junction with Dudley Canal Line No 2		3	0	N	SP043827	139
Bridge No 78			3.8	0	N	SP048820	139
Strichley Street Bridge No 77	Bournville Station		4	0	N	SP051809	139
King's Norton Junction	Junction with Stratford upon Avon Canal Stratford-on-Avon Canal junction and Bridge No 72		5.5	0	N	SP053793	139
Kings Norton Tunnel (North end)	West Hill Tunnel		6.5	0	N	SP047779	139
Kings Norton Tunnel (South end)	West Hill Tunnel		8	0	N	SP035758	139
Hopwood Bridge No 67	Hopwood House Inn		8.8	0	N	SP020748	139
Bittell Arm and Lower Bittell Resevoir	Arm to Upper Bittell Resevoir		9.5	0	N	SP020742	139
Cooper's Hill Wharf Bridge No 64			10.5	0	N	SP020730	139
Alvechurch Bridge No 60	Alvechurch Boat Centre		11.3	0	N	SP021721	139
Shortwood Tunnel (East end)			12.3	0	N	SP015706	139
Tardebigge Old Wharf	Dartline Boatyard		13.3	0	N	SO999701	139
Tardebigge Tunnel (North end)			13.5	0	N	SO998698	139
Tardebigge Top Lock No 58	Tardebigge flight lock Nos 29 to 58		14.1	1	N	SO995692	139
Tardebigge Lock No 57	Bridge No 55		14.6	2	N	SO988689	139
Tardebigge Lock No 50	Bridge No 54		15	9	N	SO984685	139
Tardebigge Lock No 41	Half-way House Bridge No 51		15.5	18	N	SO975682	139
Tardebigge Bottom Lock No 29	Queens Head Inn		16.4	30	N	SO962679	150
Stoke Prior Top Lock No 28	Bridge No 47		16.5	31	N	SO961677	150
Stoke Prior Bottom Lock No 23	Stoke Wharf and Boatyard		17.3	36	N	SO952670	150
Stoke Salt Works Bridge No 42			18	36	N	SO943663	150
Astwood Top Lock No 22			18.5	37	N	SO940655	150
Astwood Bottom Lock No 17			19.3	42	N	SO934644	150
Summer Hill Bridge No 36			20.1	42	N	SO928634	150
Hanbury Junction	Droitwich Junction Canal junction and B4090 road bridge No 35		20.8	42	N	SO922629	150
Hammonds Bridge No 32			21.5	42	N	SO918617	150
Dunhampstead Tunnel			22.3	42	N	SO918603	150
Oddingley Bridge No 27			23.3	42	N	SO916590	150
Tibberton Bridge No 25			24.3	42	N	SO905581	150
Offerton Top Lock No 16	Tibberton Locks		25.3	43	N	SO897580	150
Offerton Bottom Lock No 11	Tibberton Locks		25.9	48	N	SO888577	150
Tolladine Lock No 10			26	49	N	SO877576	150
Blackpole Lock No 9			26.6	50	N	SO869576	150
Astwood Bridge No 15	Locks Nos 7 and 8		27.8	51	N	SO856570	150
Gregory's Mill Locks Nos 5 and 6	Gregory's Mill Bridge No 13		28	54	N	SO850565	150
Bridge Inn, Bridge No 9	Lowesmoore Basin, Boatyard		29	54	N	SO853553	150
Blockhouse Lock No 4			29.3	55	N	SO854546	150
Sidbury Lock No 3	Kings Head Lock		29.4	56	N	SO852544	150
Diglis Locks Nos 1 & 2, Diglis Basin	Junction with River Severn River Severn junction		30	58	N	SO848538	150

NOTE: N and U in the Navigable column above indicates that the node is navigable or unnavigable. If a D appears here it means that navigation is difficult or restricted to smaller craft.

 

Text and photographs copyright of Jim Shead.