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CanalCuttings - Your FREE online-world British Inland Waterways, Narrowboat, River Cruiser, Canal Boat Magazine, Info Source and Britain's & Narrowboat Holiday Guide.

Over 500 Pages of Information and Features about canals and their usage - We're not just a Narrowboat Magazine. The website includes River and Inland Waterways information.


Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN) Main Line - BCN New Main Line - BCN Old Main Line

BCN New Main Line - Birmingham Level - BCN Old Main Line - Wolverhampton Level

Aldersley Junction at the bottom of The Wolverhampton Twenty One Locks

We have cruised the BCN Main Line canals a few times now and find they are improving for cleanliness year on year. Not the prettiest of canals but interesting in many ways.

Old Turn (Deep Cuttings) Junction, in front of the National Indoor Arena and National Sea Life Centre in BirminghamThe BCN Main Line connects the Worcester and Birmingham Canal at Gas Street Basin, Birmingham and the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal at the Old Turn (Deep Cuttings) Junction, in front of the National Indoor Arena and National Sea Life Centre in Birmingham to the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal at Aldersley Junction at the bottom of The Wolverhampton 21 Locks, at a distance of just over 15 miles. There are two Main Line routes: The BCN Old Line and The BCN New Line.

In bye-gone years, a toll clerk would have been in situ here, using a guaging stick to assay the weight of the boat's cargo by measuring its draught. Tolls would then be levied according to the type of cargo  The Birmingham Canal Navigations Old Main Line was created by James Brindley and follows the present day Wolverhampton Level which leaves the Birmingham Level Main Line at Smethwick Junction rising through the three Smethwick Locks passing the old toll booth pictured left, a view of the Engine Arm Aqueduct, Smethwick New Pumping Station and the Galton Valley Canal Heritage Centre, plus a few other interesting sights, eventually rejoining the Main Line at Factory Junction.

The Birmingham Canal Navigations New Main LineThe Birmingham Canal Navigations New Main Line designed by Thomas Telford stays at the same level from Gas Street Basin to the three Factory Locks below Factory Junction where it joins the Wolverhampton Level. At one point there is a near straight section just under three miles long! The canal is overpassed by a number of bridges, some modern and some original to the canal's construction, the most modern is the M5 Bridge.

There are two aqueducts, the Engine Arm Aqueduct and the Steward Aqueduct, adjacent to Spon Lane Junction (WL). The Birmingham to Wolverhampton Railway Line follows the course of the BCN BL for most of its length,

Icknield Port LoopThere are a number of junctions still in operation today and many that are defunct. The present day junctions give access to The Oozells Street Loop (2 junctions), Icknield Port Loop (2 junctions), Soho Loop (2 junctions), the Engine Branch (off the Wolverhampton Level - WL), Smethwick Junction and Bromford Junction (from the Factory Locks down on to Birmingham LevelBirmingham Level - BL up to the WL), Spon Lane Junction (above Spon Lane Locks near Bromford Junction), Oldbury Junction (WL to the Titford Canal), Bradeshall Junction (WL to Gower Branch and BL), Tipton Junction (WL to the Dudley Canal, Dudley Tunnel and Limestone Caverns Visitor Attraction and Black Country Museum), Factory Junction (WL to Main Line and Factory Locks down on to BL), Deepfields Albion Junction - Birmingham Level to the visible Brades Locks and the Wolverhampton LevelJunction to the Wednesbury Oak Loop, Horseley Fields Junction to the Wyrley and Essington Canal. On the Birmingham Level - BL, Pudding Green Junction to the Wednesbury Old Canal, Albion Junction (BL to Brades Locks and WL) and the Dudley Port Junction (BL to Netherton Tunnel Branch, Netherton Tunnel and through to the Dudley No.2 Canal).

Dudley Port Junction on the Birmingham Level down the Netherton Tunnel Branch to the Netherton Tunnel

A major part of the BCN Main Line between Birmingham and Dudley Port Junction (BL - Above) forms part of the Stourport Ring, a popular Midlands cruising ring that includes many visitor attractions of Birmingham, The Black Country, Kidderminster and Worcester, including a section of the navigable River Severn.



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