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The Digbeth Branch Canal in Birmingham, England is a short canal which links the mainline of the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal at Aston Junction and the Grand Union Canal at Digbeth Junction (or historically, at the adjacent Warwick Bar) in Digbeth, a district in Birmingham, England.
Completed in 1799 the Digbeth Branch of the Birmingham Canal Navigations provided a route for traffic between the mainline of the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal, and thus the Birmingham Canal mainline, to and from the Warwick and Birmingham Canal (now part of the Grand Union Canal), initially via transshipment over a short physical gap between the canals called the Warwick Bar, with a stop lock later allowing through passage of boats.
The 1¼ mile long canal has six locks descending 40 feet from Aston Junction; the final lock will be located under the final approach to High Speed 2's Birmingham Curzon Street railway station. After that final lock, the canal passes through a grade II listed tunnel carrying the lines eastwards from Birmingham New Street railway station, and originally the lines to the original Curzon Street station. Beyond the tunnel is Digbeth Junction. From the junction there is a short branch to the Typhoo Basin.
In modern times, Digbeth Junction is sometimes regarded as the junction with the Grand Union Canal, but historically the through route goes a little further, under a former railway bridge, and meets the Grand Union Canal (originally the Warwick and Birmingham Canal) at the Warwick Bar stop lock just to the rear of Birmingham Proof House.
From here, the Grand Union Canal continues the route onwards to Bordesley Junction.
All of the canal between Ashted Lock at Jennens Road (formerly the A47) and Great Barr Street (Bordesley) is within the Warwick Bar Conservation Area.
Point | Coordinates |
---|---|
Aston Junction | 52°29′25″N1°53′19″W / 52.49020°N 1.88850°W |
Ashted Lock | 52°29′10″N1°53′02″W / 52.48625°N 1.88401°W |
Ashted tunnel North portal | 52°28′55″N1°52′55″W / 52.48187°N 1.88191°W |
Ashted tunnel South portal | 52°28′51″N1°52′59″W / 52.48080°N 1.88295°W |
Railway viaduct | 52°28′51″N1°53′04″W / 52.48082°N 1.88451°W |
Proof House Junction | 52°28′49″N1°53′03″W / 52.48028°N 1.88411°W |
Warwick Bar | 52°28′47″N1°53′00″W / 52.47985°N 1.88338°W |
River Rea | 52°28′44″N1°52′55″W / 52.47897°N 1.88192°W |
Great Barr Street | 52°28′40″N1°52′48″W / 52.47783°N 1.87996°W |
Bordesley Junction | 52°28′32″N1°52′38″W / 52.47565°N 1.87719°W |
The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. Its main line starts in London and ends in Birmingham, stretching for 137 miles (220 km) with 166 locks. It has arms to places including Leicester, Slough, Aylesbury, Wendover and Northampton.
The Birmingham and Fazeley Canal is a canal of the Birmingham Canal Navigations in the West Midlands of England. Its purpose was to provide a link between the Coventry Canal and Birmingham and thereby connect Birmingham to London via the Oxford Canal.
The Trent and Mersey Canal is a 93 1⁄2-mile (150 km) canal in Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire in north-central England. It is a "narrow canal" for the vast majority of its length, but at the extremities to the east of Burton upon Trent and north of Middlewich, it is a wide canal.
The Coventry Canal is a navigable narrow canal in the Midlands of England.
Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN) is a network of canals connecting Birmingham, Wolverhampton, and the eastern part of the Black Country. The BCN is connected to the rest of the English canal system at several junctions.
Digbeth is an area of Central Birmingham, England. Following the destruction of the Inner Ring Road, Digbeth is now considered a district within Birmingham City Centre. As part of the Big City Plan, Digbeth is undergoing a large redevelopment scheme that will regenerate the old industrial buildings into apartments, retail premises, offices and arts facilities. There is still however much industrial activity in the south of the area. As part of the plans Digbeth Coach Station has also been redeveloped and renamed Birmingham Coach Station.
The Warwickshire ring is a connected series of canals forming a circuit around the West Midlands area of England. The ring is formed from the Coventry Canal, the Oxford Canal, the Grand Union Canal, the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal and the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal. It is a popular route with tourists due to its circular route and mixture of urban and rural landscapes.
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The Warwick Bar conservation area is a conservation area in Birmingham, England which was home to many canalside factories during the Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
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Tame Valley Junction, also known as Doe Bank Junction, is a canal junction at the western limit of the Tame Valley Canal where it meets the Walsall Canal, south of Walsall, in the West Midlands, England.
Birmingham Curzon Street railway station is the planned northern terminus of Phase 1 of High Speed 2 in the city centre of Birmingham, England. The new railway will connect Birmingham to London Euston via Birmingham Interchange and Old Oak Common. Curzon Street will have seven terminal platforms and is planned to open in 2026.
The Birmingham and Warwick Junction Canal is a short canal connecting the Digbeth Branch of the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal in the centre of Birmingham to the Warwick and Birmingham Canal near Gravelly Hill Interchange. It was authorized in 1840 by Act of Parliament to relieve pressure on this connection to the Grand Junction Canal leading to London and opened in 1844. It is 2.5 miles long and has 6 locks.
Route map:
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