Birmingham's Canals: From the Arteries of the City and Gang’s Territorial Lines to a Vibrant Tourist Destination.
Birmingham's first canal, the Duke of Bridgwater's Canal, was planned and supervised by engineer James Brindley and carried the Duke's coal from his mines in Worsley to Manchester. This was the first of many canals built in the 1700s and 1800s, which were essential for the growth of the City of a Thousand Trades.
Since Birmingham is not a port but is situated in the heart of the country, good transport links were critical to its success. The canals were the key to links with other cities and ports. The Worcester Canal connected Birmingham to the South West and the port of Bristol. The Dudley Canal connected to the Black Country and Wolverhampton, where the city got its coal and iron ore. Since this canal halved the price of coal entering the city, it was a huge boost to industry. Through Wolverhampton, these industries could now reach the port of Liverpool, making it easy to export goods to the New World and beyond. The canal system meant that at the start of the industrial revolution, Birmingham was primed to become the country's industrial centre.
Along the side of the canals, the steam engine industry grew up. This industry was developed by two great engineers, James Watt and Matthew Boulton, who built their factory on the banks of the Birmingham Canal. In the 1770s, the Birmingham Canal Company ordered two of Boulton and Watt's engines, one of which can be seen today in Birmingham's Think Tank Museum. These engines allowed water to be pumped to top up the locks allowing more boats into the city and more goods to be exported.
When Birmingham's canal system was developed in the late 18th century, the Gas Street Basin was the hub of the network. Today it is a vibrant tourist attraction where people gather in its award-winning bars and restaurants and for tours like our Nighttime tour. However, in the 18th century, when the slogging gangs ruled the city, it was a different story.
To truly understand the canals, you need to realise that the canals had different functions for different parts of society. At the height of Birmingham's industrial success, the workforce which powered those industries did not profit from that success. They lived in poor, unsanitary conditions and breathed in air that was toxic with pollution. Some used the canals as a source of coal to keep them warm in the winter. Coal could be dived for at the bottom of the canal or picked up from the slack on its banks. There was little to keep the poor entertained, and many turned to the canals to quell the boredom and make life more bearable.
Despite the colour and stench of the waters, many of the city's working poor saw the canals as a way to cool off on a hot summer's day. This could result in a fine or even a short prison sentence, but despite being unable to swim, many people still risked a dip in the canal. A glance at any week in the Birmingham newspapers from this time will show you that this was a dangerous thing to do. Articles list people who drowned just trying to cool off or were pushed into the murky water by friends during horseplay on the banks. More sinister deaths occurred from fights that ended in drownings, and in June 1885, the Birmingham Mail tells of an even more sorrowful story. A woman named Mary Jones was accused of murdering her four-year-old daughter in the canal and attempting to drown herself. The lady with whom she was lodging said that she was a well-mannered woman who did not drink, but her family all reported that she had been distressed for some time and that "insanity ran in the family." Mary, a widow, had obviously become desperate and decided to end it all in the murky canal.. Her daughter was claimed by the waters but Mary was dragged out and resuscitated only to face trial for her actions.
Many of the slogging gangs used the canals to divide their territory from their rivals. For example, the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal acted as a divide between the Loveday and Price Street Gangs of the Gun Quarter and the Hanley and Cecil Street gangs. On our Nighttime Tour with Pub Stops, we visit a canal-side pub and talk all about the battles which took place across the banks and barges that divided these two notorious enemies.
The canals were also the workplace for many of Birmingham's residents and the home to many families referred to in the newspapers as "Canal Gypsys.” The boatmen had a fearsome reputation. One such man was Benjamin Bloxwich, alias Block, a boatman from Milk Street who was the head of the Milk Street Gang. Newspaper reports detail a court case in which he was on trial for assaulting Frank Nolan of the Barr Street Gang. Nolan had crossed the Grand Union Canal, which divided the gangs' territories and was walking in Coventry Street, which adjoins Milk Street. He was drunk, so he may have taken a wrong turn, but as a member of the Barr Street Gang, he had crossed the canal, so was in enemy territory, and this was not a safe place to walk alone. One can only imagine him looking over his shoulder as he stumbled drunk down Coventry Street, nervous each time he heard footsteps nearby that the Milk Street Gang had spotted him. Bloxwich and several of his gang had spotted Nolan. They cornered him and beat him with their belt buckles until he lay unconscious on the ground and was rescued by a passing policeman.
For those who lived on the canal, life was particularly tough. In the 19th century, 18,000 families were recorded as living on canal boats, including three thousand women. Families were often from farming backgrounds and had diversified to make more money on the canals. Once children became old enough to help, they were put to work on the family's boat as they had previously on family farms. They would head horses and work locks for 17-hour days. The whole family lived on the tiny canal boats, which were decorated inside with lace and rag rugs and on the outside with bright paintings of castles and roses. Hygiene was poor, and the cabin could be hot in the summer, cold in the winter and filled with choking fumes. It is not surprising that the boat people's health was not good and their children were illiterate and uneducated.
A letter to the Birmingham Daily Post in June 1885 told of the writer's distress when he encountered two canal boats. He said one had a man, a woman and seven children on board, and none could read or write. He said the woman was ill but "managed with a sorrowful face to creep to the door", where she said she had tried to send her children to school, but they had been turned away. The letter's author tells of how not educating these children is uncivilised and how society should be more supportive of these families. However, many in society saw the boatmen and their families as violent criminals who drank heavily. This was partly true, but much of their violence was within their own communities for disagreements such as jumping the queues at the locks. Fights, like those between the slogging gangs, were often the result of drink which numbed the hard life these men experienced. You had to be hardened in these cruel environments to survive; fighting was just part of that survival.
In 1877, the Canal Boat Act was passed, which gave minimum standards in the boat cabins, and controlled the number and age of children who slept there. Boatman's missions along the canal began to spring up at the end of the 19th century with coffee shops, washhouses, bakehouses and schools. In 1929, a proposed law banned children under 14 from living or working on the barges, but the boat people protested it, and it never passed. As the canals fell into decline, families began to leave the canals, and the number of children living on boats drastically declined.
It can be seen that the canals were the transport links that allowed Birmingham to become an industrial powerhouse. They were the playgrounds and swimming baths of the city's poor, a source of coal and other goods that could be obtained by dishonest means and the border lines between slogging gang territories. They were a place where boat children were born, where canal gipsies lived and worked and where the desperate chose to end their own lives.
Now the canals are the playground of Birmingham's professionals, a place for tourists to visit to enjoy the attractions nearby and a place to walk or take a boat trip or walking tour. Many grab a bite to eat in Jonathan’s restaurant in the Roundhouse or across the water in Brindley Place, named after the canal's original engineer James Brindley. At night, along the canal side, where once people feared to tread, now crowds spill out from the bars onto the towpath laughing and chatting with friends. Below are several recommendations for ways to enjoy Birmingham's canals during a visit to the city.
THINGS TO DO ON AND AROUND BIRMINGHAM'S CANALS
The Roundhouse Guided and Self-Guided Tours
Address: 1 Sheepcote St, Birmingham B16 8AE
Telephone: 0121 716 4077
Website: https://roundhousebirmingham.org.uk
The Roundhouse was used as a local authority depot, stables and stores the building for the canals. Its round shape meant that chains and ropes attached to horses and boats did not snag on the corners of the building. The Roundhouse is now an independent charity created by the National Trust and Canal and River Trust. Its website offers guided tours of its facilities and self-guided walking tours around the city.
Jonathan’s Restaurant at the Roundhouse
Address: 1 Sheepcote St, Birmingham B16 8AE
Telephone: 0121 2277447
Website: https://www.jonathansintheroundhouse.com
Jonathan's restaurant and tearooms is a great place to stop for a drink or a meal whilst exploring the Roundhouse itself or if you just want to grab some high quality home cooked food. John and Paul Havelin who run Jonathan’s also own Jonathans in the Park eatery, which is based in the 18th century grade II listed Lightwoods House in Bearwood. They offer a warm welcome and excellent traditional British food made with local ingredients. They have a wide selection of pies which would keep any canal boatman going for the day! On a Sunday they have a two or three course wholesome lunch with the best sticky toffee pudding you will ever taste! Mention Top Tours Global for a 10% discount.
Take a Cruise Along the Canal
Address: The Water's Edge, Brindley Place, Birmingham, B1 2JB
Telephone: 07853 226516
Website:https://brindleycruises.co.uk
Brindley Cruises offer several cruises from Friday to Monday each week, which explore the history of the Old and New Main Line Canals of Birmingham and the exciting and quirky history of The Worcester Bar and Gas Street Basin. They also run themed cruises such as their gin cruise, fish and chip cruise and many seasonal events. You can also charter their boats for events for up to 40 people.
Cocoa Canal
Website: https://roundhousebirmingham.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/RH-Cocao-Cycle-Map-Final-Print.pdf
If you are staying in the middle of Birmingham and want to visit Bournville, why not take a self-guided cycle tour along the canal to discover a world of chocolate? Just click on the link to download the map and a guide on what to look out for along the way.
Bustling Birmingham Kayak Tour
Address: 1 Sheepcote St, Birmingham B16 8AE
Telephone: 0121 716 4077
Website: https://roundhousebirmingham.org.uk/product/bustling-birmingham-kayak-tour/
This award-winning 90-minute kayak tour through the city's heart includes regular stops at iconic landmarks, where your guide will share the history of Birmingham and its canals.
The tour is suitable for almost everyone and is led by qualified and experienced guides. Check the website for similar tours, including their Paddle, Pizza and a Pint Tour, and their paddle board experience.
Think Tank Museum
Address: Millennium Point, Curzon St, Birmingham B4 7XG
Telephone: 0121 348 8000
https://www.birminghammuseums.org.uk/thinktank
Visit the Think Tank Museum to learn more about the Smethwick Engine, the world's oldest working steam engine, designed by the firm of Boulton & Watt. It was installed almost 240 years ago on the Birmingham-Wolverhampton canal in 1779 to pump water up a series of canal locks. It symbolised the dawn of the new engineering era, which increased Birmingham's prosperity. The Museum has many exhibits related to Birmingham's Industrial History and is well worth a visit.
Bottomless Cocktails Lunch at Noel's
Address: 22 Waterfront Walk, Birmingham B1 1SN
Telephone: 0121 389 3896
http://noelsbar.co.uk
Noel's is a pretty bar situated on the edge of the Birmingham Canal which offers a bottomless cocktail lunch with a choice of four starters and four main courses. If the weather allows, you can sit on the patio area at the front and watch the canal boats pass by. You never know, you may even see the Slogging gangs heading across the canal into enemy territory.
Canal House Bar and Restaurant
Address: 12 Bridge St, Birmingham B1 2JR
Telephone: 0121 643 8829
Website: https://thecanalhouse.uk.com
The Canal House in Birmingham was the 2019 winner of Best Pub/Bar in the Midlands at The National Pub & Bar Awards and is one of the stops on our historical night tour. It sits beside the Canal Basin and is linked to the Slogging gangs who used the canals to define many of the boundaries in their territories. Ever since Georgian times, the Canal House has been a place to stop and meet and get something to eat and drink. Nowadays, however, its original clientele of men working the canals has been replaced by locals and tourists looking to soak up the nightly live music whilst looking out over the picturesque canal basin. The food is an eclectic mix of traditional pub food and dishes which reflect the diverse make-up of the city. In addition, their nibbles and boards section offers a variety of dishes to share whilst enjoying their wide selection of beverages.
