The Trent and Mersey Canal first came into use in 1777. A vital transport link for the industries of the midlands - indeed Josiah Wedgewood of the pottery was an early supporter - it carried coal, ironstone, limestone merchandise, pottery and salt. Despite the arrival of the railways and subsequently motorways, the carriage of freight continued up until 1970. After inevitable decline, various restoration programmes have been undertaken and the waterway is now popular with boaters. A working waterway for 250 years, the need to adapt to changing transport needs has been a constant factor in this canal's history. With over 100 archive and present-day photographs, maps and plans, the book describes the need for the canal and the key personnel who were involved in its inception. Engineering and constructions of the canal and its branches are looked at in detail along with further improvements to the canal and how these boosted trade. A century of ownership by railway companies, subsequent nationalisation and later decline is discussed. The book also looks at the people who lived and worked on the canal. Finally, restoration, rejuvenation and the future of the canal is covered.

Birmingham is famously reputed to have more miles of canals than Venice. These canals contributed much to the city's growth, bringing coal and merchandise from the surrounding areas. As the city prospered economically, it continued to grow and absorb neighbouring communities, a process in many ways bound together by the waterways. Although part of the national network, Birmingham's canals, including the Worcester & Birmingham, the Stratford-upon-Avon and the Birmingham Canal Navigation, retain their original identity - and most are still in water and used regularly, albeit in different ways to their original industrial purpose. Fully updated and illustrated with stunning new photographs, this book captures the heritage, development and modern role of Birmingham's canals in a way that will appeal to canal users as well as those with a wider interest in Britain's second most populous city.

Several generations have now passed since iron making and working was an important trade in the Black Country. It was started by itinerant bloomers, who moved their bloomeries around the district to make use of local supplies of ore, smelting it with charcoal made from forest wood. Water-powered bloomeries were eventually replaced by blast furnaces, which in turn were replaced by coke-fired smelting furnaces. Black Country ironmasters had their share of success and failure, profits and loss, wealth and bankruptcy. Such is the nature of the trade that supply and demand created periods of expansion and then through over production an inevitable slump. Political factors also had influence. Wars created increased demand for iron for ordnance. When the battles were over and the wars won or lost, the bigger losers were the ironmasters and their workforce. However matters changed through the mid-nineteenth century, during the reign of Queen Victoria, when innovation and invention reached new heights.

Coal mining and iron working prospered in the West Midlands in the nineteenth century, after the development of local industry, in particular metalworking and the use of coal, iron and limestone. Metalworking also stimulated the growth of a local chemical industry where acids and alkali was produced, which in turn led to the making of pure chemicals, assisting the local paint and varnish industry. Industries sprang up at the canal side. Other needs led to building of brickyards, flourmills, glassworks and timber yards beside the water's edge. This illustrated volume examines the canalside industries of Birmingham and the Black Country, looking at iron, coal, gas, electricity, bricks and firebricks, and railway interchange, plus some of the more modern trades. This is Ray Shill's second book with Tempus Publishing; his first was Birmingham Canal Navigations. He has written two other books with Sutton Publishing

The Birmingham Canal Navigations lie at the heart of the British canal network and have a rich heritage that spans over two centuries. The BCN network developed over a period of one hundred years and served the busiest and most concentrated industrial region of the country - earning Birmingham the nickname of 'Little Venice'. Industrial trade was an important influence on the BCN; its winding route and many branches were shaped by the needs of the pre-dominant iron and coal industries, as well as the gas, chemical and glass works. Ray Shill examines the industrial archaeology of the network in The Birmingham Canal Navigations, looking at the structures, trade, work and craft on the waterway, as well as providing detailed maps of the network's various sections. He also considers the BCN's cottage numbering system, an often overlooked but vlaued part of the network's heritage. Once a busy industrial waterway, the BCN is now a place of leisure, with a hundred miles of navigation remaining, and continues to thrive as the centre of Britain's canal system.

A compelling new look at the principal features of the Midlands and border canals and the people who built them.This fascinating book delves into the forgotten history of the Midland and border canal infrastructure, including the Grand Union, Staffordshire & Worcestershire, Stourbridge, Stratford, Trent & Mersey, Worcester & Birmingham canals amongst others. Detailing the physical triumph of construction of canal structures such as aqueducts, bridges, embankments, locks and tunnels - the many structures that entail a lost heritage - this illustrated history also recognises the skill of the engineers who designed and built them and had such an influence on the waterways in this region despite the hardships of working conditions and poor finance that existed at the time. A must for all local and canal historians.