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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.
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