Birmingham Ship Canal Schemes.

 We love Birmingham and we love to have a look around the ever changing city. We also always have a meal out at the Barajee Restaurant overlooking Worcester Bar.

The Centenary Square in front of the Library was acquired a reflecting pool and a tram station, all in preparation for the Commonwealth Games

The demolition of the Brutalist designed Library has opened up the area for new projects and this is part of the result. It is to be hoped that following the pandemic things pick up in the area.

Chamberlain Square has also be opened with better access to the monument and views of the Museum Art Gallery and the Town Hall.

I had never stopped to lock at the needle in St. Phillips Gardens before but the monument is to Col. Fred Gustavus Burnaby who was a National Hero from the early 1880's. He joined the army and was famous for being able to leap over a snooker table from a standing start and for being able to carry a donkey under each arm! He was able to get along with all ranks too. He left the army for a life of adventure and spying, before rejoining and being sent to relieve the siege on Khartoum and General Gordan. He was too late and was killed when he dashed out of his defensive square to rescue a soldier. The monument was raised in 1885.

St. Phillips Cathedral is not perhaps the size and grandeur that one may expect from the Nations second city but although small is perfectly formed.

Just across the road in Colmore Row is the Old William Spurrier building erected in 1873. The business traded in gold and silver and perfected the art of silver plating too.

Down New Street are many fine buildings. This one was known as Popes Corner as the block was owned by Pope's a printer, stationer and later of all things office equipment.

The 6 tonne bronze statue made by Laurence Broderick was erected in 2003 and is one of the ten best pieces of public art in the world. Dressed for Breast Awareness Week here.

As all boaters know Birmingham is on a hill from what ever direction you approach it. In the late 1800's commerce had boomed and the powers that be were feeling that trade in the future could be stymied by the high cost of freight exports and imports. The railways were thought to be taking advantage of the situation by charging high rates. Business and the Council sort ways to continue the boom and a plans for ships canals came into the public sphere.

Over the years there have been many schemes put forward to try to bring freight charges down for the manufacturers of the Midlands There was plans for a ship canal from Birmingham to Ipswich via Cambridge, Bedford and Northampton where vessels were to be towed by locomotives at 55 mph, but the main schemes were to Birmingham from the Severn, Trent and Weaver along with a one from London. In the later 1800’s Canal Fever had up-scaled. The Suez Canal had opened in 1869/70, the construction of the Panama Canal started in 1881 and a start was made on the Kiel Canal in 1887. There were also plans for a canal across the Malaysian Peninsula and in 1894 one to cross Ireland. Even closer to home the Manchester Ship Canal got underway in 1887. In Birmingham a route from the town to London that would take boats on 120 ton was planned at a cost of £1 million in 1885. There was also a plan to use sea water in a ship canal using newly patented anti centrifugal pumps. The advantages of sea air in the Midlands along with sea bathing seemed to be the main points of benefit along with the saving of £50,000 in freight for brings shrimps to Birmingham! However the first scheme that reached any detail was the route between Birmingham and the Bristol Channel. This would require deepening the River Severn from 7 to 9 ft allowing 400t vessels to Worcester using the Sharpness and Gloucester Canal, and then improving the Worcester and Birmingham to take 150 to 200 ton vessels. The 58 locks on the route would be reduced to 13 and 30+ locks at Tardebigge being replaced by an inclined plane. The cost estimate was £600,000 and would carry 410,000 tons of cargo from Bristol alone. Bevere Lock between Worcester and the Droitwich Barge Canal would also need lengthening before the Droitwich link to the Severn would become a cheaper option. Following presentations to the Chambers of Commerce in the towns and cities that could take advantage of the possibilities provided by a ship canal were all for the project. The Birmingham Council however were more sanguine about it. As they would be expected to help finance the canal they set up a committee to look into every aspect of a ship canal. In 1887 they decided to send a questionnaire to businesses to ascertain requirements etc. The wooing of councils and businesses continued with invited quests having a full tour of the route from Sharpness to Worcester and along the canal. The estimate also continued to grow, now reaching £2 million.

Other schemes became emboldened to come out into the light. A London to Birmingham route was put forward, with the improving of the present canals, and also to provide an outlet to the sea at the Humber via the Rivers Thame and Trent. The canal would be from Birmingham/Aston to Minworth, Curdworth, Coleshill, Kingsbury, Tamworth Polesworth and to Burton on Trent where the River Trent Navigation would be used. By March 1888 the Birmingham Council sub committee was ready to report their findings. They found that the areas exports presently went via the following ports; Liverpool 43%, London 40%, Hull 10%, Severn 3%, S. Wales 3% and others 1%. The list for imports was Liverpool 24%, London 19%, Hull 17%, Severn 25%, S. Wales 8% and others 7%. Their conclusion was that Liverpool as an outlet would be more worthwhile promoting. In addition the route to Liverpool would give direct access to around 1 million people (1881) and 1/3 million more close enough to the route to provide markets for goods. The scheme to Liverpool had been fleshed out a little and they expected a 250t powered barge towing another of 300t would transit in 18 hours. The Severn route fought back by stating that the greatest savings in freight would be on the bulk imports that came through the Severn and the scheme could be made cheaper by just improving the Worcester/Birmingham section of the route.The lobbying continued for the two main contenders, to the Severn and to Liverpool and further details were released. The favoured route to Liverpool would be Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Penkridge, Stafford and then missing out the loop to Haywood a new canal to join the Trent and Mersey at Aston Lock near Stone and then on to Stoke on Trent hence to join the River Weaver at Winsford. The canal would be 72’ wide and the banks would be concreted to a depth of 9’. This would allow faster speed of travel, around 8 or 9 mph, and still prevent erosion. For both schemes the elephant in the room was funding. Birmingham Council were so worried about a break on development of business by the stranglehold of high freight charges levied by the railway companies that they went to Parliament to enquire about the Council be able to purchase a canal, old or new. The outcome was not favourable. This then meant that to finance a new scheme capital would have to come from private sources. This was not thought of to be too much of a problem as it was estimated that at least £30 million a year was being invested in the USA. However the Severn Scheme were finding it difficult to raise the £30,000 to obtain an Act of Parliament for the venture by selling 3000 shares at £10 each.

Not a very clear picture of the elevations of the canal from Liverpool on the left, to Birmingham on the right.

As time passed estimates continued to rise from £3 million to £4 million by July 1890, and this was the year the plans for the Welland Canal to get to the Great Lakes in North America, to pass around Niagra Falls, were revealed. The argument was that just one canal in Birmingham carried 7.3 million tons of cargo a year and 1.5 million between Birmingham and Liverpool never mind the trade of around 100,000 tons a week from North Staffordshire plus about 1000 ton a week of salt from the district to Birmingham. They were proposing to charge around 4s/ton as the freight. Currently they said the charge for the carriage of scrap iron was 10s per ton! They estimated two and a half years to complete the construction and having to purchase 1200 acres of land. The cost of the canal alone would be £2.8 million. As with all canals there were worries about having enough water. This was countered by the fact that many of the locks would be done away with and boat lifts similar to Anderton would be used, so saving water. They also suggested that water could be pumped up from the Liverpool end and the area around Stoke on Trent had a large catchment area with an average rainfall of 38” a year. They estimated 26” of which could be usable so providing 468 million tons of water. This was at a time in 1891 when Birmingham was deciding where it could access a good water supply from as the town had outgrown its bore hole supply. It was hoped that they would hold off making a decision until the Liverpool Ship Canal question was answered. Ultimately they decided to bring water from the Elan Valley in Wales.

As the Ship canals for Birmingham were first mooted to bring about lower freight charges they also stimulated other developments. The Established Trent and Mersey Canal Co. fought against the newcomer by announcing improvements on their route. The scheme to the Severn had not been dropped although they were down scaling the plan. It fact several vessels had been constructed by the Water Transport Company to run from South Wales ports and even one run of a 71’ long 7’ wide boat that carried a cargo of Belgian mixed freight from Cardiff to Birmingham without transhipment! The trip took 32 hours and she had to anchor over low tides. Now they had a vision to only widen the Worcester and Birmingham Canal to 60’ wide and 8’ deep. The Tardebigge locks would be replaced with a hydraulic lift raising boats 100 ft in 6 mins.. The scheme would cost around £600,000. There was an added extra to extend the Sharpness Canal to the south so that the Severn could be accessed at all states of tide, rather than just high water. It was at the end of 1893 that the Manchester Ship Canal was fully opened. It had taken six years to construct and cost £15 million.

By the turn of the Century nothing had happened. Neither scheme had raised sufficient money to even take the scheme to the Parliamentary Committee that decided whether it could go forward to a full hearing. Periodically over the next decade or so each scheme was resurrected but money was always the stumbling block. In 1906 there were attempts to have the canals Nationalised, or at least to ensure that the Central Government would put money into the pot to get any venture going and sustain it until it could start earning for itself. Once again it was also called upon them to allow local authorities to invest in a similar way. However by now the example of the Manchester Ship Canal had shown that investors did not make any money, but the scheme was a success as it brought wealth in general to the area. This would seem to point to investment by local government to be a good idea. In 1920 once again the Severn Scheme was promoted with the idea of Diglis Basin in Worcester, or Stourport, been a transhipment port from the 400 ton vessels to 100t vessels on a new canal. In 1925 the Liverpool scheme was also brought out of the box. Now the existing canal would be improved from Birmingham to Wolverhampton, a new canal cut down to Aldersley Junction and then improve the Staffs and Worcester Canal to Baswich Near Stafford where a new canal would shorten the route to Aston Lock south of Stone then to Middlewich and the Weaver. An alternative was also talked of. Birmingham to Tamworth, Fradley and to Haywood Junction but this would miss out the valuable Wolverhampton/Black Country trade.. The first was estimated at a cost of £6.6 million and the second £6.8 million. The plan was for 100t craft at 5 ft draft that could pass to Liverpool without transhipment with locks enlarged to take a tug and butty. There would be 24 lifts instead of 92 locks and the journey would take about 40 hours.. Still nothing happened. Even in WWII the Severn scheme was brought out again but with the same results.

In 1974 there was talk of expanding freight on the canal system, as there has been constantly. I often wonder what life would be like on the system now if either of these schemes had taken place. When on the South Yorkshire Canals and the ‘Exol Pride’ comes down the cut it is an ‘event’. Imagine that this was happening at every lock/lift and mooring place. Then think of the same on the other canals that may be affected by schemes such as the above! The frailties of the waterways have also been shown by the newly acquired barge traffic from Goole to Leeds having to come to s top for several months due to the breach in the Aire and Calder at Cowich. Mind you it may reduce the number of leisure boats on the system that would maybe be a plus for those that were left.