Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The top end of the Tardebigge Flight of locks
.
Edgbaston Tunnel is just 96m long and has a towpath. The railway goes through an adja-
cent bore and a heavy arched retaining wall flanks it at each end. The other bank comprises
red sandstone and supports Birmingham University campus, with its brick clocktower land-
mark in the centre and silver domed roofs.
At Bournville, in 1879, the Cadbury brothers set up their chocolate factory as a garden city
on what was then a rural canalside site. This pioneer community now has 3,500 houses. Old
wharves front the canal and a plank footbridge, lifted by a crank handle, stands sentinel on
the left bank. A housing estate occupies Cadbury's former wharf, opposite the factory, sold
to Kraft Foods in 2010.
Wast (or West) Hills tunnel is the major obstacle on the canal. At 2.3km long it is one of
the longest still in use in Britain. The tunnel emerges in deep cutting in open countryside, the
city having been left behind.
At Arrowfield Top is the Hopwood House Inn. Barnt Green sees boats moored alongside
Lower Bittell Reservoir, built to compensate mill owners for their loss of water after the con-
struction of Upper Bittell Reservoir, which is a canal feeder. The reservoirs are popular with
anglers and birdwatchers but there are few anglers on the canal itself.
