Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
on the aqueduct over the River Tame, too. The canal now closely follows the river for most
of its length.
Salford Junction, in the middle of Gravelly Hill Interchange, connects the Birmingham
& Fazeley with the Tame Valley Canal and the northern end of Britain's longest canal, the
Grand Union. Although the locks are narrow, with single top and bottom gates, the canal it-
self is usually quite wide, no more so than where one factory completely spans the canal and
towpath for 200m.
A factory that showed how to make a feature of the canal was the Cincinnati works, with
lawns leading to the top of a bank covered with ivy, now empty. Beyond, the rusty fence style
is revived.
The great cavern under Snow Hill station
.
Unusually, the bridges on the Birmingham & Fazeley are named rather than numbered,
and many of them are the traditional rounded arch type. One situated between the Boat and
a steak bar displays a peculiarity that is to be seen regularly now - a small arched hole with
a door leading back into one side of the bridge. This is for stop-logs, which can be dropped
into the canal in the case of a breach.
The canal breaks into open country for the rest of its route, with views over farmland to the
left. The square tower of the squat St Nicholas' church at Curdworth, with its finely carved
font, can be seen over the hedgerow. Yellow irises become a regular feature, complemented
later by the pink flowers of arrowhead.
