Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Curdworth tunnel is 52m long. The towpath goes right the way through. It once carried
notices asking boats to keep right, a fanciful idea as only the smallest boats would have much
choice in the matter.
The top lock of the 11-lock Curdworth Flight has been rebuilt upstream out of the way of
the M6 Toll. The A446 bridge just after the motorway shows off three different sizes of arch.
The bridge has been progressively widened to take the present dual carriageway. Old canal
buildings stand at the end of a track leading up to the Belfry Hotel and its golf course.
The unique bridge crossing the canal at Drayton Bassett, with castellated brick tower
.
As Bodymoor Heath is approached, the noisy M42 moves alongside the canal before the
waterway turns away through the 240ha Kingsbury Water Park, a set of former gravel pits.
Brook Marston Farm Hotel may have a helicopter on the lawn next to the canal while the
Dog & Doublet has a container of flowers over its lock bywash. The adjacent lane leads to
Aston Villa football club's training ground.
The tank farm at Kingsbury's Oil Terminal can now be seen with higher land rising behind
for the first time.
There are two locks beyond the Dog & Doublet and a swing bridge precedes the 38th and
final lock on the canal. The swing bridge at Drayton Bassett is accompanied by a fixed foot-
bridge that is quite unique to the British canal system. At each end is a Gothic arch doorway
in a castellated brick tower with a spiral staircase, difficult for cyclists. Dosthill House is seen
away to the right. Drayton Manor is unseen on the left. This was formerly the home of Sir
Robert Peel, who was Prime Minister twice and invented the police.
