Canal Walking between Lapworth and Birmingham
Lapworth (Kingswood Junction) to Olton and then Olton to Birmingham (National Indoor Arena). I have also included a brief note of a shorter walk from Small Heath to the National Indoor Arena.
Bridge over
the Stratford Canal at the Kingswood
Junction
.
Lapworth
(Kingswood Junction) to Olton
Distance
- about 11 miles including distances between canal
and railway stations
From the station in Lapworth the
route is south down Station Road passing the local
school. At the T junction turn right, passing under
the railway bridge, and soon after cross the bridge
over Stratford on Avon Canal and go down to its tow
path. Go under bridge and you are immediately at
Kingswood Junction. From here follow the signs to
the Grand Union Canal/Warwick and on reaching it
cross the bridge over the link between the
Stratford on Avon and Grand Union Canals and follow
tow path north, passing the Navigation, Black Boy
and Heron’s Nest Public Houses, before the locks at
Knowle are reached.
The flight of 5 locks at Knowle is about 4 miles
from the start at Lapworth Station, and are the
only locks passed, other than those at Kingswood
Junction, before the canal reaches Olton. There are
a few seats alongside these locks so it’s a good
place to sit down and have a snack or drink and, if
you are lucky, you may see boats going through this
flight of locks.
One of the
Locks at Knowle.
Like the first part of this route
the canal continues through open countryside,
although 2 miles further on it passes under the M42
motorway, before Catherine de Barnes is reached
after another mile. From here the area alongside
the canal starts to get more built up and the canal
starts to go through cuttings. There are houses on
top of some of these cuttings, which are mainly on
the west (left) bank on the other side of the canal
from the tow path. It is interesting to see what
the house owners have done to their gardens, which
have often been extended, via steep banks, down to
the water’s edge. Because of the steepness some
have ladder type steps to reach the water and many
have landing stages built from scaffolding.
However, many of these look as if they have seen
better days and generally they look messy, but in
fairness trying to build on such a steep gradient
and then into the water must be difficult.
The quality of the tow path along this stretch is
much improved compared with the start of the walk
and makes for very easy walking, and although the
countryside has started to vanish both Anne and I
found the more urban landscape interesting.
To aid navigation I obtained details of distances
etc. by visiting the excellent Jim Shead Website Page
for the Grand Union Canal.
However, it is worth noting that, although the
details from the website give many of the bridge
numbers, not all of the bridges have identifying
numbers on them. This lack of information was
prevalent as we neared Olton. Fortunately the
Richmond Road Bridge (No. 84) where we left the
canal had the a number plate on it. It was then
left over the bridge and from here only 200 yards
to reach Olton Station, where we were able to catch
a train to Solihull (one about every 20 minute) to
get a connection back to Warwick.
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The Grand
Union Canal north of Olton.
Olton
to Birmingham (National Indoor
Arena)
Distance -Approximately 7 miles from Olton Station
to N.I.A.
Until I did this walk I never realised that the
Grand Union Canal did not go all the way to the Gas
Street Basin/Farmers Bridge Junction in Birmingham
but is left at Bordesley Junction. The Digbeth
Branch Canal is then followed to reach the
Birmingham and Fazeley Canal at Aston Junction,
which is then followed to the N.I.A. at the Farmers
Bridge Junction. May sound confusing but if you
keep left when you reach a major junction of
canals, until you reach the National Indoor Arena,
then you shouldn’t go wrong.
Getting to Olton was easy. Get a train from Warwick
to Solihull, then from there get a connection to
Olton.
On leaving Olton Station turn right. At T junction
turn right under railway bridge, cross over canal,
go down to towpath and follow towpath under bridge.
The first part of the walk of this section of the
canal is without any locks. Initially houses and
gardens are seen but these give way to a more
industrial landscape with factories and other
commercial enterprises on either side of the
waterway; many of which look more like prisons with
high steel fences with spikes on the top, or high
walls with barbed or razor wire. This all looks a
bit foreboding but it was a sunny day when we did
the walk and the sun glinting on the rails etc.
helped to “soften” the security provisions.
One
of the bridges that the towpath went over. In the
past the canal
would have had access canal underneath the bridge
to local industry.
After 4 miles we reached the
Camphill Locks (6 in total spread over
approximately ½ mile), where we decided to stop at
a well placed bench for a snack. But we didn’t stop
for long. We could see an unwelcome visitor coming
our way; a Canada Goose hoping for our snack, so we
moved on very quickly.
Anne, a
bridge and a church near the Camp Hill
Locks.
During the last mile or so we had
started seeing these birds, which often blocked the
tow path and hissed at us as we went past. Not very
pleasant, but that’s only part of the story. There
are currently about 61,000 of these birds in
Britain and are now considered a menace as they
have taken up permanent residence in parks and
other recreational areas, including tow paths. It
would seem that three birds can eat as much as one
sheep and with a defecation rate of one “bowel
action” every 4 minutes the areas they inhabit soon
get covered in their unpleasant droppings.
So we ate as we walked and soon, about ½ a mile
further on, we reached Bordesley Junction and said
goodbye to the Grand Union Canal as we followed the
Digbeth Branch Canal for the next stage of our
journey into Birmingham.
The Grand
Union Canal at Bordesley Junction. The Grand
Union goes
right, under the bridge, but our route was over the
bridge and straight
on along the Digbeth Branch
Canal.
The Digbeth Branch Canal is less
than a mile long and there are no locks but there
is one very long tunnel below Curzon Street, which
looked quite foreboding as we approached. It looked
very dark inside, but it is wide and inside it is
actually well lit. At this point the canal is to
the east of the city centre and generally going in
a northwards direction. However, once the Fazeley
and Birmingham Canal is reached at Aston Junction -
which is a few yards from the city centre end of
the Aston Expressway - we follow this canal left
(south west) towards our objective, the N.I.A.
Looking back
along the canal tunnel below Curzon
Street.
This is a really interesting part
of the canal. Although the walk to the N.I.A. from
here is less than 1½ miles, 13 locks are passed in
this very built up area with many offices and other
commercial buildings constructed over the canal and
the small reservoirs required to feed the locks.
It’s not often you see a lock under a building.
Yes, this final part of the route is very
interesting and well worth a visit.
The
Birmingham and Fazeley Canal, complete with
locks,
under one of the buildings near the centre of
Birmingham.
We reached the Farmers Bridge
Junction outside the N.I.A. at about 1.30 p.m. and,
by the time we had had a short wander around the
area, office workers, who had been using the local
hostelries and restaurants, were going back to
work. So it was a good time to get some food and we
elected – well it was the General Election on this
day - to go to the Malt House Inn, where we sat by
a window to watch the world go by while we had food
and drink, before departing to Moor Street station
to catch a train home.
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A
view of the canal from near the the Farmers Bridge
Junction.
Shorter
Walk – Small Heath to National Indoor
Arena.
Distance - Approximately 3½ miles
If you fancy a shorter version of
this walk the Small Heath Railway Station (Three
Stations after Olton Station) is less than 200
yards from Grand Union Canal Bridge (No. 89) at
Golden Hillock Road. On reaching the canal towpath
turn right and in less than a mile the start of the
Camphill flight of locks will be reached. Half a
mile further on is the junction with the Digbeth
Branch Canal, which is followed for just under one
mile to its junction with the Fazeley and
Birmingham Canal. Here the route is left and in 1½
miles the National Indoor Arena and the Malta House
Inn are reached.
.
Photographs
taken near the centre of Birmingham .
Click pictures to enlarge.
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