London to Birmingham Part 1

Canals That Never Were: NarrowBoat, Autumn 2026

Richard Dean

Richard Dean details unfulfilled hopes for a better waterway connection between England’s two principal cities

From the beginning the important London-to-Birmingham route north of Braunston had always made use of various local narrowboat canals, with none being very suitable in engineering or commercial terms for long-distance traffic. The Rugby-Coventry-Fazeley-Birmingham route opened throughout in 1790 with 54 locks, with the windings of the old Oxford Canal extending the length to 58 miles. Ten years later, the Warwick canals reduced the distance to 44 miles by dropping into and out of the Avon Valley, but with no fewer than 77 locks, including the BCN portion. Prompted by the forthcoming improvement of the Birmingham-to-Liverpool route, the London & Birmingham Junction Canal was promoted in 1827 to address the problems. With Telford as senior engineer, this was to link the northern part of the Stratford Canal, via Coventry, directly to Braunston. There was a saving in distance over the tortuous Oxford Canal, but the main advantage of this more level route was the need for only 16 lock…