1.4 The Smethwick Summits

In this video Andy Tidy looks at how the original Birmingham Canal was built and evolved to cross the summit hill at Smethwick, part of an ongoing series looking for the lost sections of canal between Birmingham and Balls Hill near West Bromwich.

[@CS-ig6xd]

Great video.

[@HpwithBea2013]

Thank you for putting this video on......I am currently self isolating with covid and have decided to educate myself with local history....having always been interested in railways and canals your videos are brilliant...Once again thank you.

[@lifeat2.3milesanhour57]

Glad you are enjoying them - there is a bit of an evolution when it comes to quality - this was an early attempt.

[@joyceparkes5366]

Thank you for your video being born in Smethwick in the ‘30s I forgot all about the canal, and Chances had a social club that I went to Memoirs 🙏🏻…

[@juliatacey4918]

You can see the Smethwick Engine, that was used for moving water -the oldest working engine incidentally, still operating at the Think Tank in Birmingham.

[@tykeinbrum]

I love that part of the old and new main lines, and knew some of the history, but you've really educated me. Thank you!

[@stephenbowker824]

Better and better 👍🖐 NB Fiddlesticks

[@llessibm]

Fascinating vlog, just illustrates the immense achievements of our forebears

[@lifeat2.3milesanhour57]

Thank you Martin - the more I delve into the history the more interesting it gets,

[@bobbieskilling6391]

Dear Andy - Have just discovered your Canal Hunter videos - They're superb - You're a great historian and the channel deserves to be better known. Have only ever been to the Birmingham area for one day in my whole life, but your knowledge and enthusiasm for these fascinating canals is infectious. You should have 129K subscribers not 1.29K. Thank you for the time and effort you put into these videos. They really are appreciated - I've subscribed and will tell anyone who'll listen to watch them all. Bobbie Skilling, St Albans.

[@lifeat2.3milesanhour57]

I am glad you are enjoying them Bobbie - welcome to the channel. Its all probably a bit niche but I enjoy bringing this aspect of our heritage to life. There wont be a lot of new material posted till the leaves fall off and I can get our with the Go Pro again. That said - there is a fir back catalogue to look at in the meantime!

[@mikehaldane4061]

This is proving to be an excellent collection of informative vlog's. Thank you for putting these together and spending a great deal of time and effort to do so. The fact that Telford had the foresight and was able to persuade people that this amount of digging and removal of material would be possible in such a short time scale using picks and shovels is difficult to get your head around. Clearly, the advantages of the proposal were obvious but even so the size of the task must have taken some leap in faith.

[@lifeat2.3milesanhour57]

It was quite an undertaking.

[@garrystacey7018]

Great video thanks for sharing 👍🏻

[@CatchavistaAerial]

Nice video very informative

[@khalidabaji7761]

beautiful my frn. stay connected. uk khalida

[@Growingman72]

My Grandfather worked at Chances glass works I have crossed over that bridge on Spon Lane many times]

[@dudleyblokerave]

Awesome video.

[@nickcaunt1769]

Great blog. This was already a favourite stretch of mine, but you have added all the background to my observations. I noticed on the map near the start that there was a dotted line labelled Liverpool to Birmingham Ship Canal 1890. What was that all about?

[@lifeat2.3milesanhour57]

Hi Nick - glad to have you aboard! The dotted line marked Liverpool to Birmingham Ship Canal was a proposed route which never came to anything. To be honest I dont know how practical it is but even today the idea of a single high level canal spanning most of the country is raised, mostly to do with water supplies rather then freight.

[@smofla13]

i put me name of the bridge down the canal bk in early 90s....found out its still there to this day...used to ride that canal up to bham all the time.

[@lifeat2.3milesanhour57]

I love seeing the 16th century graffiti carved on the back of church organs and in old castles.

[@philscarriage73]

I remember cycling on my bike in the 70s to spon lane locks in order to see and take photos of Telfords and Brindleys canals. Also Galton bridge if i remember rightly was the largest iron canal bridge built in the world.

[@lifeat2.3milesanhour57]

Spot on! Still and impressive location.

[@philscarriage73]

@@lifeat2.3milesanhour57 Thanks for the video Andy. Back in 76 i did the west midland canal network for my History project. I enjoyed learning about them and set off on my bike with a heavy SLR camera. taking photos. I remember one interesting photo showing the railway and motorway crossing the canal somewhere on the stretch where you filmed. 3 generations of transport on one photo! I would join the canal at Perry Barr and ride into B,ham. I do remember seeing the Clayton carrier boats back then at Gas Street also. Regards Phil.

[@lifeat2.3milesanhour57]

@@philscarriage73 I dont suppose you still have those photos?

[@philscarriage73]

@@lifeat2.3milesanhour57 yes im sure i have a folder up somewhere in the Loft.Quite interested myself in looking at them again once located.

[@lifeat2.3milesanhour57]

@@philscarriage73 They may be worth digitising and sharing on the Love Birmigham Canal Navigations facebook page.

[@dennisporter753]

Wow.. some truly great looking iron bridges!.. beautiful area too!.. fascinating construction of the canals and Aquiduct was so nice to see.. the lowering of the canal by 20ft quite interesting segment! Do you know about how much traffic on the canal in that area might be handling? I know you are in lockdown but before all the problems associated with the Covid crisis... Also this is tied to going into Birmingham correct? Thanks Andy..

[@lifeat2.3milesanhour57]

Hi DEnnis - the local canals carried 200 to 300 boats a day, which was pretty busy for its day and justified the digging of the New Main Line. Our Lockdown prevents non essential travel and whilst I could ague I am filming during exercise, I dont really want to go near the heavily populated area till the infection rates drop a bit more.

[@jeffhill3043]

Hi Andy I'm a bit confused. Did the very old main line (Brindley) take the same line as the current old main line or was it further up the hill? You seem to have explained both in this vlog. Very good vlog by the way Jeff

[@lifeat2.3milesanhour57]

Essentially yes. The new lower line was dug a half width at a time so the original summit was directly above what we see today.

[@UPROAR24]

there is a setion of wall about 50 feet high there with square holes. they used to load the barges with coal from the Sandwell Colliery Wharf I will try to upload a video of what is left of it.

[@blackcountrywalker]

uploaded video Sandwell Colliery Wharf kzbin.info/www/bejne/hJbEl4SFgsSIhsU

[@lifeat2.3milesanhour57]

I remember the concrete chutes before they were demolished.

[@gospelman7222]

My great-grandfather was employed there early 1900's as a labourer loading coal into the barges. I'm Smethwick born and bred and proud of it!

[@C...G...]

:-)