Your floating hotel on the Canals and Rivers of the UK

Our guide to the waterways of the UK in detail.

Pictures of the Birmingham & Fazley Canal at Farmer's Bridge lock flight.

The Birmingham and Fazeley canal starts at Fazeley Junction on the Coventry canal near Tamworth it runs for fifteen miles up into the heart of Birmingham .

At first in the country for the rest of its route it is an urban canal passing factories and under spaghetti junction of the M6. It then goes up the Aston flight of eleven locks and the Farmers Bridge flight of thirteen locks to Cambrian Wharf right in the heart of Birmingham.

On the city section the landscape around the canal has dramatically changed since it was built in the 1780's. Farmers Bridge flight is now hidden among old warehouses, new office blocks and high bridges. The duplicate lock flight is now closed but the flight is well used by pleasure boats. The towpath had always been strictly out of bounds to the general public in working days, access points were not well known and the canal in general was hidden from public view. During the early 1990's the towpath was re-paved and access points were clearly sign posted. The towpath now provides an excellent inner-city traffic-free route for walkers, joggers and cyclists.

This page contains pictures of one of the most spectacular sections of Urban canal. When it was built it was through the countryside, then Birmingham grew around and over it. Large sections of Farmer's Bridge flight of thirteen locks pass through the basements of the buildings which now tower over it.

More pictures of this canal?

The rest of the canal.

General information / A history of this canal.

Find our information about other canals on the canal index page.

If you have any questions then do ring us on 07977 229103
or email us at martinreed@reedboats.co.uk