With more miles of canal to explore than Venice has to offer, you won't be short of things to see and do in Birmingham.
Birmingham's waterways make the ideal escape to unwind in the middle of the busy city. There are plenty of green spaces, vibrant waterfront bars and restaurants and historic architecture to admire. Birmingham also boasts an active waterway with lots of cycling, canoeing, paddleboarding and walking routes.
Where does the water come from?
Cambrian Wharf
Many canals were built to serve Birmingham, on different levels and with different water sources. Sometimes these canals run alongside each other, and sometimes they cross, with the higher one on an aqueduct. Cambrian Wharf, on the Birmingham New Main Line (c.1824) is on the 'Birmingham Level', 53 miles of canal with no locks. The other canals are all lower than the Birmingham Level except for the Wolverhampton Level and the Titford Canal.
The main water sources supplying Cambrian Wharf, at the top of Farmers Bridge Locks, are Rotton Park Reservoir. Earlswood Lakes on the North Stratford Canal and Upper Bittle Reservoir on the Worcester & Birmingham Canal. Feeders (diverted streams) bring smaller amounts of water into the canal.
