Selly Oak Aqueduct

Selly Oak Aqueduct
Worcester and Birmingham
February 2010

Update July 2011
Things have moved on with this aqueduct, which was opened for business about six months ago. During a trip to the new Droitwich Canal I paused and scrambled down the bank to grab the following shots:

 Selly Oak Aqueuct - towpath view

 Selly Oak Aqueduct in profile

And as a bonus this little river aqueduct can be found alongside the new one!

Birmingham is about to get a brand new aqueduct at Selly Oak.

This structure will carry the Worcester and Birmingham Canal over a new by pass at Selly Oak and will involve all sorts of temporary diversions whilst it is being built.

For the time being we can see where it will go from this photo taken by Waterway Routes:

New Selly Oak Aqueduct

River Rea Aqueduct - Kings Norton

River Rea Aqueduct - Kings Norton

Worcester Birmingham Canal

One of the more inaccessible aqueducts, impossible to the east and b****y difficult from the west!

I slithered down a slippery clay bank and only avoided falling into the river courtesy of a conveniently overhanging sycamore tree. Now I know how relieves Zacchieus felt when he was bursting at the seams with enthusiasm to see Jesus come walking past!

The lighting conditions were a nightmare, in deep gloom from a heavy canopy of leaved with a searing blasts of light from the top of the embankment. I really must get a better camera.

Both photos (poor though they are) are from the captain's own collection.

Aqueduct Lane Aqueduct - Bittell

Aqueduct Lane Aqueduct - Bittell

Worcester Birmingham Canal

This dripping and dank brick aqueduct carries the canal over Aqueduct Lane, but woe betide anyone who tries to pass through in anything larger than a Ford Transit.

Both photos are from the Captain's own collection

Immediately after the aqueduct there is a particularly lovely house with extensive moorings, one which I would love to own save its one huge drawback (and its not the diminutive size of the access tunnel). The M42 runs on an elevated section only a few hundred yards to the south and the roar of traffic is incessant.

Alvechurch Footpath Aqueduct

Alvechurch Footpath Aqueduct

Worcester Birmingham Canal

A remote aqueduct which carries the Worcester Birmingham Canal over a muddy footpath just south of Alvechurch.

The scale of the archway would suggest that it carried something more significant than a footpath, but the absence of a stream and the limited headroom for a train makes its original purpose something of a puzzle. GIven its similarity to its near neighbour at Aqueduct Lane, maybe it provided access to a quarry or something.

Both photos are from the Captian's own collection

Holliday Street Aqueduct - Birmingham

Holliday Street Aqueduct - Birmingham

Worcester Birmingham Canal

A particularly impressive cast iron aqueduct which carries the Worcester Birmingham Canal over Holliday Street as it approaches Worcester Bar and Gas St Basin.

The structure is completely hidden from the canal, with high walls blocking any view and from below it looks remarkably like a railway bridge, being too long for a normal aqueduct.

The ironwork is very ornate and has been refurbished in recent tears, with sympathetic Victorian style street lights installed to dispel some of the gloom beneath, hopefully rendering pedestrian traffic safer in so doing.

All photos are from the Captian's own collection