| Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5 | Page 6 | Page 7 | Page 8 | Page 9 | Page 10 | Page 11 | Page 12 Improvements in Birmingham In 1824, Telford was employed by the Birmingham Canal Navigation Company to improve the line of the Birmingham Canal which ran from Wolverhampton to Birmingham. Built by Brindley, the canal had a winding and tortuous course which Telford described as ‘little better than a crooked ditch’. There were narrow locks on the canal at each end of a short summit at Smethwick, and these caused delays and frustration among the boatmen. 
Smethwick Junction on the Birmingham Canal Navigations in 1957. Numerous side bridges can be seen as well as a horsedrawn day boat. Telford proposed a number of measures to improve the eastern end of the canal and these were carried out without delay. Brindley’s bends and loops were replaced by a new straighter and wider canal with twin towpaths, Brindley’s old loops being left to act as wharves and basins. 
“Plan of Lands near the Summit in the Parishes of West Bromwich, Harbourne and Halesowen belonging to the Proprietors of the Birmingham Canal Navigations” c.1820s. Shows the Birmingham Canal between Smethwick Locks and Spon Lane Locks and the proposed new line. Signed by Thomas Telford. Much of Telford’s new canal was set in a deep cutting to avoid the use of locks. However this required the construction of many new bridges instead, the biggest of which was Galton Bridge. Constructed of cast iron and completed in 1829, Galton was at the time the largest single span bridge at nearly 150 feet long. 
Galton Bridge on the Birmingham Canal in 1957. | 
