Both Ends (14) : Birmingham and Fazeley Canal

The Birmingham and Fazeley Canal, as the name implies, begins in Birmingham at Old Turn Junction where it meets the Birmingham Main Line.

The canal then travels through Birmingham's suburbs: Aston and Erdington before heading into the countryside. The canal heads into Warwickshire through Curdworth and Bodymoor Heath before finishing up into Staffordshire and the Fazeley area of Tamworth where it connects to the Coventry Canal.

Both Ends (13) : Erewash Canal

The Erewash Canal stretches for nineteen kilometres. It starts at Langley Mill where it forms a junction with the Cromford and Nottingham Canals.

It runs through Derbyshire until meeting the mighty river Trent near Long Eaton.

Both Ends (12) : Wendover Arm

The Wendover Arm of the Grand Union Canal is an eleven mile now-partially watered canal which was originally built to act as a water feed from springs near Wendover to the Grand Junction Canal at Bulbourne. The canal was opened in 1799 as a fully navigable waterway though became partially unnavigable in 1904. The canal always having suffered from water leaks. Recent work has restored navigation from Bulbourne Junction as far as Little Tring Farm (just over two kilometres) and work is continuing.

End of the line in Wendover

Bulbourne Junction

Both Ends (11) : Aylesbury Arm

The Aylesbury Arm is a ten kilometre long arm of the Grand Union Canal. It was opened in 1814 to transport goods to and from Aylesbury to the rest of the canal network. The terminus basin of the canal is in central Aylesbury. This basin is now the focus of a great deal of redevelopment, like all canals the trade is now leisure cruisers.

The other end of the canal is at Marsworth where it joins the Grand Union. The below photo shws the arm just beyond the junction. Ten kilometres more and you can shop at Aylesbury's Waitrose!

Both Ends (10) : Oxford Canal

The Oxford Canal stretches from Oxford up to near Bedworth in Warwickshire, where it joins the Coventry Canal at Hawkesbury Junction. It passes through places like Banbury, Heyford and Rugby on the way and was (and still is of course) an important waterway. It took 20 years to complete the canal, construction beginning in 1769. The first stretch reached from Bedworth to Napton then further extensions were made (money permitting) to Banbury. The canal finally made it through to the centre of Oxford in 1790.

The canal was intended to link the Midlands to London with traffic switching to the Thames at Oxford. It did very well initially but went into decline after the opening of the rival Grand Junction Canal which had a more direct route.

However the Northern section remained busy well into the 20th century and carried commercial traffic into the 1960s. Nowadays the Oxford Canal is one of the most popular waterways with pleasure boaters.

The Oxford city end of the canal, this part of the canal is non-navigable

Enslow Wharf

Clifton Wharf, Rugby

Hawkesbury Junction where the canal joins the Coventry Canal

Both Ends (9) : Cromford Canal

One end of the Cromford Canal, at Cromford Wharf in Cromford is not in doubt. But with the canal only navigable for a short distance and for much of its route barely surviving at all where is the other end of the Cromford Canal these days?

Is it at the end of the Wigwell Aqueduct where the current limit of navigability is? Or where the canal meets the Erewash Canal? However there is a big stretch before that without any water. I've chosen Ambergate where the waters peter out into a bit of a dribble. This is the end of the continuous water from Cromford Wharf.

Both Ends (8) : Regent's Canal

The Regent's Canal stretches across North London connecting to the Grand Union at Little Venice near Paddington. Then it passes through the likes of Camden, Kings Cross, Islington and Shoreditch to connect to the Thames at Limehouse Basin.

Little Venice

The canal was built to help regenerate great swathes of London North of the Thames and provide a way to bypass the busy Thames through London to reach the dockyards in the East. Now its probably the best way to walk, jog or cycle across the capital!

Limehouse Basin

Both Ends (7) : Hertford Union Canal

The Hertford Union Canal is a short canal in East London which stretches from the Regent's Canal to the Lee Navigation. Like the Limehouse Cut the Hertford Union Canal is intended as a short-cut between the Thames and the Lee Navigation. It was opened in 1830 and later taken over to form part of the Grand Union Canal system.

The canal is completely straight for its 1.5km length though has 3 locks. For much of its length the canal runs alongside Victoria Park. At its Lee Navigation end the canal junction is in view of the Olympic Stadium and Park.

Both Ends (6) : Gower Branch Canal

The Gower Branch Canal is a short canal that links the old and new Birmingham Main Lines. The half mile long canal branches off the Birmingham New Main Line at Albion Junction.

The other end of the canal connects to the Birmingham Old Main Line at Brades Hall Junction via a triple "staircase" lock or 3 locks close together anyway.

The canal was built in 1836 and allowed boats coming (or going to) the Netherton Canal to get to the old main line without a long detour.

Both Ends (5) : Limehouse Cut

The Limehouse Cut is a short canal in East London that connects the Lee Navigation to the Regent's Canal at Limehouse Basin. The canal begins (or ends depending on your point of view) at Bow Locks.

It then travels 2 miles through Tower Hamlets until it meets the Regent's Canal at Limehouse Basin which is where the canal joins the Thames. Originally the Limehouse Cut connected directly onto the Thames but that was changed in 1968 because of the need to replace the river lock. Instead a new short length of canal was built to connect the Limehouse Cut to Limehouse Basin allowing traffic to use the river lock there instead.

Both Ends (4) : Coventry Canal

The Coventry Canal is a 38 mile canal that stretches from Fradley Junction near Lichfield where it is connected to the Trent & Mersey Canal.

As you might imagine the other end of the canal is in Coventry, and indeed the canal terminates here though before that there are connections to the Lichfield (originally the Wyrley & Essington), Ashby, Birmingham & Fazeley and Oxford canals.

One complication with the Coventry Canal is that while in reality it is a continuous stretch of waterway some maps treat it as two separate sections connected by part of the Birmingham & Fazeley. This confusion dates from the days of private ownership of the canals, but now the canals are all owned by British Waterways the canal should really be treated as it physically is.

Both Ends (3) : Stratford-upon-Avon Canal

The Stratford-upon-Avon Canal starts at Kings Norton Junction where it splits off the Worcester & Birmingham Canal.

Just by this junction is the Kings Norton Stop Lock, originally intended to stop water flowing from one canal to another (in the days when canals were owned by rival companies). Its the only guillotine stop lock on the canal network.

The canal then winds on through Warwickshire, meeting the Grand Union Canal at Lapworth before heading south to finally end up at Stratford-upon-Avon. The canal has a junction with the river Avon, in the original plans for the canal it was intended for the canal to stop short of the river (about where the railway station is now) but wiser heads prevailed.

Both Ends (2) : Tame Valley Canal

The Tame Valley Canal stretches from Erdington where it meets the Birmingham & Fazeley and Grand Union Canals up to Walsall where it meets up with the Walsall Canal.

The beginnings (or end depending on your point of view) are rather inauspicious these days being Salford Junction which right underneath the Gravelly Hill Interchange (Spaghetti Junction) and the first stretch is under various motorways and slip roads.

The canal then stretches through Witton, Perry and Great Barr. There is a junction with the Rushall Canal but after that its straight through to the Walsall Canal at Tame Valley Junction.

Both Ends (1) : Worcester & Birmingham

A new series showing where a canal begins and ends (or ends and begins depending on your point of view), starting with the Worcester and Birmingham which starts and ends in the 2 cities as you might have guessed.

The Birmingham End where it joins the Birmingham Main Line (and the BCN)

Diglis Lock in Worcester where the canal joins the River Severn.