Camp Hill

Camp Hill

December 2022

Ok, so Camp Hill isn't part of the BCN, but like the Stourbridge and Hatherton Canals to the west and north I think it's fair to say that given their proximity, they share the same DNA as the BCN network.

Camp Hill was originally the northern end of the 1796 Warwick and Birmingham Canal which had its terminus in Digbeth, alongside Fazeley Street, a waterway which was subsumed into the Grand Union Canal Company in the 1930's.

The area above the six Camp Hill Locks became known as Sampson Road Wharf, an area which was heavily developed in the 1930's in conjunction with the Grand Union improvements scheme as it represented the closest point to the local railway network and became known as Birmingham Quay. In addition to the canal frontage opposite the extensive BSA site, there was a T shaped basin, part of which survives today and also a wide basin which was covered by the warehouses built in the 1930's.

I suspect that the correct naming of the canal mattered little to the boaters of old who simply referred to it as the "Middle Road" - the Bottom being the Birmingham and Fazeley and the Top being the North Stratford.

Anyway, the proximity of the canal to the city of Birmingham as it makes its way through Sparkbrook and Tyseley towards Solihull means its is of interest to me, and I need somewhere to store my collection of images of the area. These were the images gathered for the Cannock Coal YouTube series on Canal Hunter.

So, starting at Bordesley Junction and heading up the locks here is how the area used to look "back in the day".

Bordesley Junction 1976

Bordesley Junction 1978

Camp Hill Bottom Lock

Bottom Lock 1978

Camp Hill Bottom (6) 1977

Bordesley Junction 1961

Camp Hill Lock Five 1978

Camp Hill Second Lock 1970

 Second Lock 1962

Camp Hill Lock 3

Second Lock 

Top Lock 1970

Top Lock 1970

Camp Hill top lock 1998

Camp Hill Top Lock 1930's

Sampson Rd Wharf 1998

Sampson Road Wharf 1930's

GU's Sampson Rd Depot being built

Covered Wharf

NB Whitby in GU's Wharf

Sampson Road Loading Dock 1930's

Sampson Road Wharf

Trial cargo boxes at Sampson Road

Camp Hill 

Sampson Road Wharf 1990

1930's

BSA Works Armoury Road 1927

BSA Works from above

Above Camp Hill Top 1970

BSA Works in Small Heath

The above photos have been assembled from various sources, including those freely found on the internet. My thanks go to the many photographers alive and dead who have contributed to this collection and in so doing, are keeping the memory of these lost canals alive. These images are reproduced for ease of research are are not necessarily the property of this blog, and as such should not be used for commercial gain without the explicit permission of the owner (whoever that may be).