Gas Street Basin, Birmingham (must see)

The squares, shops, crowds, and traffic of central Birmingham can eventually wear you out. If you want a quieter break without leaving the city center, head down to the canal towpath and walk toward Gas Street Basin. The atmosphere changes quickly: the traffic fades, the water opens up ahead, and restaurants and bars line the canal around the Basin.

You can also see Birmingham from the water. Trip boats and waterbuses operate along parts of the canal network, passing beneath bridges and between old warehouses, modern apartments, and regenerated industrial buildings. It is a very different view of the city from the busy streets above.

Gas Street Basin is an important meeting point in Birmingham's canal system. Here, the Worcester and Birmingham Canal joins the Birmingham Canal Navigations Main Line. The two waterways originally met at Worcester Bar, a solid barrier built in 1792. Its purpose was to stop the Worcester and Birmingham Canal Company from taking water from the Birmingham Canal Navigations.

For many years, boats could not pass directly from one canal to the other. Cargo had to be unloaded on one side of the barrier, carried across, and loaded onto another boat. In 1815, a narrow opening with a stop lock was finally created, allowing boats to move between the two canals while still controlling the flow of water.

If you want a longer walk, follow the canal west from Gas Street Basin toward Smethwick. The route takes you along sections of Birmingham's historic Old and New Main Lines, with former industrial sites, locks, bridges, and junctions along the way.