At the north-west extremity of the last canal the Co ventry canal commences, and passes by that populous town, also Longfold and Nimeaton to Atherstone, 16 miles 6 furls. upon one level. From Atherstone to Fazely near Tamwath 10 miles, there is a fall of 96 feet by 13 locks. From Fazely to the Grand Trunk, or Trent and Mersey canal at Fradley heath, near Litch field, is 11 miles, and level; but the first 5 miles of this last portion belongs to the Birmingham canal, and the part next the Grand Trunk to the Coventry canal; so that this navigation altogether on the main line, from the town of coventry, is 32 miles 2 furlongs. The canal and locks are for narrow boats. The purposcs of the canal are for the conveyance of coals, and all sorts of goods between the Trent and Mersey canal, and thc Ox ford and Grand Junction canals. It was made from Coventry to Atherstone in 1786, and the whole commu nication opened in 1790. James Brindley was engineer. The acts are 8, 25, 26 Geo. III.
At Alarston Bridge, the Ashby de la Zouch canal passes off. At the same place, at the opposite or west et n side of the canal, there is a branch which is sepa rated into five cuts to accommodate several collieries. A little farther, another branch of about a mile passes to the Griff collieries, which belongs to Sir Roger New digate. At Fazely is the junction with the Birming ham and Fazely canal ; and near Litchfield the Wierley and Essington falls in, and the united canals join the Grand Trunk. This canal completes the communica tion between London and the Trent and Nlersey naviga tion, nearly in the centre of England ; and, having thus completed the main line, We shall return to the central summit, and proceed to describe the congeries of canals roud Birmingham, and between this main trunk and the river Severn.
From the Oxford canal, near Napton on the Hill, the Warwick and Napton canal departs, and takes a pretty direct course towards the town of Warwick, near which it crosses the river Avon by an aqueduct, and terminates in the Warwick and Birmingham canal, after a course of about 15 miles, on the same level as the last-mention ed canal. It was completed in 1799. The acts are 34th and 36th Gco. III.
From the Warwick and Napton, near the town of Warnick, proceeds the Warwick and Birmingham canal to the town of Birmingham, a distance of about 25 miles, and joins the branch from the Fazely canal. From its commzncement the first half mile is level ; thence to Hatton, 21 miles, by 20 locks ; from Hatton to the Statford junction branch, five miles are level ; and this continues to Knoule common, where, in one mile, there is a fall by seven locks; from this point to Direct encl, near Birmingham, 10 miles are level ; thence to the junction with the Fuzely branch, 11 miles, there is a rise by five locks. This canal was finished in 1799.
The acts are, 33d and 3tith Geo. III.
By this, and the Napton and _Grand junction canals, Birmingham has a very direct communication with London.
We have now reached Birmingham, as much dis tinguished for the singularity of its inland navigation, as for the variety, ingenuity, and excellence of its ma:101m tures ; for, notwithstanding its situation in a high sum mit, almost destitute of water, navigable canals diverge from it, by means of lockage, in all directions. What nature seems to have denied, human ingenuity and skill have accomplished. The mines which supply the ma terials for marrufactures, are made to afford the means of carrying the produce of the manufactures to market ; for the water, which was not to be had on the surface, has, by the aid of powerful engines, been drawn from the bowels of the earth. We must, therefore, from this centrical situation, take a hasty survey of its numerous canals ; and shall begin with that which proceeds from the termination of the line which we last described.
The Birmingham and Fazely canal commences at the termination of the Birmingham and Warwick canal, in that part of the town of Birmingham called Digbeth, and skirts its base to Farmer's Bridge, and thence along the valley of the Tame, past Cadwath and Fazely, and terminates in the before-mentioned detached part of the Coventry canal, in all a distance of 201 miles; for the first miles from Digbeth, is a rise of 40 feet by six Iocks ; from thence to the Old Birmingham canal at Farmer's Bridge, 1-1 mile, there is a rise of 85 feet by 13 locks; from the junction of the Digbeth branch, to the aqueduct over the Tame at Salford, is mile, with a fall of 71 feet by 11 locks ; thence to AIiddleton Hall is 9/miles, with a fall of 90 feet, by 14 locks ; and from the latter place to the termination in the Coventry canal, 5} miles north of Fazely, is 8,1- miles level. A part of the Digbeth branch is tunnelled under the town. This canal, opened in 1790, forms a direct line from Birming ham to the Grand Trunk canal, and, of course, to Liver pool and Hull. The acts are, 23d, 24th, 25th, 34th, Geo. III. It is now the property of the Old Birmingham company. It is made for boats of 70 feet in length, and 7 feet wide.