From the Worcester and Birmingham, about three miles from the town, at Selby Oak, the Dudley canal goes off, and passes a little cast of Hales Owen, and north of Dudley town, to the old Birmingham canal, near Tipton. From near Dudley, the canal proceeds to the Black Delph and Stourbridge canals. From its com mencement to the Black Delph, 10} miles is level ; thence to Stourbridge it falls 85 feet by nine locks. From thc main line to the entrance of Dudley tunnel, of a mile, it rises 31 feet by five locks. Through the tunnel, 2926 yards is level ; thence to the old Birming ham, one furlong, it falls 13 feet by two locks. There is a branch to Dudley town 11 mile, with a rise of 64 feet, from 14 hich there is a level branch of a mile, to Dudley coal works. On the canal there are three tunnels, one at Capal, 3776 yards in length, another at Gortsy hill, 623 yards, and the one before-mentioned at Dudley, 2926 yards. At Bradley there is a reservoir, which supplies water for lockage to thc Stourbridge canal at Black Delph. The trade is in coals, lime, and iron. The acts are, 16th, 25th, 30th, 33d, and 36th Guo. III.
Next, in a westet ly direction, is the Stourbridge canal. From the termination of the Dudley canal, one branch, on the sutnmit level, passes eastward two miles to Pen sant Chase, and a small branch, + of a mile adjaccnt thereto, is a reservoir of 12 acres, which supplies the summit. From the junction eastward to the Lays, 1} mile is level ; thencc to the Stourbridge branch, mile, there is a fall of 148 feet by 16 locks. The Stour bridge branch, of one mile, is level ; and from it to Stew poney the line is also level. In the last three furlongs, there is a fall of 431 feet, into the Staffordshire and Wor cestershite canal. The canal is 28 feet wide at top water, and 5 feet deep. The acts are, 16th and 22d Geo. III. Articles of trade, coal, iron, glass, Stourbridge fine clay, Scc.
The Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal com mences in the Grand Trunk at Heywood, crosses the river Trent, and passes a little south of the town of Staf ford and Penkridge, in the north of Wolverhampton, south of Autherley and Tettenhall, north of Stewpaney, and through Kidderminster to the river Severn at Stour port ; in all a distance of 46-} miles.
From Heywood to the north end of the summit, on the old Roman Watling-street road at Streetway, the dis tance is 131 miles, with a rise of 1001 feet by 13 locks. From Streetway to Tottenhall the summit level is 10 miles. At Autherton, the old Birmingham canal falls in. From Tottenhall to Stewponey, where the Stour bridge canal falls in, is 11 miles, with a fall of 1651 feet by 18 locks. From this place to Stourport, 12 miles, there is a fall of 1271 feet by 13 locks. At Stourport there are tno basins, with extensive wharves and ware houses, and two sets of locks into the Severn, one for river vessels, and the other for small canal boats. In the
course of this canal there are three short tunnels, and three small aqueducts. The canal was begun in 1766, and completed in 1772. There is one reservoir at Chit tington. and one at "Mosely, from which the summit level is supplied. The tradc is very great, and consists of coal, iron, hardwares, earthenwares, glass, general mer chandise, and fruit from the counties of Worcester and Hereford. The acls are, 6, 10, SC, Geo. III. The en gineer was James Brindley.
Having described the navigations on the western side of the Grand Junction line, we must return to our general summit at Daventry, adjacent to which, from the Grand Junction canal, near the eastern extremity of the Braun ston tunnel, proceeds the Grand Union canal. It has a double locicage and two tunnels, and passes at no great distance from thc Oxford canal. It unites the Leicester shire and Northamptonshire canals with the Grand Junction canal. From the Grand Junction, near lock Buckley wharf, it passes about 5 miles upon a level ; it then ascends 54 feet by 7 locks ; it then proceeds 18 miles upon the summit level, and afterwards descends 76 feet by 10 locks, and unites with Leicester Union canal, near Foxton. The summit level passes two tunnels of considerable length.; that is to say, one at Bosworth, 1166 yards in length, and another at Crick, 1524 yards. These are sufficiently wide to admit barges of 14 feet beam. The locks are only for boats of 7 feet beam. The act was obtained in 1810. The works were completed, and the canal opened in 1814. The engineer was Benjamin Bevan .
The Union or 'Market Harborough canal was, accord ing to the original design, to have proceeded from the river Soar at Leicester, by Market Harborough, and across the valley of the Welland, to Oxenden, and then to have fallen down 197 feet to the Nene at Northamp ton, which would have been in all a distance of 434 miles. From the Nene a line was to ascend by the Grand Junc tion branch, 112 feet to that canal, a little north of the Bilsworth tunnel.
The portion of this canal now executed, corminences in the river Soar, near Leicester, at a place called West Bridge. It proceeds about 3 miles parallel with that stream, and thence to Saddington, a distance from Leices ter of 12i miles, with a rise of 160 feet. At Saddington is a tunnel 880 yards in length, through which the canal proceeds on a level 21 miles to Gumley wharf, where, to avoid the Foxton tunnel, upon the parliamentary line, there is a direction surveyed by Thomas Telford, by which the canal is carried on a level for six miles to the town of Market Harborough ; and here the canal termi nates.