Salford Junction

Salford Junction
Salford Junction
	To Fazeley ahead, to Bordesley Junction right
Specifications
Status	Open
Navigation authority	Canal and River Trust
History
Date completed	1844

Salford Junction in context

Legend

					Coventry Canal
					Fazeley Junction
					Walsall and Rushall Canals
					Tame Valley Junction
					Rushall Junction
					Walsall and Tame Valley Canals
					Birmingham and Fazeley Canal
					Salford Junction

					GU Garrison Locks (5)
					Aston Locks (11)
					Aston Junction + Digbeth Branch
					Bordesley Junction (right)
					Typhoo Basin (middle)
					B&F to Old Turn Junction
					Grand Union Canal

toll island

. To Birmingham, left

Salford Junction (

Gravelly Hill Interchange (Spaghetti Junction). With Aston and Bordesley Junctions it forms a circuit, at the heart of Birmingham's thirty-five miles of canals

.

History

Salford Junction became a double junction on 14 February 1844 when the Grand Union Canal and Tame Valley Canal joined the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal.[1] Prior to this, the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal crossed the River Tame via a seven-arched aqueduct, each with a span of 18 feet.^[2] T & S Element opened boatyards at Salford Bridge in 1932 which soon became the company's head office. Spencer, Abbott and Company owned a boatbuilding yard at the junction too, however traces of these companies no longer exist.^[3]

A bridge has been recorded as being at this location since 1536 during the reign of King

Roundhead Parliamentary troops during the English Civil War, reparation costs were charged to the county.^[4] The bridge was reconstructed in 1810 to convert the footbridge into a road bridge. It was designed by John Couchman (1771–1838), who was paid £3,800 for the work (equivalent to £287,000 in 2021).^[5] The bridge was crossed by a road connecting Birmingham to Lichfield.^[6]

It was destroyed during the construction of Spaghetti Junction.

Location

One of the Birmingham terminations of the Grand Union Canal (originally here named the Birmingham and Warwick Junction Canal) is under the

Gravelly Hill Interchange ("Spaghetti Junction", M6 Junction 6). Here, at Salford Junction, it meets the end of the Tame Valley Canal and the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal to Birmingham (south) and Tamworth (north-west). Above Salford Junction are the slip roads to Birmingham's busiest motorway junction. Below it are the confluences of the Hockley Brook and River Rea into the River Tame

.

Bibliography

Clayton, Phil (2005). "Junctions of the BCN (Part Two)". Birmingham Canal Navigations Society.
Jones, Douglas V. (1989). The Story of Erdington - From Sleepy Hamlet to Thriving Suburb. Westwood Press.
ISBN 0-948025-05-0
.

Pearson, Michael (1989). Canal Companion - Birmingham Canal Navigations. J. M. Pearson & Associates.
ISBN 0-907864-49-X
.

Priestley, Joseph (1831). "Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals and Railways of Great Britain".
Skempton, Sir Alec; et al. (2002). A Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers in Great Britain and Ireland: Vol 1: 1500 to 1830. Thomas Telford.
ISBN 0-7277-2939-X
.

Stephens, W. B. (1964). Communications: A History of the County of Warwick: Volume 7: The City of Birmingham. Victoria County History – via British History Online.

References

^ Birmingham.gov.uk: A History of the Canals in and around Birmingham: Wednesbury to Salford
^ Priestley 1831, p. 72
^ Clayton 2005
^ ^a ^b ^c Stephens 1964, pp. 25–42
^ Skempton 2002, p. 151
^ Notes and Queries, Benjamin Walker (extract author), 1850, G. Bell

52°30′31″N 1°51′33″W / 52.5085°N 1.8591°W / 52.5085; -1.8591

[1] Birmingham.gov.uk: A History of the Canals in and around Birmingham: Wednesbury to Salford

[2] Priestley 1831, p. 72

[3] Clayton 2005

[BHO-4] Stephens 1964, pp. 25–42

[5] Skempton 2002, p. 151

[6] Notes and Queries, Benjamin Walker (extract author), 1850, G. Bell

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

v t e Birmingham Canal Navigations
Navigable	BCN Main Line Birmingham and Fazeley Canal Bumble Hole Branch Canal Cannock Extension Canal Digbeth Branch Canal Dudley Canal Engine Arm Gower Branch Canal Icknield Port Loop Netherton Tunnel Branch Canal Rushall Canal Soho Loop Spon Lane Locks Branch Tame Valley Canal Titford Canal Walsall Canal Wednesbury Oak Loop Wednesbury Old Canal Wyrley and Essington Canal
Unnavigable	Anson Branch Bentley Canal Bradley Branch Lichfield Canal Ridgacre Branch Tipton Green and Toll End Canals
Junctions	Aldersley Junction Aston Junction Birchills Junction Bromford Junction Catshill Junction Fazeley Junction Horseley Fields Junction Huddlesford Junction Ogley Junction Old Turn Junction Pelsall Junction Rumer Hill Junction Rushall Junction Salford Junction Smethwick Junction Spon Lane Junction Tame Valley Junction
Reservoirs	Chasewater Edgbaston Reservoir Netherton Reservoir
Tunnels	Dudley Tunnel Lapal Tunnel
Aqueducts	Engine Arm Aqueduct Stewart Aqueduct
Bridges and viaducts	Galton Bridge Parkhead Viaduct Summit Bridge
Pumping stations	Smethwick Engine
Locks	Delph Locks
Basins	Gas Street Basin
Adjoining canals	Coventry Canal Grand Union Canal Pensnett Canal Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal Stourbridge Canal Worcester and Birmingham Canal
Other	Boat Gauging House, Tipton Galton Valley Canal Heritage Centre Water levels of the Birmingham Canal Navigations