Walking for Heritage; Warwick Barr Stop Lock

As you walk up Heath Mill Lane, you will cross a bridge that takes you over the canal. On the right hand side there is a sign indicating the canal, and using my brilliant map, you should find yourself on the towpath! Go under the bridge, and this will take you along the rest of the route.

Warwick Barr is part of a conservation area in Digbeth. It can be found on the canal network close to the rear of the gun barrel proof house (when I was walking this route I heard some explosions and they were quite scary – took me a while to realise it was the proof house!).

This was once the boundary between two canal networks, the Birmingham Canal Network and what became the Grand Union Canal. It was built to stop each canal company stealing water from the others’ canal, much like the guillotine lock in King’s Norton. Warwick Bar lock is now permanently chained open as the Canals are all one network.