Open in 1777, this canal links the River Mersey in the west with the River Trent in the East. With the Great Haywood Junction, the River Severn is reached via the Stafford and Worcester Canal. Birmingham is reached via the Fradley Junction and the Coventry then Birmingham and Fazeley Canals.

Though only a short section of this canal is covered by this website, it forms part of a ring of canals that can travel as far south as Worcester.
There is alsoa shorter ring that goes from the centre of Birmingham, via the BCN to Wolverhampton, then via the Staffs and Worcester canal to Stafford, linking with the Trent and Mersey and Coventry canals.
Finally returning via the Birmingham and Fazeley canal.

Much of the industry and branch canals are now lost, in the 1980's the canal had still retained much of its original character.
The book The Birmingham Canal Navigations by the Birmingham Branch I.W.A, gives an idear what the canal was like.