Tuesday 9th April 2019



It was great to have the kids with us. We all had a walk around Gas Street Basin stopping off at the Canalside pub right on the canal front and watching the world go by.






   



Gas Street Basin and nearby Brindley Place form the heart of the Birmingham canal system and are fascinating places. Gas Street is the meeting place of the Birmingham Canal Navigations and the Worcester and Birmingham Canal. Today there is a narrow cut between the two, the Worcester Bar, which would have been a gauging lock where tolls were calculated for boats passing from one to the other. However, prior to the cut, there was no water link between the two and cargoes had to be manhandled from one canal to the other. Gas Street was also a secret world where the only access to the basin from outside was via narrow gated entrances.



        


Gas Street Basin and the Worcester Bar

    


Gas Street Basin and the original entrance



        
 

Brindley Place circa 1970 and today



The development of Gas Street Basin and Brindley Place is amazing and they are now thriving places with many bars and restaurants, the NIA, International Conference Centre, Sea Life Centre and a mini Lego Land with crowds of people at all hours. While many of the original buildings have been retained there are many new buildings that now tastefully accompany them.

In the evening we headed for Ed’s American Easy Diner only to be told their tills were down and they were not serving. We were all disappointed. Whatever happened to adding up a bill. We walked around before settling on the Hand Made Burger Company. The kids enjoyed it but we are not really burger people.   




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