0:00:07 > 0:00:11If you were transporting heavy goods today, how would you do it?
0:00:11 > 0:00:14By road, on a truck, by train perhaps?
0:00:14 > 0:00:19200 years ago, you'd have made a very different choice.
0:00:28 > 0:00:32In fact, you'd have gone for one of these - a narrow boat on a canal.
0:00:32 > 0:00:36In the 1790s, canals were THE mode of transport.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39Bringing raw materials straight to factory doorsteps,
0:00:39 > 0:00:42they made the industrial revolution possible.
0:00:48 > 0:00:52And in 1796, the finest mapmaker in the country
0:00:52 > 0:00:56decided that he, too, would cash in on the excitement.
0:00:56 > 0:01:00His name was John Cary, and with his inland navigation,
0:01:00 > 0:01:02he produced the first national maps
0:01:02 > 0:01:05to show you where this new transport could take you.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15What I want to know is, do they still work?
0:01:15 > 0:01:17Can I navigate a 60 mile route,
0:01:17 > 0:01:22all the way from the old coalfields outside Birmingham to the city centre
0:01:22 > 0:01:27using nothing more than John Cary's 18th century canal maps?
0:01:55 > 0:01:59When John Cary created his first inland navigation maps,
0:01:59 > 0:02:02Britain was in the grip of a canal mania.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05Canals were radically changing the landscape,
0:02:05 > 0:02:09and perhaps nowhere more than in the area around Birmingham.
0:02:09 > 0:02:12Cary places Birmingham itself on the margins,
0:02:12 > 0:02:14because the real heart of the map
0:02:14 > 0:02:19is in what in the 1790s they started to call the Black Country.
0:02:29 > 0:02:34This is Cannock Chase, a pocket of heathland north of Birmingham.
0:02:34 > 0:02:36All over the Black Country, areas like this
0:02:36 > 0:02:41were rich in the one rock everyone cared about - coal.
0:02:41 > 0:02:46But to exploit it would require direct and easy transport.
0:02:46 > 0:02:49Remember, this is before the age of the railways.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52The roads were absolutely dire and in this particular area,
0:02:52 > 0:02:56there weren't any big rivers - only little streams like this.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59And that gave the industrialists a real headache.
0:02:59 > 0:03:04They needed to move the coal from up here, to the big towns that needed it down there.
0:03:04 > 0:03:08So what did they do? They built artificial rivers - canals.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11Up to 20 of them a year, to shift the coal from the pits
0:03:11 > 0:03:16to the factories and foundries in Wolverhampton and Birmingham.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22I'm going to take a canal journey across Cary's map,
0:03:22 > 0:03:26to see how he mapped the major communication routes
0:03:26 > 0:03:27of the industrial age.
0:03:27 > 0:03:29From up here on Cannock Chase,
0:03:29 > 0:03:32I'm going to be going down to Muckley Corner,
0:03:32 > 0:03:35and then I'm going to try to follow the canals all the way down here,
0:03:35 > 0:03:40past Wolverhampton, through Dudley, hopefully all the way to Birmingham.
0:03:40 > 0:03:42It's a journey of about 60 miles.
0:03:42 > 0:03:47The trouble I'll be facing is that once trains and trucks came along,
0:03:47 > 0:03:51many of the canals fell into disuse and some disappeared altogether.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54What I don't know is how many of the canals I want to use
0:03:54 > 0:03:56have even got any water in them.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08The first thing you notice about Cary's map is its orientation.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11You'd expect North at the top,
0:04:11 > 0:04:15but, in fact, Cary puts the East and Birmingham at the top.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18That means the Wyrley and Essington canal at Muckley Corner
0:04:18 > 0:04:20is south-east of where I am.
0:04:25 > 0:04:27The canal should be somewhere around here.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30I ought to be able to see it from the top of this slope,
0:04:30 > 0:04:33snaking through the dip at the bottom of this field.
0:04:33 > 0:04:38It's not obvious, but there are trees along the bottom of this field
0:04:38 > 0:04:40and then, in front, what looks like a trough,
0:04:40 > 0:04:42so I think I'll go and have a look.
0:04:47 > 0:04:49Well, there is something here -
0:04:49 > 0:04:51a parallel sided ditch,
0:04:51 > 0:04:55squelchy in the bottom. I think this is the canal.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58I can see it running each side of me here.
0:04:58 > 0:05:00If this was the Wyrley and Essington,
0:05:00 > 0:05:03perhaps it's not surprising it's lost its water,
0:05:03 > 0:05:05as it was one of the higher canals in the area,
0:05:05 > 0:05:07so it would have drained empty first.
0:05:07 > 0:05:09Here's a rock.
0:05:09 > 0:05:12Yep, that's interesting.
0:05:13 > 0:05:17You don't normally find rocks sitting in the bottom of rivers,
0:05:17 > 0:05:22so this is a piece of the old canal wall that's fallen down from above, probably.
0:05:22 > 0:05:24Maybe from up here.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26What we've got here - this is rather good.
0:05:28 > 0:05:30Here's the side of the canal.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34These moss-covered stones contained the water,
0:05:34 > 0:05:37so right above here is the old towpath.
0:05:37 > 0:05:39I'm going to see where that goes.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48This is looking rather good.
0:05:48 > 0:05:50I've got a trickle of water - a lot of water.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53Eurgh! Quite a lot of water!
0:05:53 > 0:05:57Down there is a bridge - not the original bridge, because the arch is far too high.
0:05:58 > 0:06:00Very exciting!
0:06:06 > 0:06:08Rubbish everywhere.
0:06:08 > 0:06:12Such a shame that this noble work of civil engineering
0:06:12 > 0:06:14has been turned into a modern-day garbage dump.
0:06:14 > 0:06:16Just the other side of the bridge,
0:06:16 > 0:06:19I can see where the canal is widening out into a basin.
0:06:19 > 0:06:24Perhaps it's where the boats used to turn around or maybe pass each other.
0:06:24 > 0:06:29You have to imagine those 70ft narrow boats, brightly painted,
0:06:29 > 0:06:33smoke curling out of stovepipe chimneys, the horses on the towpath
0:06:33 > 0:06:36stamping their feet impatiently, children running about.
0:06:36 > 0:06:38It's a lost world down here.
0:06:38 > 0:06:40Those truck drivers thundering by
0:06:40 > 0:06:42don't even know it's here.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49No sign of restoration here.
0:06:49 > 0:06:51And I'm not going to make much progress
0:06:51 > 0:06:54just tramping around in semi- dried-up canals.
0:06:56 > 0:07:00Further up, there are navigable sections, so I've got a rendezvous
0:07:00 > 0:07:05with someone who knows the canals, and, more importantly, has a boat.
0:07:05 > 0:07:07Hi, Graham.
0:07:07 > 0:07:11Graham Wigley has worked on the canals for nearly 40 years.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14- This is huge! - Yeah, it's a full 72ft, this.
0:07:16 > 0:07:21Very exciting. How much freight could this boat have carried?
0:07:22 > 0:07:27About 22, 23 tonnes. It depends on the state of the canal.
0:07:27 > 0:07:32I mean, I have had 27 tonnes on it, on very specific occasions.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45- This one is an absolute swine of a turn, this.- Is it?
0:07:45 > 0:07:50- Not a lot of head room.- There'd be adequate head room when built,
0:07:50 > 0:07:52to let a boat and chimney get under.
0:07:52 > 0:07:58But many of them were affected by subsidence.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01The whole area around here was riddled with small coal mines
0:08:01 > 0:08:05in the heydays of the canals in the 18th and 19th centuries.
0:08:07 > 0:08:11Many of the mines were very close, and there were special basins.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13Sometimes, if they weren't so close,
0:08:13 > 0:08:17there would be a horse-drawn tramway or plate way,
0:08:17 > 0:08:19half a mile, something like that,
0:08:19 > 0:08:20to connect with the canal.
0:08:22 > 0:08:25- This is a basin here.- Oh yes.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28So you could've taken a narrow boat up, loaded up,
0:08:28 > 0:08:32- come out on to Birmingham canal network and set off to your destination?- Yep.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35Then all this coal went into the rapidly expanding towns
0:08:35 > 0:08:39of Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Walsall, West Bromwich,
0:08:39 > 0:08:43to feed the newly developing metal-bashing industries.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47So what's now a lovely grassy area to walk your dog and have picnics
0:08:47 > 0:08:50was once a mess of clanging ironworks, filthy coal dust
0:08:50 > 0:08:52and all the rest of it.
0:08:52 > 0:08:53Absolutely. Right in the middle
0:08:53 > 0:08:57of what would otherwise be unspoiled countryside.
0:08:57 > 0:08:59From the Black Country to the green country.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02- Yeah, that's it. - Oh, I nearly fell in then!
0:09:09 > 0:09:13John Cary was born in 1755.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16In his lifetime, he produced over 600 original maps,
0:09:16 > 0:09:19including a highly successful county atlas.
0:09:20 > 0:09:25Two years before his canal map, Cary made his name with roads.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28His survey of the country's post roads
0:09:28 > 0:09:31was the most detailed for 100 years.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36The canal towpaths would have been measured
0:09:36 > 0:09:38in the same way as the roads.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41So I'm going to see if I can survey as accurately as Cary,
0:09:41 > 0:09:43using his methods.
0:09:45 > 0:09:47His surveyors used one of these.
0:09:47 > 0:09:52It looks like a pocket watch, but it's a pedometer. It counts paces.
0:09:52 > 0:09:56It works by this chain here pulling out of the bottom of the counter
0:09:56 > 0:09:59and moving this needle around the outside of the dial.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03So all I've got to do is fix this onto my waist,
0:10:03 > 0:10:08and then attach the chain onto my boot lace,
0:10:08 > 0:10:10and off I go.
0:10:12 > 0:10:17In 1794, this was the main road between Walsall and Stafford.
0:10:17 > 0:10:22The numbers 16 and 17 on Cary's map indicate that the distance
0:10:22 > 0:10:25between the bridge where I left Graham and the T-junction
0:10:25 > 0:10:29was exactly one mile. Let's see.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32This pedometer is an ingenious little gadget.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35It saves me the trouble of counting paces.
0:10:35 > 0:10:37But it's remarkably difficult to operate.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40It might look like I'm walking in a straight line,
0:10:40 > 0:10:45daydreaming, but actually what I'm trying to do is to avoid
0:10:45 > 0:10:51being shoved round out of course by vehicles like these ones here.
0:10:53 > 0:10:57If it's going to work accurately, I have to walk in a straight line
0:10:57 > 0:11:00along this road. I keep coming across obstacles.
0:11:00 > 0:11:02I've got one right here.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07Excuse me.
0:11:07 > 0:11:11I'm trying to count the number of paces using this machine here
0:11:11 > 0:11:13between the canal bridge there
0:11:13 > 0:11:16and the road junction here, and I've got to walk in a dead straight line.
0:11:16 > 0:11:18No, no, I speak French.
0:11:18 > 0:11:20Just a little English.
0:11:20 > 0:11:22Are you going to be parked here for very long?
0:11:22 > 0:11:27- Park?- Is your car going to be here for very long?- No.
0:11:27 > 0:11:30This man is kindly going to move his car
0:11:30 > 0:11:33and allow me to press on down the pavement.
0:11:33 > 0:11:35If I'd had to walk round the car...
0:11:35 > 0:11:37I'm guessing, but it may have added
0:11:37 > 0:11:39four paces on to the measurement.
0:11:39 > 0:11:43There's not much point doing this if I don't do it accurately.
0:11:45 > 0:11:47Not sure he understood what I was up to, though.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52Here we go. Off we go again.
0:11:52 > 0:11:54Interruption cleared.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58I'm sure John Cary didn't have this trouble.
0:11:58 > 0:12:00'T-junction coming up.
0:12:00 > 0:12:04'Each of my paces is 68 inches, so...'
0:12:04 > 0:12:07Here's the junction.
0:12:07 > 0:12:12If I've been pacing correctly, the pedometer should read 931.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15Let's see what the reading actually is.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19Oh no! 1,238!
0:12:19 > 0:12:21That's an error of about 30%.
0:12:21 > 0:12:25I think it just goes to show how changes in the road over 200 years,
0:12:25 > 0:12:29an old scientific instrument, and all the obstacles
0:12:29 > 0:12:32I've been winding around have added some paces.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36In Cary's day this was exactly one mile. Nowadays it's a lot more.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39How's that for excuses?
0:12:44 > 0:12:47Canals in the 1790s were the hottest new investment.
0:12:47 > 0:12:52Anyone selling coal or other raw materials needed access to one.
0:12:54 > 0:12:58To build a canal required an Act of Parliament, and to get that,
0:12:58 > 0:13:03surveyors were asked to provide accurate maps of the planned routes.
0:13:03 > 0:13:08These proposals became the primary source for Cary's inland navigation.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13This close relationship between the canals and the coal -
0:13:13 > 0:13:16did that mean that the fate of the two were tied up?
0:13:16 > 0:13:18Oh yes. Very much so.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21In actual fact, the last coal to be carried
0:13:21 > 0:13:25on this northern part of the BCN, or Birmingham Canal Navigations,
0:13:25 > 0:13:31passed in the late '60s, and then after that,
0:13:31 > 0:13:34the canals really became largely disused.
0:13:36 > 0:13:40Did you ever carry coal yourself?
0:13:40 > 0:13:46I did. I used to fit in when our regular boatmen may have been ill
0:13:46 > 0:13:51or we didn't have enough to cover the available traffic,
0:13:51 > 0:13:55and yes, from time to time I used to take boats out, including this one.
0:13:55 > 0:13:57This narrow boat carried coal?
0:13:57 > 0:13:59- Oh yes.- Did it?- Yes.
0:13:59 > 0:14:04Up until...on a regular basis, up until about 1969.
0:14:07 > 0:14:12'It's curious that Cary's map has scarcely any industrial information.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15'The one mention of coal mining is New Colliery,
0:14:15 > 0:14:20'standing at the head of a now disused Wyrley and Essington branch.'
0:14:28 > 0:14:31The question is, is there anything of it left?
0:14:31 > 0:14:34The stubby branch would be the place where narrow boats
0:14:34 > 0:14:36could moor to collect the coal.
0:14:36 > 0:14:40It's no longer on a canal - so can I find it by road?
0:14:42 > 0:14:44So far, there's no evidence
0:14:44 > 0:14:47on the ground of a canal or a mine.
0:14:47 > 0:14:49No earthworks, no embankments.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52But I have found a lake.
0:14:54 > 0:14:56This might be a vital clue.
0:14:56 > 0:15:00This little lake could have been a feeder pool for the canal,
0:15:00 > 0:15:03and feeder pools were often found near coal mines.
0:15:07 > 0:15:11Water was pumped out of the mine using the latest invention -
0:15:11 > 0:15:13a steam engine.
0:15:13 > 0:15:17The water then gathered in the feeder pools and could be used
0:15:17 > 0:15:20to top-up the nearby canal.
0:15:20 > 0:15:22Look at this - there's a channel full of water,
0:15:22 > 0:15:25and it seems to have...
0:15:25 > 0:15:28parallel sides, it's long and straight.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31Maybe it was a stub of the original canal.
0:15:31 > 0:15:33Let's see. It continues across the path,
0:15:33 > 0:15:35into the wood here, in a kind of trough.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38What I'm looking for is evidence
0:15:38 > 0:15:39that the coal mine was around here.
0:15:42 > 0:15:46And I think... yup, over here on the ground,
0:15:46 > 0:15:50there are flakes of coal absolutely everywhere - lots of them.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52Flakes of coal. Incredible.
0:15:52 > 0:15:56200 years on, you can still find bits of coal lying all over.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59Look at this big bit! Massive. There's a bigger bit!
0:15:59 > 0:16:00Look at the size of that!
0:16:00 > 0:16:02A huge lump of coal.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05So somewhere around here was the coal mine,
0:16:05 > 0:16:08the New Colliery on Cary's map.
0:16:21 > 0:16:26Coal traffic was all about shifting large volumes with minimal effort.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29And in the absence of good roads, the canals provided
0:16:29 > 0:16:35an efficient method of transport, and the price of coal halved.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57This wasn't an easy map to create.
0:16:57 > 0:17:01Cary had to draw on information from the canal companies, local boatmen,
0:17:01 > 0:17:03people who used the canals every day.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06He also visited many of the canals himself.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09All that information he had to collate and then put down
0:17:09 > 0:17:12onto the maps - an incredible exercise
0:17:12 > 0:17:16in information gathering and in editing.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19The maps are very, very detailed.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22They don't just show the canals, but surrounding geography as well.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25Forest of Cannock Chase, here.
0:17:25 > 0:17:27The road network.
0:17:27 > 0:17:28The bridges.
0:17:30 > 0:17:32There's a tunnel marked here.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35And of course, all the towns of the Black Country.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38Walsall, Wednesbury.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42Wolverhampton, Stourbridge.
0:17:42 > 0:17:44Dudley, and up here, Birmingham itself.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49But the most amazing aspect of this map
0:17:49 > 0:17:50is the canals themselves.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53This thick, black network,
0:17:53 > 0:17:58overlaid on the existing natural geography of the region.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01If you navigate a river, you need to know where the shallows are,
0:18:01 > 0:18:03the bends, the rapids and so on.
0:18:03 > 0:18:07With canals, you just need to know where the locks are,
0:18:07 > 0:18:09as they're what will slow you down
0:18:09 > 0:18:11as you shift freight around the region.
0:18:11 > 0:18:16So Cary has taken great care about marking the locks.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19He's used a little device shaped like a chevron,
0:18:19 > 0:18:20with a point facing uphill,
0:18:20 > 0:18:23to show you which direction the locks are going,
0:18:23 > 0:18:27so you can make a guess about how much they'll slow you down
0:18:27 > 0:18:29as you travel from A to B.
0:18:29 > 0:18:34Curiously, Cary has also marked canals that hadn't yet been built.
0:18:34 > 0:18:36For example, the Birmingham-Worcester.
0:18:36 > 0:18:41That wasn't finished until 1815, 20 years after this map was published.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44Cary was being quite clever.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47He knew that if he put canals on that he thought would be built
0:18:47 > 0:18:49he'd increase his potential customers,
0:18:49 > 0:18:52as the map would stay current for longer.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55He's also unfortunately got it wrong in one place.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59There's a little canal down near Dudley that hasn't been built today.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03But the feature of this map that really fascinates me
0:19:03 > 0:19:06is this area here around Tipton.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09Why is it that Cary's got Tipton in the centre of the map
0:19:09 > 0:19:11and Birmingham on the edge?
0:19:11 > 0:19:14Birmingham had doubled in size since 1770.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18All the canals seem to radiate outward from Tipton,
0:19:18 > 0:19:21as if it's the hub in the centre of a wheel.
0:19:21 > 0:19:26I want to go there and find out why Tipton mattered so much to Cary.
0:19:30 > 0:19:33The canals on Cary's map, especially around Tipton,
0:19:33 > 0:19:36twist and turn through the landscape.
0:19:36 > 0:19:40I don't really see how anyone could map them accurately,
0:19:40 > 0:19:43but tomorrow, I'll find out.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46I'm going to tackle the oldest and most difficult stretches
0:19:46 > 0:19:49of the Birmingham Canal Navigations.
0:19:52 > 0:19:54- Morning. - Do you need a hand casting off?
0:19:54 > 0:19:56Yes, please.
0:19:56 > 0:20:00'New day, next stage of my journey.'
0:20:00 > 0:20:03I'm rejoining Graham to make my way north-east
0:20:03 > 0:20:05towards Tipton.
0:20:05 > 0:20:07We're now beyond the urban sprawl,
0:20:07 > 0:20:11and into what is very pretty countryside.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14This way to Stourbridge and Birmingham.
0:20:14 > 0:20:18But there are two major sets of locks to get through on the way.
0:20:35 > 0:20:38MUSIC: "Keep What Ya Got" by Ian Brown and Noel Gallagher
0:20:48 > 0:20:52# Yesterday came suddenly
0:20:52 > 0:20:57# Tomorrow will receive
0:20:58 > 0:21:04# Today now you're at the wheel
0:21:04 > 0:21:07# I'll ask, "How does it feel?" #
0:21:07 > 0:21:11OK.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14This is where we are. Here on the Dudley Canal.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17We've just come up a flight of locks here,
0:21:17 > 0:21:19and there's a flight of locks ahead of us here.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22But they're closed for repairs, so we're stuck.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25But I still want to get to the Tipton area here,
0:21:25 > 0:21:29to find out why Cary put it in the centre of his map.
0:21:29 > 0:21:34Cary suggests I can get there by going through the tunnel here.
0:21:34 > 0:21:38- What do you think?- Looks like we'll have to launch the canoe.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53The Dudley tunnel was built in 1792,
0:21:53 > 0:21:56only four years before Cary drew his map.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59It's two miles long and was a major connection
0:21:59 > 0:22:03between Dudley and the fast track into Birmingham.
0:22:03 > 0:22:06In Cary's time, it would have been chaos.
0:22:06 > 0:22:11Up to 100 boats would have passed through this tunnel every day.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23But there were quieter moments.
0:22:23 > 0:22:28Believe it or not, this tunnel was a tourist attraction in its day.
0:22:28 > 0:22:29Well-to-do people
0:22:29 > 0:22:35paid hard cash to be taken down this dark, narrow passage for fun.
0:22:35 > 0:22:40Some said it was like being rowed across the River Styx -
0:22:40 > 0:22:43the river of death in the underworld -
0:22:43 > 0:22:45as once the canal traffic had stopped
0:22:45 > 0:22:50at the end of a working day, this tunnel could be deathly quiet.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08Out of the tunnel and into Tipton.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11Why was this place so important to Cary?
0:23:11 > 0:23:15There has to be a reason, and I hope I'm about to meet the man who knows.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20Carl Chinn has recorded the history
0:23:20 > 0:23:23of the Black Country for 13 years.
0:23:23 > 0:23:25He was once a bookie,
0:23:25 > 0:23:29then became a historian, and now he has his own radio show,
0:23:29 > 0:23:32which celebrates the memories of the people who live around here.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35There you go. How's that?
0:23:35 > 0:23:38'What's Tipton's secret? Why is it in the centre of the map?'
0:23:38 > 0:23:42Tipton is a place that's important to the concept of the Black Country.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45A pre-eminent manufacturing region. It's in the middle.
0:23:45 > 0:23:49If you look at that map, Tipton is between Birmingham -
0:23:49 > 0:23:52the beginning and end of the local network - and Wolverhampton.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55It was close to Dudley with its minerals,
0:23:55 > 0:23:57and Bilston with its ironworks.
0:23:57 > 0:23:59Did it have any of its own industrial heroes?
0:23:59 > 0:24:02Tipton had many industrial heroes.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05It was famous for coal, and it was close to Bradley,
0:24:05 > 0:24:07where "Iron-mad" Wilkinson
0:24:07 > 0:24:10was based, with all his ironworks.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13You've got coal in Tipton, but the people of Tipton
0:24:13 > 0:24:17not only were miners, or working on the canals, the cuts -
0:24:17 > 0:24:20they were involved in transforming the iron
0:24:20 > 0:24:22into something useful and beautiful.
0:24:22 > 0:24:26Most of the best canal bridges in Britain were made in Tipton.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29So there's Tipton, right smack in the middle,
0:24:29 > 0:24:32and that's why today there's canals all around Tipton,
0:24:32 > 0:24:36and it's known by local folk as Tippon-on-cut.
0:24:38 > 0:24:40So, last leg.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43I need to join up with the Birmingham Canal.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46But the water's run out on me.
0:24:46 > 0:24:50Somehow I've got to find my way across Tipton
0:24:50 > 0:24:52to yet another stubby branch,
0:24:52 > 0:24:55which should help me get into the centre of Birmingham.
0:24:57 > 0:25:00MUSIC: "In My Heart" by Moby
0:25:00 > 0:25:04Tipton was at the very heart of the Industrial Revolution.
0:25:04 > 0:25:06At their height, the collieries here
0:25:06 > 0:25:10here were shipping 300 tonnes of coal a day to the foundries in the city.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13This is where it all began.
0:25:18 > 0:25:22Not much left to remind us of those great times.
0:25:24 > 0:25:29Finding the course of old winding canals is not going to be easy.
0:25:36 > 0:25:38I'm on a high plateau that's been churned up
0:25:38 > 0:25:41by what looks like heavy industry some time ago.
0:25:41 > 0:25:45The original landscape has been completely obliterated.
0:25:45 > 0:25:50But I am following the top of a long curving embankment,
0:25:50 > 0:25:54and I'm hoping, perhaps it's part of the old towpath,
0:25:54 > 0:25:57and it's going in the right direction.
0:25:57 > 0:26:02Better find water soon - this canoe is getting heavy!
0:26:12 > 0:26:14Water!
0:26:26 > 0:26:30By the early 1800s, the canals were congested.
0:26:30 > 0:26:32As well as shipping raw materials,
0:26:32 > 0:26:35they helped in the war against Napoleonic France.
0:26:35 > 0:26:40Narrow boats began to carry weapons and horses,
0:26:40 > 0:26:44and wounded soldiers, too, were transported to Birmingham hospitals.
0:26:44 > 0:26:50Amazingly, these canals are still here, wending their way under the M5,
0:26:50 > 0:26:54and scarcely anyone on that superhighway has a clue they're here.
0:26:59 > 0:27:04The irony is the very success of the canals eventually killed them off.
0:27:04 > 0:27:06The canals took the power to the factories
0:27:06 > 0:27:09which created the first steam engines,
0:27:09 > 0:27:12and once those steam engines had been put on rails
0:27:12 > 0:27:15and become a train service, the canals were doomed.
0:27:29 > 0:27:31Or maybe not so doomed.
0:27:31 > 0:27:35I've made it to Birmingham, and it's clearly in love with canals.
0:27:39 > 0:27:41A massive restoration programme 10 years ago
0:27:41 > 0:27:44has put them back at the heart of the city.
0:27:50 > 0:27:56But the need for canal maps like John Cary's only lasted until about 1830.
0:27:56 > 0:28:00Railways were the new transport mania.
0:28:00 > 0:28:04As investment swung that way, no-one wanted to know about canals.
0:28:07 > 0:28:09Never one to miss a trick, Cary's firm went on
0:28:09 > 0:28:11to map the expanding rail network.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14Having already mapped the roads and canals,
0:28:14 > 0:28:18Cary became the great creator of communications maps.
0:28:18 > 0:28:22In his 70s, he passed his business on to his three sons,
0:28:22 > 0:28:27and by the time of his death in 1835, he'd become one of the most wealthy,
0:28:27 > 0:28:32feted and influential mapmakers of the industrial age.
0:28:32 > 0:28:36Subtitles by BBC Broadcast - 2005
0:28:36 > 0:28:41E-mail us at subtitling@bbc.co.uk