The canals of the Midland region at the end of WW1

In November 1918, at the end of WW1, there was no such thing as the British Waterways Board or the Canal & River Trust. Various independent canal companies owned many of the canals. Many of these were owned by the powerful railway companies. These companies were all private, profit-making enterprises, which collected tolls from the commercial carrying companies on the navigations and paid for the maintenance of the canal infrastructure.

During the War, the government established the Canal Control Committees to promote and organise commercial boat traffic on the canals. This attempt to impose central management and control on multiple canals was driven not by commerce or profit, but by necessity, to relieve the congestion which had arisen on road and rail traffic. The railways in particular were dealing with unprecedented pressures, due to movement of coal, troops, and munitions.

The CCC's Handbook of November 1918 recorded that:

"A very large traffic is carried on some of the Inland Waterways in this country, notably on the Birmingham Canals, the Aire and Calder Navigation, the Bridgewater Canals, and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, and the special attention of the Committee is directed towards increasing this traffic, particularly in connection with the Government grain and foodstuffs, coal, and munitions. Recent traffic returns show a large increase in the carriage of coal by canals in the Birmingham district."

Canal Companies in the Midland Sub-Committee area

All the canals in the Birmingham and the West Midlands region fell under the jurisdiction of the Canal Control Committee's Midland Sub-Committee.

The canal companies in the Midland area

• Birmingham Canal Navigations
• Coventry Canal Navigation
• Erewash Canal
• Sharpness, New Docks, and the Gloucester and Birmingham Navigation Company, including the Worcester and Birmingham Canal and the Gloucester and Berkeley Ship Canal.
• Leicester Navigations
• Loughborough Navigation
• Severn Navigation
• Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal
• Stourbridge Canal
• Trent Navigation
• River Weaver Navigation

The railway-owned canals in and around the Midland area

• Ashby Canal (Midland Railway)
• Cromford Canal (Midland Railway)
• Lydney Canal (Midland and Great Western Joint Railways)
• Nottingham and Grantham Canal (Great Northern Railway)
• Shropshire Union Canal (Great Western Railway)
• Stourbridge Extension Canal (Great Western Railway)
• Stratford on Avon Canal (Great Western Railway)
• Trent and Mersey Canal (North Staffordshire Railway)

Canal Control Committee Midland Offices and Personnel

The CCC Offices for the Midland region were at Norwich Union Chambers, Congreve Street, Birmingham. Telegrams were addressed to 'Vivamus Birminham', and the telephone number was Birmingham Central 755.

Key personnel in the Midland district were:

• Mr W B Gordon, CIE, Chairman
• Mr T A Henshaw, Canal Representative for the Birmingham Canals
• Mr C F Jones, Messrs Fellows, Morton and Clayton Ltd, Carrier Representative for Birmingham
• Lieutenant W H Levaux, War Office Representative for the Midland Sub-Committee.
• Major F N Clough, War Office Representative on the Port and Transit Executive Committee including the Transport Workers Battalions.
• Mr G Shaw, Labour Representative on the Port and Transit Executive Committee including the Transport Workers Battalions.
• Mr Rees Howell, Railway Executive Committee Representative for the Midland Sub-Committee.
• Mr F B Thornhill, Ministry of Munitions Representative for the Midland Sub-Committee.

Committee Branches

Although there were no branches to deal with canal companies and railway companies individually, the canal companies were grouped together for efficiency, communication, and local management purposes. For example, the Birmingham Canal Navigations section of the Midland Sub-Committee was managed as follows:

• Office address: Daimler House, Paradise Street, Birmingham
• Clerk to the Company: Mr T A Henshaw
• Engineer: Mr A W Willett, M.Inst.C.E.
• Telegraphic address: 'Navigo, Birmingham'
• Telephone: Midland 1538.

Carriers in the Midland area

Carriers in the Midland area were so numerous that I will be dealing with each Canal Company in a separate post.