Birmingham Canals and the Edwardian Country Lady's Time

This week I'm staying in central Birmingham close to the Gas Street Basin, which is part of the city's extensive canal system. The basin is associated with the New Main Line, which the Canal and River Trust describes as the 19th-century equivalent of a motorway. In 2016, canal-side cafes and pubs and other entertainments give a lively, buzzy atmosphere.

Gas Street Basin, 26 January 2016

Edith Holden made few references to the canals in the Diary of an Edwardian Country Lady. Her entry for the 8th of January mentions visiting a small wood, presumably near her home in Olton, on the canal bank. She mentions this wood a couple more times in her diary.

Perhaps its not surprising that Edith makes little mention of canals. Competition from the railways had sent them into sharp decline and it would be another half-century before we started to see them as a place of leisure and haven for nature. I didn't see any wildlife this time but, when visiting last year, I'I saw Canada Geese near the Worcester Bar Bridge.

Worcester Bar Bridge - no geese this time.

I find myself wondering what the canals would have been like in Edith's time.

The Birmingham post has a gallery of intriguing photos.  Images of a hard working but crumbling transport system from the early 20th Century are mixed with cheerful shots of 1980s volunteers and leisure-seekers restoring and enjoying the waterways.  There are a couple of early photos of places are familiar from my previous visits to the area.  In one, Bystanders look on after the canal wall collapses in Gas Street in 1901. The walls are now in good condition and the top end of the street full of smart places to eat and drink. One of my favourites is the Pickled Piglet, which has a great-value set price menu, ideal after a day at the office.

The Pickled Piglet, Gas Street.

In another of the pictures you can see boats carrying heavy loads of  coal.   These old photos speak of a harsh life, in which our energy needs were supplied by heavy coals rather than the flick of a switch.  I wonder who carried the coals in Edith's home?  Her biography, by Ina Taylor, tells us that in 1906 that their house in Olton was "ideal for the diminishing family and less affluent times." and that "at Olton they only their maid Florence living in and relied more on daily help." including a laundress that came in once a week, a daily cleaner and twice-a-week gardener.  Maybe it was the daily cleaner was the one who lugged the coal into the house, laid and cleaned the fires?