The New Smethwick Pumping Station was built to pump water from the lower Birmingham New Main Line to the high Old Main Line Canal. This was necessary to replace water lost from the higher level when boats went through the Smethwick locks. The station had a short working life and closed in the mid 1920s due to reduced traffic on the canals.
Apart from a short period during the Second World War, the building sat empty until it was restored and opened as part of the Galton Valley Canal Heritage Centre in the late 1980s. When first built, the Pumping Station replaced two wooden beam engines which were situated at Bridge Street and Spon Lane in Smethwick. The site in Bridge Street was the original home of James Watt's Smethwick Engine.
While Watt's engine can now be seen in the Think Tank Museum in Birmingham, tours of the original site can be organised through the Galton Valley Canal Museum. The museum tells the story of the development of the Galton Valley canals and those who designed, built and worked on them.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Nicolo Ciampini
Discuss this with the author and others
No comments yet. Be the first to start the conversation.