Cycling from Wolverhampton to Birmingham, through the heart of England's post-industrial landscape, is not the obvious choice for a quiet day out on two wheels but, as members of the m3c team will discover next month, it provides an enchanting window into a lost industrial age.

Leaving Autherley Junction, just to the north of Wolverhampton, finger posts point towards distant Cheshire and Worcestershire towns, destinations on the motorway system of the industrial revolution. History seeps from every blue brick lined flight of locks; bridges are scored with the passing of tow-ropes too numerous to count; tow paths serrated to give hooves purchase in the wet.

The city is almost invisible, its presence felt as low slung road and railway bridges cross and re-cross the canal. Only the occasional diesel engine imposes on a soundscape dominated by the silence of a thousand absent factories. Where once the Bargee was King, the 'big five' - Moorhens, Mallards, Canada Geese, Swans and Heron - together claim sovereignty over rubbish strewn water.

As the heart of the conurbation approaches, little disturbs the enclosed world of the canal, stretching forward towards the city and backwards into the history of industrial England. Work horse of the world's first industrial revolution, the canal system was the life-blood of the metal bashing workshops of Birmingham, 'the Venice of The Midlands'. The forges are long gone, leaving narrow boats, brightly painted, not coloured by coal dust, to ply the quiet waters through the Black Country.

This journey of three hours, along the Staffordshire and Birmingham Canal, is only one of the remarkable opportunities the m3c will provide for team members to experience the contrasting and unique landscapes of England, as we make our way south from Ambleside to Burgess Hill.

Mr Tim Lucas
Head of Geography

Canal along the M3C route

Canal along the M3C route

Canal along the M3C route

Canal along the M3C route

17/06/11