It is perhaps one of the most often pedalled comments about Birmingham, you know, the one about "Birmingham is the Venice of the North."

Of course, that was a comment about the density of the canal junction in the West Midlands, not the beauty of the decaying industrial heartlands.

The declining industrial significance of the canals has at last released their recreational value under a re-energised British Waterways and many active volunteer groups. I used to cycle to work along one, and have followed the Grand Union Canal all the way to London, cycling the towpath and canoeing and running it on another occasion.