The Hay Inclined Plane

Great area around here. Plenty of historical interest

Nothing stood in the way of the industrial revolution. Steep sided gorge? Factories at the top. Product in and out by river at the bottom. No problem. Let's build a railway that carried canal barges up and down. It's steep. Really steep. The incline is a perfect summary of industrial ingenuity in the face of physical adversity.Visible both from the public footpath and the Blists Hill Museum (paid for access). Best viewed from the museum as you can walk the rails rather than peer over the palisade fence from the public access.They say the camera adds lbs. It also removes any real perspective of gradient.

The hay inclined plane was built in 1793, to transport 20 ft long box shaped tub boats down a steep incline from the Shropshire Union Canal to the River Avon. It is an engineering Marvel of the industrial age, when Britain was the workshop of the world. It was last used in 1894. Blists Hill museum has preserved the incline the tracks lead down to the river and you can walk down it. It can also be viewed from the bottom by the public footpath. This engineering Marvel just shows British ingenuity at its very best. For anyone interested in our Industrial Heritage this is a must place to visit.

Really enjoyed my visit to Blists Hill. This was a definite highlight.

This piece of amazing engineering in in Blists Hill Victorian town museum. It was used to move ships from the river to the canal ( and visa versa. It only went out of favour. When the railway proved to be so efficient.

Had a great day, would recommend!!

Interesting object. Must have looked amazing when it was in operation.

Fantastic bit of engineering. Pity there were no information boards at bottom incline explaining how it worked and when it was last used.

A long tranquil walk from entrance but well worth it . You can get to it two ways. If you keep to the stream by the steam train it's a nice level walk to top of incline then lots and lots of steps down that then bring you into town and tea room. The Incline is a nostalgic place with a great sense of its past use and engineering involved . If you go to TarTunnel you can see the bottom of incline across road. This is outside town boundary. The rails are still in place and run top to bottom but only the foundations remain of boiler and engine room at top. If you return by going down steps there are is an old mine shaft, working entrance into hill , Chapel and other old restored buildings