Blisworth Tunnel was the only section unfinished. This was despite the tunnel having been under construction for seven years: the gap was filled by a temporary horse-drawn tramway over the top of the hill, with goods being transported from boat to wagon and back again. The tramway, built in 1801, was Northamptonshire's first railway. In March 1805, the tunnel was finally opened and the rails were used to connect the main line of the canal to the River Nene until the branch canal to Northampton was constructed. Until the 1870s travel through the tunnel was only achieved by men lying on their
Lapal Tunnel the canal is in good repair and is used by boats accessing Hawne basin. The Lapal Canal Trust is concerned with restoring the lost canal to make it navigable up to the tunnel from both the Halesowen and Selly Oak ends, and originally had a longer term aim of restoring the tunnel. In May 2007 the trust received recommendations from professional consultants, Atkins, that the tunnel should not be restored but replaced by a new up-and-over alignment instead. In February 2012 plans for the regeneration of the Selly Oak area were submitted to Birmingham City Council which included a navigable