The Ridgacre Branch is a canal branch of the Wednesbury Old Canal

Wednesbury Old Canal

Wednesbury Old Canal is part of the Birmingham Canal Navigations in West Midlands , England.Wednesbury Old Canal leaves the main line Birmingham level at Pudding Green Junction and passes through a completely industrial landscape. At Ryders Green Junction the Walsall Canal begins its descent down...

, part of the Birmingham Canal Navigations

Birmingham Canal Navigations

Birmingham Canal Navigations is a network of navigable canals connecting Birmingham, Wolverhampton, and the eastern part of the Black Country...

, in the West Midlands

West Midlands (county)

The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

It opened in 1826 and was ¾ mile in length, running from the Wednesbury at Swan Bridge Junction, a few metres north of the New Swan Lane / Black Country New Road roundabout. From it ran the Dartmouth Branch northwards and the Halford Branch (and its branch, the Jesson Branch) southwards to collieries, both opened in 1828.

Following abandonment of the Wednesbury Old Canal in 1954 and 1960, and its culverting under the Black Country New Road

Black Country New Road

The Black Country New Road is a major road which runs through the West Midlands of England.The first phases of the route were completed in July 1995, beginning with a half-mile stretch of dual carriageway linking the A41/A4038 junction in Moxley with the simultaneously-completed Black Country Route...

, the Ridgacre has been cut off from the canal network. It is in water for nearly all of its original length, although its branches have gone.

Some modern sources mark the Ridgacre as starting at Ryder's Green Junction but this is not historically correct.

Route

See also

• Canals of the United Kingdom
  Canals of the United Kingdom
  The canals of the United Kingdom are a major part of the network of inland waterways in the United Kingdom. They have a colourful history, from use for irrigation and transport, through becoming the focus of the Industrial Revolution, to today's role for recreational boating...
  
  
• History of the British canal system
  History of the British canal system
  The British canal system of water transport played a vital role in the United Kingdom's Industrial Revolution at a time when roads were only just emerging from the medieval mud and long trains of pack horses were the only means of "mass" transit by road of raw materials and finished products The...