Map of Wednesbury Oak Loop (shown in pink), an original part of James Brindley's James Brindley James Brindley was an English engineer. He was born in Tunstead, Derbyshire, and lived much of his life in Leek, Staffordshire, becoming one of the most notable engineers of the 18th century.-Early life:...  Birmingham Canal, and its modern neighbours. The canal as it stands today is shown as a solid line.

The Wednesbury Oak Loop, sometimes known as the Bradley Arm, is a canal 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 is 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...

 (BCN).

The Wednesbury Oak Loop was one of the loops in the original, meandering

Contour canal

A contour canal is an artificially-dug navigable canal which closely follows the contour line of the land it traverses in order to avoid costly engineering works such as boring a tunnel through higher ground, building an embankment over lower ground, or constructing a canal lock to change the...

 Birmingham Canal, later called the BCN Main Line, built by James Brindley

James Brindley

James Brindley was an English engineer. He was born in Tunstead, Derbyshire, and lived much of his life in Leek, Staffordshire, becoming one of the most notable engineers of the 18th century.-Early life:...

 in 1770.
The Birmingham Canal followed an indirect route between Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

 and Aldersley Junction

Aldersley Junction

Aldersley Junction is the name of the canal junction where the Birmingham Main Line Canal terminates and meets the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal near to Oxley, north Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England....

, near Wolverhampton

Wolverhampton

Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...

, in order to access various coal mines.

Thomas Telford

Thomas Telford

Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE was a Scottish civil engineer, architect and stonemason, and a noted road, bridge and canal builder.-Early career:...

 started upgrades to the BCN Main Line in the 1820s, cutting a straighter, wider canal for much of the way. Following his changes a 360 yards (329.2 m) tunnel at Coseley

Coseley

Coseley is a town located mostly within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the English West Midlands. Part of the Black Country, it lies south east of Wolverhampton and north of Dudley....

 opened in 1837 and bypassed the entire loop around Wednesbury Oak. The loop met the new cut at Deepfields Junction to the north of the tunnel, which marks the northern limit of Telford's route change, and Bloomfield Junction to the south, which had railway wharves for the Great Western Railway (GWR)

Great Western Railway

The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...

 and London and North Western Railway (LNWR)

London and North Western Railway

The London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...

.

The Ocker Hill Branch, authorised in the same 1768 Act of Parliament

Act of Parliament

An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...

 which authorised the Birmingham Canal and Wednesbury Canal, was a branch from the Wednesbury Oak Loop. At a later date a steam engine at Ocker Hill

Ocker Hill

Ocker Hill is a residential area of Tipton in the West Midlands of England.It is situated in the northern part of the town, on the main A461 road between Dudley and Wednesbury...

 pumped water from the Ocker Hill Tunnel Branch (at the 408 feet (124.4 m) Walsall Level) into it, feeding the 473 feet (144.2 m) Wolverhampton Level of the BCN. This branch became 'abandoned' in 1954 and was filled in at the start of the 1960s, with part of the infilled section being developed as the Glebefields housing estate in Tipton.

In 1849 the Bradley Locks Branch opened, connecting the loop with the Walsall Canal

Walsall Canal

The Walsall Canal is a narrow canal, seven miles long, forming part of the Birmingham Canal Navigations, and passing around the western side of Walsall, West Midlands, England.-Route:...

.

In 1954, along with many other branches and canals in the BCN, much of the Wednesbury Oak Loop was given 'abandoned' status and was subsequently filled in and partly built over. The northern stretch, also sometimes known today as the Bradley Arm (not to be confused with the Bradley Branch or Bradley Locks Branch

Bradley Branch

The Bradley Branch or Bradley Locks Branch was a short canal of the Birmingham Canal Navigations in West Midlands , England. It is now disused and largely dry....

),
remains navigable to the British Waterways

British Waterways

British Waterways is a statutory corporation wholly owned by the government of the United Kingdom, serving as the navigation authority in England, Scotland and Wales for the vast majority of the canals as well as a number of rivers and docks...

 workshops built at Bradley

Bradley, West Midlands

Bradley was originally a village in the Manor of Sedgley, England. Nowadays it is situated in the Bilston East ward of Wolverhampton City Council....

 in 1960. Next to the British Waterways workshops is the modern Bradley pumping station which draws water from flooded coal mines into the Wolverhampton Level.

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...