Wednesbury Old Canal
Encyclopedia
Birmingham Canal Navigations
Birmingham Canal Navigations is a network of navigable canals connecting Birmingham, Wolverhampton, and the eastern part of the Black Country...
(BCN) in West Midlands (county)
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...
.
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
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:...
begins its descent down the eight Ryder's Green Locks. Just before the locks Wednesbury Old Canal veers off and commences its meandering route through Swan Village
Swan Village
Swan Village is a village, now part of West Bromwich, England.It is now divided by the Black Country New Road and was the site of the Swan Village Gas Works. Nearby was the junction of the Ridgacre Branch with the Wednesbury Old Canal, both now disused....
and, originally, around the collieries. The canal beyond Swan Bridge Junction was also known as the Balls Hill Branch.
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...
, following the decision to build a new bridge which didn't allow enough headroom for boats to pass. The Wednesbury Canal is dry from this point, but the Ridgacre Branch
Ridgacre Branch
The Ridgacre Branch is a canal branch of the Wednesbury Old Canal, part of the Birmingham Canal Navigations, in the West Midlands, England....
continues, watered for most of its original length (without its branches) past the culverted road and, although inaccessible to boats, is now used for fishing, walking and is a valued wildlife habitat.
Some modern sources mark the Ridgacre as starting at Ryder's Green Junction but this is not historically correct.
History
The Wednesbury Canal was part of the first phase of the Birmingham Canal (the first around the Black CountryBlack Country
The Black Country is a loosely defined area of the English West Midlands conurbation, to the north and west of Birmingham, and to the south and east of Wolverhampton. During the industrial revolution in the 19th century this area had become one of the most intensely industrialised in the nation...
or 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...
).
It was authorised in the 1768 Birmingham Canal Act
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 branches to Wednesbury and Ocker Hill
as a major branch of the Birmingham Canal and was completed and delivering coal to Birmingham on 6 November 1769, even before the Birmingham Canal had reached Wolverhampton.
It started at what is now Spon Lane Junction
Spon Lane Junction
Spon Lane Junction is the original junction of the Wednesbury Canal and the Birmingham Canal, near Oldbury in the West Midlands, England.The 1768 Act of Parliament which authorised the building of the Birmingham Canal to Wolverhampton included a lucrative branch to the coal mines of Wednesbury,...
(Wolverhampton Level) and descended the three remaining Spon Lane locks to the Birmingham Level. Its length was 4 miles 3 furlongs. It terminated at Balls Hill Basin, not far from the later Tame Valley Canal
Tame Valley Canal
The Tame Valley Canal is a relatively late canal in the West Midlands of England. It forms part of the Birmingham Canal Navigations. It takes its name from the roughly-parallel River Tame.-Geography:...
.
The Ridgacre Branch
Ridgacre Branch
The Ridgacre Branch is a canal branch of the Wednesbury Old Canal, part of the Birmingham Canal Navigations, in the West Midlands, England....
opened in 1826 and was ¾ mile in length. It ran 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 southwards to collieries.
The 'Island Line' - Thomas Telford's
Thomas Telford
Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE was a Scottish civil engineer, architect and stonemason, and a noted road, bridge and canal builder.-Early career:...
BCN New Main Line cut in a straight line from Tipton Factory Locks towards Spon Lane bottom lock (Bromford Junction
Bromford Junction
Bromford Junction is a canal junction at the foot of the Spon Lane Locks where the Spon Lane Locks Branch meets the BCN New Main Line near Oldbury in the West Midlands, England....
, and then on to Smethwick
Smethwick
Smethwick is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, in the West Midlands of England. It is situated on the edge of the city of Birmingham, within the historic boundaries of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire....
and Birmingham). It cut into the original Wednesbury Canal, forming Pudding Lane Junction, and the short, curved length of the Wednesbury Canal between there and Bromford Junction was lost.
The Wednesbury Old Canal was given abandoned status by 1955 and 1960 Acts. Recent road developments (Black Country New Road) at Swan Bridge Junction have severed the connection to the remaining, navigable canal, and have also severed the Ridgacre Branch from the canal network.
Wednesbury Canal original features
See also
- Canals of the United KingdomCanals of the United KingdomThe 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 systemHistory of the British canal systemThe 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...