Walsall Canal: Difference between revisions

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The Walsall Canal is a narrow (7 feet or 2.1 metres) canal, seven miles (11 km) long, forming part of the Birmingham Canal Navigations, and passing around the western side of Walsall, West Midlands, England.

Route

Walsall Canal

Legend

					Birchills Junction, Wyrley and Essington Canal
					Aqueduct over dismantled Wolverhampton and Walsall Railway
				65 ft	Walsall Locks (8)
					Walsall Town Arm
					M6 motorway
					Aqueduct
					Anson Branch
					Bentley Canal
					Grand Junction Railway

					Willenhall Branch
					Bilston Branch
					Bradley Branch (9 locks), Moorcroft Junction
					Wednesbury Oak Loop (BCN Old Main Line)
					West Midlands Metro
					Gospel Oak Branch
					Tame Valley Junction, Tame Valley Canal
					Ocker Hill Branch pumped from Ocker Hill Tunnel Branch
					Toll End Communication Canal
					South Staffordshire line
					Haynes Branch, Wednesbury Old Canal
				45 ft	Ryders Green Locks (8), Swan Bridge Jn, Ridgacre Branch
					Wednesbury Old Canal , Ryders Green Junction
					Wednesbury Old Canal
					BCN New Main Line (Island Line), Pudding Green Junction

The canal runs from Ryders Green Junction where it meets the Wednesbury Old Canal and immediately drops through the eight Ryders Green Locks to the 408-foot (124 m) Walsall Level. At Doe Bank Junction (Tame Valley Junction) it meets the Tame Valley Canal and the very short Ocker Hill Tunnel Branch, now private moorings, which fed water to the Ocker Hill pumps to replenish the Wolverhampton Level. It passes northwards, past the junction of the derelict Gospel Oak Branch and under the West Midlands Metro line, and passes the short Bradley Branch at Moorcroft Junction. In this area it passes the site of huge iron gates of the Patent Shaft factory (these gates have now been resited to a traffic island by the bus station in Wednesbury). It then passes the short Anson Branch (which once led to the Bentley Canal, abandoned 1961) and under the M6 motorway just south of junction 10. The very short Walsall Town Arm at Walsall Junction leads into Walsall itself while the main canal rises through eight locks to meet the Wyrley & Essington Canal at Birchills Junction.

The canal starts at the Birmingham Level, descends 45 feet (14 m) to the Walsall Level, then rises 65 feet (20 m) to the Wolverhampton Level.

History

The canal was built in four distinct stages. It started life as the Broadwaters Extension to the Wednesbury Canal which opened in 1785 to serve collieries in Moxley. This section was authorised as a detached part of the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal under that canal's original Act.^[1]

Meanwhile from the other direction, the Birchills Branch of the Wyrley and Essington Canal reached Bloxwich Wharf to the north-west of Walsall by 1798.^[2] (Much of this branch from Sneyd Junction was later subsumed into the new mainline of the Wyrley and Essington, when that canal was extended towards Huddlesford, leaving about 700 metres (2,300 ft) of the Birchills Branch as a stub.)

What was by then known as the Birmingham and Birmingham and Fazeley Canal Company (soon to be incorporated as the Birmingham Canal Navigations Company) was authorised by the combined company's sixth Act of Parliament on 17 April 1794 to extend the canal from Broadwaters to Walsall. It allowed the Company to borrow £45,000, with which to construct the canal to Walsall and three branches to serve iron-stone and coal mines in the locality, all to be completed within three years.^[3] Construction began at Broadwaters and reached Darlaston by May 1798.^[4] The second phase of construction began in April 1798: excavation was completed in 1799 but the job remained unfinished in 1800.^[5]

The canal was mapped by John Snape (1737–1816) in 1808 and this was to be his last known map.^[6]

The small gap between the Birmingham Canal Navigations line to Walsall and the Wyrley and Essington Canal's Birchills Branch was of concern to businessmen to the north of Walsall, whose access to the south was by a very circuitous route. An independent canal to link the two was planned, but in 1839 the BCN agreed to build a connection.^[7] The Walsall Junction Canal was completed in March 1841,^[8] its 0.6 miles (0.97 km) containing eight locks and completing the through route.

Points of interest

Point	Coordinates (Links to map resources)	OS Grid Ref	Notes
Ryders Green Junction	52°31′22″N 2°01′20″W / 52.5228°N 2.0221°W / 52.5228; -2.0221 (Ryders Green Junction)	SO985916	Wednesbury Old Canal
Toll End Junction	52°32′14″N 2°02′08″W / 52.5372°N 2.0356°W / 52.5372; -2.0356 (Toll End Junction)	SO976932	Toll End Communication Canal
Ocker Hill Tunnel Branch	52°32′22″N 2°02′09″W / 52.5394°N 2.0357°W / 52.5394; -2.0357 (Ocker Hill Tunnel Branch)	SO976934
Tame Valley Junction (Doe Bank Junction)	52°32′24″N 2°02′07″W / 52.5400°N 2.0354°W / 52.5400; -2.0354 (Tame Valley Junction)	SO976935	Tame Valley Canal
Gospel Oak Branch Junction	52°32′57″N 2°02′13″W / 52.5493°N 2.0370°W / 52.5493; -2.0370 (Gospel Oak Branch Junction)	SO975945
Moorcroft Junction	52°33′15″N 2°02′28″W / 52.5541°N 2.0411°W / 52.5541; -2.0411 (Moorcroft Junction)	SO972951	Bradley Branch
Anson Branch Junction	52°34′39″N 2°01′20″W / 52.5775°N 2.0221°W / 52.5775; -2.0221 (Anson Branch Junction)	SO986977	Anson Branch, leading to Bentley Canal
Walsall Junction	52°35′05″N 1°59′34″W / 52.5848°N 1.9928°W / 52.5848; -1.9928 (Walsall Junction)	SP005986	Short branch to Walsall centre
Birchills Junction	52°35′55″N 1°59′52″W / 52.5987°N 1.9979°W / 52.5987; -1.9979 (Birchills Junction)	SK002000	Wyrley and Essington Canal

Gallery

From north to south:

Birchills Junction
Walsall Locks toll office and Boaters Mission
Circular weir at Walsall Lock No 5
Walsall Junction - the Town Branch
Walsall Canal by Spine Road
Gospel Oak Junction (Walsall canal runs left and right)
Tame Valley Junction - start of the Tame Valley Canal
Ocker Hill Tunnel Branch Junction (now private)
Ryders Green Junction - southern terminus

References

^ Shill, Ray (2005). Birmingham and the Black Country's Canalside Industries. Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-3262-1. p33
^ Paget-Tomlinson, Edward (1993). The Illustrated History of Canal & River Navigations. Sheffield Academic Press. ISBN 1-85075-277-X. p217
^ Joseph Priestley, (1831), Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals, and Railways, of Great Britain
^ Shill, Ray (2005). Birmingham and the Black Country's Canalside Industries. Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-3262-1. p44
^ Shill, Ray (2005). Birmingham and the Black Country's Canalside Industries. Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-3262-1. p45
^ A. W. Skempton (2002). A Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers in Great Britain and Ireland. Thomas Telford. ISBN 0-7277-2939-X.
^ Shill, Ray (2005). Birmingham and the Black Country's Canalside Industries. Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-3262-1. p98
^ Broadbridge, S. R. (1974). The Birmingham Canal Navigations, Vol. 1 1768 - 1846. David & Charles. ISBN 0-7509-2077-7. p73

Pearson, Michael (1989). Canal Companion - Birmingham Canal Navigations. J. M. Pearson & Associates. ISBN 0-907864-49-X.

External links

Map all coordinates using OpenStreetMap

Download coordinates as:

52°35′05″N 1°59′34″W / 52.5848°N 1.9928°W / 52.5848; -1.9928

[1] Shill, Ray (2005). Birmingham and the Black Country's Canalside Industries. Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-3262-1. p33

[2] Paget-Tomlinson, Edward (1993). The Illustrated History of Canal & River Navigations. Sheffield Academic Press. ISBN 1-85075-277-X. p217

[3] Joseph Priestley, (1831), Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals, and Railways, of Great Britain

[4] Shill, Ray (2005). Birmingham and the Black Country's Canalside Industries. Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-3262-1. p44

[5] Shill, Ray (2005). Birmingham and the Black Country's Canalside Industries. Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-3262-1. p45

[6] A. W. Skempton (2002). A Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers in Great Britain and Ireland. Thomas Telford. ISBN 0-7277-2939-X.

[7] Shill, Ray (2005). Birmingham and the Black Country's Canalside Industries. Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-3262-1. p98

[8] Broadbridge, S. R. (1974). The Birmingham Canal Navigations, Vol. 1 1768 - 1846. David & Charles. ISBN 0-7509-2077-7. p73

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@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 Meanwhile from the other direction, the Birchills Branch of the Wyrley and Essington Canal reached Bloxwich Wharf to the north-west of Walsall by 1798.<ref>{{cite book|last=Paget-Tomlinson |first=Edward |title=The Illustrated History of Canal & River Navigations |year=1993 |publisher=Sheffield Academic Press |isbn=1-85075-277-X}} p217</ref> (Much of this branch from Sneyd Junction was later subsumed into the new mainline of the Wyrley and Essington, when that canal was extended towards Huddlesford, leaving about {{convert|700|m}} of the Birchills Branch as a stub.)
-What was by then known as the Birmingham, Birmingham and Fazeley Canal Company was authorised by the combined company's sixth [[Act of Parliament]] on 17 April 1794 to extend the canal from Broadwaters to Walsall. It allowed the Company to borrow £45,000, with which to construct the canal to Walsall and three branches to serve iron-stone and coal mines in the locality, all to be completed within three years.<ref>[http://www.jim-shead.com/waterways/sdoc.php?wpage=PNRC0079#PNRC063 Joseph Priestley, (1831), ''Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals, and Railways, of Great Britain'']</ref> Construction began at Broadwaters and reached Darlaston by May 1798.<ref>{{cite book|last=Shill |first=Ray |title=Birmingham and the Black Country's Canalside Industries |year=2005 |publisher=Tempus Publishing |isbn= 0-7524-3262-1}} p44</ref> The second phase of construction began in April 1798: excavation was completed in 1799 but the job remained unfinished in 1800.<ref>{{cite book |last=Shill |first=Ray |title=Birmingham and the Black Country's Canalside Industries |year=2005 |publisher=Tempus Publishing |isbn=0-7524-3262-1}} p45</ref>
+What was by then known as the Birmingham and Birmingham and Fazeley Canal Company (soon to be incorporated as the Birmingham Canal Navigations Company) was authorised by the combined company's sixth [[Act of Parliament]] on 17 April 1794 to extend the canal from Broadwaters to Walsall. It allowed the Company to borrow £45,000, with which to construct the canal to Walsall and three branches to serve iron-stone and coal mines in the locality, all to be completed within three years.<ref>[http://www.jim-shead.com/waterways/sdoc.php?wpage=PNRC0079#PNRC063 Joseph Priestley, (1831), ''Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals, and Railways, of Great Britain'']</ref> Construction began at Broadwaters and reached Darlaston by May 1798.<ref>{{cite book|last=Shill |first=Ray |title=Birmingham and the Black Country's Canalside Industries |year=2005 |publisher=Tempus Publishing |isbn= 0-7524-3262-1}} p44</ref> The second phase of construction began in April 1798: excavation was completed in 1799 but the job remained unfinished in 1800.<ref>{{cite book |last=Shill |first=Ray |title=Birmingham and the Black Country's Canalside Industries |year=2005 |publisher=Tempus Publishing |isbn=0-7524-3262-1}} p45</ref>
 The canal was mapped by [[John Snape]] (1737–1816) in 1808 and this was to be his last known map.<ref>{{cite book|author=A. W. Skempton|title=A Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers in Great Britain and Ireland|year=2002|publisher=Thomas Telford|isbn=0-7277-2939-X}}</ref>

v t e Birmingham Canal Navigations
Navigable	BCN Main Line Birmingham and Fazeley Canal Bumble Hole Branch Canal Cannock Extension Canal Digbeth Branch Canal Dudley Canal Engine Arm Gower Branch Canal Icknield Port Loop Netherton Tunnel Branch Canal Rushall Canal Soho Loop Spon Lane Locks Branch Tame Valley Canal Titford Canal Walsall Canal Wednesbury Oak Loop Wednesbury Old Canal Wyrley and Essington Canal
Unnavigable	Anson Branch Bentley Canal Bradley Branch Lichfield Canal Ridgacre Branch Tipton Green and Toll End Canals
Junctions	Aldersley Junction Aston Junction Birchills Junction Bromford Junction Catshill Junction Fazeley Junction Horseley Fields Junction Huddlesford Junction Ogley Junction Old Turn Junction Pelsall Junction Rumer Hill Junction Rushall Junction Salford Junction Smethwick Junction Spon Lane Junction Tame Valley Junction
Reservoirs	Chasewater Edgbaston Reservoir Netherton Reservoir
Tunnels	Dudley Tunnel Lapal Tunnel
Aqueducts	Engine Arm Aqueduct Stewart Aqueduct
Bridges and viaducts	Galton Bridge Parkhead Viaduct Summit Bridge
Pumping stations	Smethwick Engine
Locks	Delph Locks
Basins	Gas Street Basin
Adjoining canals	Coventry Canal Grand Union Canal Pensnett Canal Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal Stourbridge Canal Worcester and Birmingham Canal
Other	Boat Gauging House, Tipton Galton Valley Canal Heritage Centre Water levels of the Birmingham Canal Navigations