Wednesbury Old Canal is part of the Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN) in West Midlands (county), England. It opened in 1769, and although parts of it were abandoned in 1955 and 1960, the section between Pudding Green Junction and Ryder's Green Junction is navigable, as it provides a link to the Walsall Canal. A short stub beyond Ryder's Green Junction is connected to the network but difficult to navigate.[1]
Wednesbury Old Canal
Pudding Green Junction. The Wednesbury Old Canal leads under the bridge from the BCN Main Line, which runs left and right
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 the eight Ryder's Green Locks. Just before the locks Wednesbury Old Canal veers off and commences its meandering route through Swan Village and, originally, around the collieries. The canal beyond Swan Bridge Junction was also known as the Balls Hill Branch.[2]
The remains of the canal east of Ryders Green JunctionThe barely navigable remains of the canal viewed from the same point in the opposite direction
This part of the canal is now only open to boat traffic as far as the Black Country Spine Road, following the decision to build a new bridge which didn't allow enough headroom for boats to pass. In practice, even this section is badly overgrown and unlikely to be navigable throughout.[1] The Wednesbury Canal is dry from this point, but the Ridgacre Branch 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.
Historyedit
The Wednesbury Canal was part of the first phase of the Birmingham Canal (the first around the Black Country or Birmingham). [3] It was authorised in the 1768 Birmingham Canal Act which authorised the Birmingham Canal and branches to Wednesbury and Ocker Hill [4] as a major branch of the Birmingham Canal and was completed and delivering coal to Birmingham on 6 November 1769,[4] even before the Birmingham Canal had reached Wolverhampton.
It started at what is now Spon Lane Junction (Wolverhampton Level) and descended the three remaining Spon Lane locks to the Birmingham Level. Its length was 4.4 miles (7.1 km). It terminated at Balls Hill Basin, not far from the later Tame Valley Canal.
The Ridgacre Branch opened in 1826 and was 0.75 miles (1.21 km) in length. It ran from the Wednesbury at Swan Bridge Junction, a short distance 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 BCN New Main Line cut in a straight line from Tipton Factory Locks towards Spon Lane bottom lock (Bromford Junction, and then on to Smethwick 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.[4] 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.
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Wednesbury Old Canal is part of the Birmingham Canal Navigations BCN in West Midlands county England It opened in 1769 and although parts of it were abandoned in 1955 and 1960 the section between Pudding Green Junction and Ryder s Green Junction is navigable as it provides a link to the Walsall Canal A short stub beyond Ryder s Green Junction is connected to the network but difficult to navigate 1 Wednesbury Old CanalPudding Green Junction The Wednesbury Old Canal leads under the bridge from the BCN Main Line which runs left and rightSpecificationsLength4 4 miles 7 1 km Statuspart open part dryNavigation authorityCanal and River TrustHistoryPrincipal engineerJames BrindleyDate of act1768Date of first use1769Date closed1955 1960GeographyStart pointPudding Green Junction originally Spon Lane Junction End pointBalls Hill BasinBranch ofBirmingham Canal NavigationsMap of Wednesbury Canal outlined in yellow and its modern neighbours Wednesbury Old Canal as it stands today is shown in pink yellow Contents 1 Route 2 History 3 Wednesbury Canal original features 4 See also 5 ReferencesRoute editWednesbury 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 the eight Ryder s Green Locks Just before the locks Wednesbury Old Canal veers off and commences its meandering route through Swan Village and originally around the collieries The canal beyond Swan Bridge Junction was also known as the Balls Hill Branch 2 nbsp The remains of the canal east of Ryders Green Junction nbsp The barely navigable remains of the canal viewed from the same point in the opposite directionThis part of the canal is now only open to boat traffic as far as the Black Country Spine Road following the decision to build a new bridge which didn t allow enough headroom for boats to pass In practice even this section is badly overgrown and unlikely to be navigable throughout 1 The Wednesbury Canal is dry from this point but the Ridgacre Branch 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 editThe Wednesbury Canal was part of the first phase of the Birmingham Canal the first around the Black Country or Birmingham 3 It was authorised in the 1768 Birmingham Canal Act which authorised the Birmingham Canal and branches to Wednesbury and Ocker Hill 4 as a major branch of the Birmingham Canal and was completed and delivering coal to Birmingham on 6 November 1769 4 even before the Birmingham Canal had reached Wolverhampton It started at what is now Spon Lane Junction Wolverhampton Level and descended the three remaining Spon Lane locks to the Birmingham Level Its length was 4 4 miles 7 1 km It terminated at Balls Hill Basin not far from the later Tame Valley Canal The Ridgacre Branch opened in 1826 and was 0 75 miles 1 21 km in length It ran from the Wednesbury at Swan Bridge Junction a short distance 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 BCN New Main Line cut in a straight line from Tipton Factory Locks towards Spon Lane bottom lock Bromford Junction and then on to Smethwick 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 4 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 editPoint Coordinates Links to map resources OS Grid Ref NotesBalls Hill Basin 52 32 24 N 2 00 58 W 52 5401 N 2 0161 W 52 5401 2 0161 Balls Hill Basin SO989936 Original terminusSite of GWR aqueduct 52 32 24 N 2 01 00 W 52 5401 N 2 0168 W 52 5401 2 0168 Site of GWR aqueduct Balls Hill Branch route dry 9 52 32 24 N 2 01 02 W 52 5401 N 2 0172 W 52 5401 2 0172 Balls Hill Branch route dry 9 Balls Hill Branch route dry 8 52 32 29 N 2 01 06 W 52 5414 N 2 0183 W 52 5414 2 0183 Balls Hill Branch route dry 8 Balls Hill Branch route dry 7 52 32 25 N 2 01 22 W 52 5402 N 2 0227 W 52 5402 2 0227 Balls Hill Branch route dry 7 Balls Hill Branch route dry 6 52 32 22 N 2 01 36 W 52 5395 N 2 0267 W 52 5395 2 0267 Balls Hill Branch route dry 6 Balls Hill Branch route dry 5 52 32 15 N 2 01 30 W 52 5374 N 2 0250 W 52 5374 2 0250 Balls Hill Branch route dry 5 Balls Hill Branch route dry 4 52 31 56 N 2 01 39 W 52 5323 N 2 0274 W 52 5323 2 0274 Balls Hill Branch route dry 4 Balls Hill Branch route dry 3 52 31 56 N 2 01 27 W 52 5322 N 2 0243 W 52 5322 2 0243 Balls Hill Branch route dry 3 Balls Hill Branch route dry 2 52 32 00 N 2 01 22 W 52 5334 N 2 0227 W 52 5334 2 0227 Balls Hill Branch route dry 2 Balls Hill Branch route dry 1 52 31 50 N 2 01 03 W 52 5305 N 2 0174 W 52 5305 2 0174 Balls Hill Branch route dry 1 Site of Swan Village Basin 52 31 48 N 2 01 06 W 52 5301 N 2 0184 W 52 5301 2 0184 Site of Swan Village Basin GWR interchange basinSwan Bridge Junction 52 31 46 N 2 00 59 W 52 5294 N 2 0163 W 52 5294 2 0163 Swan Bridge Junction SO988924 CulvertedRidgacre Branch 52 31 46 N 2 00 57 W 52 5294 N 2 0157 W 52 5294 2 0157 Ridgacre Branch SO989924Black Country New Road 52 31 45 N 2 01 01 W 52 5292 N 2 0170 W 52 5292 2 0170 Black Country New Road bridge SO988924 Obstructs canalRyder s Green Junction 52 31 22 N 2 01 20 W 52 5228 N 2 0221 W 52 5228 2 0221 Ryder s Green Junction SO985916 Walsall CanalPudding Green Junction 52 30 50 N 2 01 00 W 52 5139 N 2 0168 W 52 5139 2 0168 Pudding Green Junction SO988907 BCN New Main Line Island Line Lost loop 52 30 44 N 2 00 53 W 52 5123 N 2 0147 W 52 5123 2 0147 Lost loop Bromford Junction 52 30 25 N 2 00 18 W 52 5070 N 2 0051 W 52 5070 2 0051 Bromford Junction SO996899Spon Lane bottom lock 52 30 26 N 2 00 15 W 52 5071 N 2 0041 W 52 5071 2 0041 Spon Lane bottom lock SO997899Spon Lane middle lock 52 30 25 N 1 59 58 W 52 5070 N 1 9994 W 52 5070 1 9994 Spon Lane middle lock SP000899Spon Lane top lock 52 30 24 N 1 59 44 W 52 5067 N 1 9956 W 52 5067 1 9956 Spon Lane top lock SP002899Spon Lane Junction 52 30 24 N 1 59 42 W 52 5066 N 1 9951 W 52 5066 1 9951 Spon Lane Junction SP003898 BCN Old Main LineMap all coordinates using OpenStreetMapDownload coordinates as KML GPX all coordinates GPX primary coordinates GPX secondary coordinates See also edit nbsp United Kingdom portal nbsp Transport portalCanals of the United Kingdom History of the British canal systemReferences edit a b Balmer Paul April 2020 Birmingham Canal Navigations BCN map Waterway Routes In Search of the Lost Canals of the Black Country Eric Richardson The Black Country Society 1996 ISBN 0 904015 40 8 Broadbridge S R 1974 The Birmingham Canal Navigations Vol 1 1768 1846 David amp Charles ISBN 0 7509 2077 7 a b c Hadfield Charles 1985 1966 Canals of the West Midlands Volume 5 Newton Abbott David amp Charles ISBN 0 7153 8644 1 Historical Map of the Birmingham Canals Richard Dean M amp M Baldwin 1989 ISBN 0 947712 08 9 Ordnance Survey Six Inch Series 1 10 560 Map SO99SE 1955 52 31 22 N 2 01 20 W 52 5228 N 2 0221 W 52 5228 2 0221 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Wednesbury Old Canal amp oldid 1117475827, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
