The Wyrley and Essington Canal

Books (and other media) on canals	Brownhills and the surrounding area
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Virtual Walks	1 - Anglesey Basin at Chasewater to Ogley Junction (or Anglesey Junction)
Too far away to visit?	2 - Ogley Junction (or Anglesey Junction) to Catshill Junction
Don't want to go out today?	3 - Catshill Junction to Pelsall Junction
I've done it for you.	4 - Catshill Junction to Walsall Wood
Try these walks ..........	5 - Ogley Junction (or Anglesey Junction) to Huddlesford Junction
	6 - The Cannock Extension from Pelsall Junction
	7 - Pelsall Junction to Lord Hayes Branch and Onward along the Hatherton Canal (under restoration) to its Junction of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal
	8 - Churchbridge Branch Canal from the Rumer Hill Junction on BCN Cannock Extension and onward along the lost section of the Hatherton Branch Canal

Have a look HERE for W&E Flickr photos and information.

Wyrley and Essington Canal - 1792. First act of parliament to build between "Essington Bank" and "Wyrley Bank".

Wyrley and Essington Canal - 1794. Further act of parliament to build through to the Coventry Canal at Huddlesford. Lichfield Canal extension - 1797. Link to the Coventry Canal at Huddlesford was opened. Its seven miles contained 30 locks.

Cannock Chase Reservoir (Chasewater) - 1799. Contains 800 million gallons of water. Dam burst - in June 1799 floodwater from the Reservoir left a trail of destruction south east to Tamworth and the River Tame beyond. The flood was caused by the failure of a sluice gate at the dam.

Anglesey Branch Canal - 1850. Was built along the line of the feeder from the Cannock Chase Reservoir to connect with the W & E. Anglesey Basin was required to carry coal from mines of the area.

Lichfield Canal extension - 1954. Closed (and later drained).

A local canal view of the 1950's while the route was still in commercial use.

Regeneration and Walsall's new art gallery at the end of the Walsall Extention
of the W&E

Photo of Walsall Town Wharf – looking east - May 2016.
------ (More Photos in my Flickr album - Walsall Junction Canal)

...and the state of the canal
a some years previous.

Photo of Walsall Town Wharf – looking east - Oct 1981.
------ (More Photos in my Flickr album - Walsall Junction Canal)

The scale of work needed
to bring a lock back to life.

------ (More Photos in my Flickr album - Lichfield Canal)

The efforts needed to plug a hole in the bottom
of a stretch of canal.

Just north of the Anchor Bridge, Brownhills.
(at the junction of High Street, Lindon Road and Chester Road)

------ (More Photos in my Flickr album - Wyrley and Essington Canal )

--------------------------------- Sources and Links to other Canal interest sites-------------------------------

Birmingham Canal Navigation Society

British Waterways Home Page "On 2 July 2012, British Waterways ceased to exist in England and Wales and in its place Canal & River Trust was set up to care for 2,000 miles of historic waterways."

Brownhills Canoe and Outdoor Centre The Club state ... "We officially opened our doors in June 2006 during the Brownhills Canal Festival
The Centre was built with funding from Active England (a joint funding programme between Sport England and the Big Lottery Fund), the European Regional Development Fund and British Waterways.
Our aim is..'to provide a venue for the community of Brownhills and the surrounding areas to take part in the sport of canoeing and other outdoor recreational pursuits' "

Canal & River Trust "We’re the new charity entrusted with the care of 2,000 miles of waterways in England and Wales."

LAURENCE HOGG PRODUCTIONS The maker of the Video BCN 10 "The Missing Links".
"Today, the Northern waters of the BCN are only accessible from the South, making the number of craft penetrating the top of the BCN system quite small. The situation was not always thus. The BCN has lost three major links in the course of time: the Lapal Section of the Dudley Canal to the South, the Hatherton Branch, Churchbridge Locks connection to the North West, and the Lichfield part of the Wyrley and Essington Canal to the North East. This film deals with these two lost links to the North.... David Suchet introduces the film and then takes you on a tour of the routes. We look back at the history and examine in detail all of the sections including the parts which are lost for ever..........."

Lichfield & Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust was formed in 1988 and is a registered charity. It campaigns for the restoration of the "Lichfield Canal" (as the closed section of the W&E between Ogley and Huddlesford is now called) and also the Hatherton Canal through the Cannock / A5 area. It promotes the restoration as public amenities for boating, angling, walking, cycling etc. and raises funds to carry out physical restoration work.

Books (and other media) on canals	Brownhills and the surrounding area
Back	Home
e-mail	Disclaimer

V2.2 - 7 January 2020 ---- recommended resolution (1366 x 768)