Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
bottom lock, a boatman's chapel now converted into a factory, a large warehouse and a BCN
cast-iron boundary post. The Factory Bridge of 1825 has now been relocated to the Black
Country Living Museum in Dudley. The Staffordshire Thick Coal seam was 15m thick here
and near the surface.
At Deepfields Junction the Wednesbury Oak Loop is a remainder of the contour canal.
Contours changed dramatically at Deepfields on one occasion when subsidence dropped the
canal area by 1.2m within a few hours. Factories lie in various stages of dereliction. Bilston
Steelworks was, until 1981, the last surviving blast furnace in the Black Country. Yellow iris
is often present along the banks.
As the canal edges into Wolverhampton, capital of the Black Country, factories appear in
quick succession. A large tunnel with twin towpaths supports a multistorey carpark, followed
by a Canal & River Trust depot with barge entry doors in the side. The basin beyond it is
the jewel of the canal - an attractively laid out garden area with benches and narrowboats
moored at the top of the 21-lock Wolverhampton Flight.
The approach to Wolverhampton top lock
.
The flight begins beside a traditional lock keeper's cottage, and the locks carry on for over
2km right down to Aldersley Junction, with never more than 300m between them. The West
Coast Main Line leaves on a viaduct that crosses over a railway bridge as it, in turn, is cross-
ing the canal. The flight drops under Oxley Viaduct with its skewed navigation arch, this time
taking the Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton line. Beyond the viaduct the transformation is dra-
matic. The city is left behind. Wolverhampton's racecourse is on the left and beyond it are
only trees and a quiet towpath down to Aldersley Junction. Although relatively rural in ap-
pearance, the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal has been extremely busy here in the past,
being only 900m from Autherley Junction at the head of the Shropshire Union Canal.
