Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
3
Wyrley & Essington Canal
Distance
34km from Horseley Fields Junction to Huddlesford Junction
Highlights
Beautiful scenery from Little Bloxwich to Pelsall
The Swan - a pub in Pelshall, haunted by a coal-covered miner
Navigation Authority
Canal & River Trust
Canal Societies
Birmingham Canal Navigations Society
Lichfield & Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust
OS 1:50,000 Map
(127 Stafford & Telford)
128 Derby & Burton upon Trent
139 Birmingham & Wolverhampton
The Wyrley & Essington Canal connected the Birmingham Canal Navigations' Main Line at
Wolverhampton with the Coventry Canal at Huddlesford, forming the BCN's most northerly
loop and today displaying its most attractive scenery, almost all on one level. The canal follows
a tortuous line around the contours, earning it the nickname Curly Wyrley. The locks, which
served various coalfields, are all positioned on the numerous branches.
The line leaves the BCN Main Line at Horseley Fields Junction. Light traffic on it means
that it is remarkably clear, except for the waterweeds. The West Coast Main Line crosses im-
mediately and the canal then goes back a couple of centuries as it passes a constriction caused
by what was once a toll island for coal barges in the centre of the canal. Tunnels under the
towpath carry former spurs that served adjacent factories.
