Stourbridge Canal

Stourbridge Canal

legend Middle Pool Fens Pool Grove Pools Pensnett Road Dudley Canal Black Delph Bridge Railway (limit of navigation) Stourbridge Extension Canal Brockmoor Junction A461 Brettell Lane Bridge Farmers Bridge A4180 Leys Bridge Leys Junction 1-3 Stourbridge Locks (3) A4180 Brierley Hill Road bridge 4-6 Stourbridge Locks (3) Swan Lane bridge 7-10 Stourbridge Locks (4) Dadford's Shed Arm 11-12 Stourbridge Locks (2) A491 Audnam High Street 13-16 Stourbridge Locks (4) Wordsley Jn Stourbridge Town Arm A453 Colbourne Brook bridge Ironworks wharf Stourbridge Basin Site of 2008 breach 17-18 Stourton Locks A449 Wolverhampton Road 19 Stourton Locks 20 Stourton Bottom Lock Stourton Junction Staffs and Worcs Canal

The Stourbridge Canal is a canal in the West Midlands of England. It links the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal (at Stourton Junction, affording access to traffic from the River Severn) with the Dudley Canal, and hence, via the Birmingham Canal Navigations, to Birmingham and the Black Country.

Background

The Stourbridge and Dudley canals were originally proposed as a single canal in 1775, but were separately authorised in 1776. The engineer was Thomas Dadford. The Canal was largely complete by 1779. The canal remained profitable until the eve of World War II.

A flight of sixteen locks takes the canal up the hill towards Pensnett Chase, where there were collieries. From Leys Junction, the Fens Branch is a short, navigable feeder from Fens Pools and the main canal continues to Delph Locks, a flight of originally nine (now only eight) locks at the start of the Dudley Canal.

The canal forms part of the Stourport Ring, which is one of the popular cruising rings for leisure boating.

Stourbridge Town Arm

At Wordsley Junction, the Stourbridge Town Arm heads south-east into the town of Stourbridge. The Stourbridge Town Branch Line railway was built in the 1850s from Stourbridge Junction railway station, via Stourbridge Town railway station to serve Stourbridge Basin. The basin was for interchange between the railway and the canal and this aided the canal's continued use.

Stourbridge Extension Canal

A separate company built the Stourbridge Extension Canal from the Fens Branch to Shut End (in Kingswinford) thus opening up another part of the coalfield to development, but this passed into the hands of a railway company in 1860 and became completely disused after the Second World War, apart from a few yards at the Fens Branch end, which remain watered and serve as a mooring place.

2008 Breach

During flooding of the River Stour on 7 September 2008 a major breach occurred. This swept away a length of towpath and bank between Lenton Chain and Stourton Locks. This completely drained the pounds, including the Stourbridge Town Arm. British Waterways restored navigation from the Dudley Canal, via Delph Locks and Wordsley Junction into the Town Arm fairly quickly.^[1]

The canal was re-opened on 18 December 2008 after British Waterways completed £650,000 repairs ahead of schedule.

References

• Hadfield, Charles (1969). Canals of the West Midlands. Newton Abbott: David & Charles. pp. 73–5; 100–6; 264–6. ISBN 0-7153-4660-1. 
• Perrott, David; Mosse, Jonathan (2006). Nicholson Waterways Guide 2 - Severn, Avon & Birmingham. Collins. ISBN 978-0-00-721110-4. 
• Birmingham Canal Navigations. GEOprojects. ISBN 0-86351-172-4.  - Highly detailed printed 1:30,000 sheet map

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Coordinates: 52°28′15″N 2°09′31″W / 52.4707°N 2.1585°W / 52.4707; -2.1585