Rushall Canal
The Rushall Canal is a straight, 2¾-mile narrow canal suitable for boats which are 7 ft wide, forming part of the Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN) on the eastern side of Walsall, Staffordshire.
Route
The Rushall Canal runs from Rushall Junction (which is within the triangle formed by the flyovers of the junction of the M5 and M6 motorways) on the Tame Valley Canal and climbs due north through nine locks to Longwood Junction at Hay Head, where it joins the 5¼-mile-long Daw End Branch, a meandering, lock-free branch of the Wyrley and Essington Canal (W&E) which joins the main W&E at Catshill Junction near Brownhills. A short, non-navigable, arm at Longwood Junction leads to Hay Head Nature Reserve, which was once an area of limestone mines.
History
The canal was built under an Act of Parliament of April 1844 (four years after the merger of the BCN and W&E) to connect the Daw End Branch to The Tame Valley Canal to take coal from Cannock mines to Birmingham and the Black Country. The engineer was James Walker. It was specified to be 36 ft wide with towpaths on both sides. The towpaths were to be 9 ft wide, but only one of them (on the west side) was constructed. It was completed 1847.[1]
Points of interest
- Longwood Junction: 52°35’25"N, 1°56’33"W; SP039991 (Continues as the Daw End Branch)
- Rushall top lock 1: 52°35’22"N, 1°56’34"W; SP038991
- Rushall bottom lock 9: 52°33’46"N, 1°57’8"W; SP032961
- Rushall Junction: 52°33’1"N, 1°57’23"W; SP030947
References
- ↑ Broadbridge, S. R. (1974). The Birmingham Canal Navigations, Vol. 1 1768 - 1846. David & Charles. ISBN 0-7509-2077-7. p116
- Pearson, Michael (1989). Canal Companion - Birmingham Canal Navigations. J. M. Pearson & Associates. ISBN 0-907864-49-X.
| The Birmingham Canal Navigations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Navigable: |
BCN Main Line • Birmingham and Fazeley Canal • Bumble Hole Branch Canal • Cannock Extension Canal • Digbeth Branch Canal • Dudley Canal • Engine Arm • Gower Branch Canal • Icknield Port Loop • Netherton Tunnel Branch Canal • Rushall Canal • Soho Loop • Spon Lane Locks Branch • Tame Valley Canal • Titford Canal • Walsall Canal • Wednesbury Oak Loop • Wednesbury Old Canal • Wyrley and Essington Canal | |
| Unnavigable: |
Anson Branch • Bentley Canal • Bradley Branch • Lichfield Canal • Ridgacre Branch • Tipton Green and Toll End Canals | |