Strictly speaking the Anson Branch Canal forms part of the Walsall Canal rather than the Bentley Canal, but as the through route for the Bentley Canal ran along its southern end, I have taken the liberty of attaching it to the Bentley Canal homepage.
The Anson Branch was something of a slow burn, being approved by Parliament in 1768, but not actually built till 1830, after having been surveyed by Telford.
It was built to reach limestone workings at Pouk, and an extension was planned at the far end beyond Reedswood, but only a short stub was built supplemented by a tramway which had its far end at Bentley Wharf on the Wyrley and Essington Canal. The minerals were not very extensive and by 1890 the waterway had fallen into a decline. Its. fortunes were revived when the Birchills Power Station was built in 1922, supplying up to 10m gallons of cooling water each day.
Reedswood Basin, at the northern end, had two arms, with the western one known as the Bradford Branch. This was supposed to be much longer but the extension never materialised. The basin sat beside the Reedswood Lido, a popular leisure venue for the population of Walsall and capitalising on this a skiff construction and hire business was built up by the Taylor family, who also ran the adjacent pub. This business was sold in the early 1900's with one brother moving to Canada to build bats on the Great Lakes and the other to Chester, founding what became Taylors of Chaster who built distinctive canal leisure craft based on the Broads Cruiser design. A full account of the Taylor family story can be found in the Spring 2022 issue of Narrow Boat magazine.
The section north of the Bentley Canal was abandoned to navigation in 1956, and the route was barred by the construction of the M6 in 1970 although small culvert was installed to allow the cooling water to reach the pumping engine at Reedswood. Whilst the northern section was no longer accessible for normal sized narrowboats, a small weed cutter was built which could get through and in so doing keep the water channel clear to the pumps. Technically the lower section below the Bentley Junction was closed in 1961, small craft were able to reach the M6 culvert till the mid 1970's.
When I started this post I had just a couple of images of craft at the M6 obstruction, but over time the collection of images has grown and today we are blessed with a very good photographic record of its course and structures.
Anson Branch from above Birchills Power Station 1948
Reedswood end of the Anson Branch
Map of Reedswood Basin
Leisure trip from Reedswood Basin with BCN inspection launch
End of Reedswood Basin with BCN cottage 248
Reedswood Basin with Bradford Arm (left)and pumping station inlet (right)
Reedswood Pumphouse 1965 - Ian Huselbee
(Above and below) The old Reedswood Bridge 1965 Ian Huselbee
The M6 culvert just after the motorway was completed
The end of the road after the M6 was built
M6 obstruction in 1974
The Anson Branch Canal under Bentley Mill Bridge where Walsall Showcase Cinema stood
Birchills Power Station beyond the new Bloxwich Lane Bridge from Bradford Bridge
An older version of Bentley Mill Bridge
Looking south towards the Bentley Junction from the M6 embankment
A Jack Haddock image looking south from Bradford Bridge (M6)
Bentley Mill Bridge looking south to Bentley Junction 1965 - Ian Huselbee
The entrance to the Bentley Canal
Winding at Bentley Junction after the closure of the Bentley Canal
Bentley Mill Bridge 1965 - Ian Huselbee
Bentley Mill Bridge 1965 Ian Huselbee
Anson Junction from the Walsall Canal
Anson Junction with canal cottage in 1957
The above photos have been assembled from various sources, including those freely found on the internet. My thanks go to the many photographers alive and dead who have contributed to this collection and in so doing, are keeping the memory of these lost canals alive. These images are reproduced for ease of research are are not necessarily the property of this blog, and as such should not be used for commercial gain without the explicit permission of the owner (whoever that may be).
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