This short waterway didn't attract many photographers and our record is incomplete. The following are the images captured during its dying days, before the whole area was redeveloped.
This post covers the Dixon's Branch, plus the basins in its vicinity.
Dixon's Branch entrance being closed in 1965 - Ian Huselbee
Standing above the Dixon's Branch from L&NWR railway bridge
Building the wall of the basin beside the railway in 1905
The key locations pinpointing the two archive photos above.
A similar view looking east along Dixon's Branch with Station Street Bridge in the middle distance
Lower Church Lane crossing Dixon's Branch
Oblique view of the Dixon's Branch in 1950
Dixon's Branch at Lower Church Lane
Lower Church Lane Bridge in 1965 - Keith Hodgkins
East from Lower Church Lane Bridge
Also east towards Horsley Road Bridge in distance - Sandwell Archive
Horsley Road Bridge - Laurence Hogg Collection
Looking west back to Lower Church Lane Bridge
West to Lower Church Lane Bridge - Laurence Hogg
Winter on Dixon's Branch from Lower Church Lane Bridge to Horsley Road Bridge
Horsley Road Bridge 1974 by Hugh Potter
Eastern end of Dixon's Branch
Horsley Basin 1965 Ian Huselbee
Horsley Bridge 1965 Ian Huselbee
Horsley Road Bridge (note blocked towpath)
Horsley Road Bridge after infilling by Laurence Hogg
Horsley Road Bridge detail in 1974 by Hugh Potter
Dixon's Branch east of Horsley Road Bridge - Laurence Hogg video
Dixons Branch - Laurence Hogg Collection
The end of the Dixon Branch - Historic England
West back to Horsley Road Bridge by Hugh Potter 1974
Horsley Basin Entrance 1965 Ian Huselbee
A reverse image from the Laurence Hogg slide collection
Horsley Ironworks sign Hugh Potter 1974
From the end of the Dixon's Branch - Laurence Hogg video
From the end of the Dixon's Branch to Horsley Road Bridge
Entrance to Rattlechain Brickworks - John Whitehouse
Rattlechain Basin - John Whitehouse
Stanked off Dixon's Branch (left) with basin entrance opposite - Philip Weaver
Basin opposite Dixon's Branch
Tipton from the Main Line
Ice Breaking at Dudley Port
Old Dudley Port Aqueduct being demolished - Vic Smallshire
Aerial view of entire Dixon's Branch
The branch was built in the 1820's and had one significant branch known as the Horsley Colliery Arm, which was itself abandoned and then sold off in the 1930's having supplied coal to the nearby Horsley Ironworks who relocated to this site from one closer to Tipton on the Tipton Green Canal. The residual section was closed sometime between the 1950's and 1965, and these are the only images I have come across featuring this reclusive backwater of the BCN.
Dixon's Branch entrance in 1974 by Hugh Potter
Dixons Junction and Station St Bridge (right) with its 1905 basins from the air. The Horsley Iron Works occupied the area are the foot of this photo.
Looking west back to Lower Church Lane Bridge
Three blurred images of Dixon's Branch being redeveloped from Laurence Hogg video
Basins in the vicinity of Dixon's Branch
Basin entrance opposite Dixon's Branch - John Whitehouse
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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