In many ways the centre of Wolverhampton is a counterpoint to the centre of Birmingham at the other end of this early canal.
Both towns became major commercial hubs and the canals were core to their development. In both locations we see industry crowding around the waterfronts but whereas in Birmingham we saw a fan of branches and basins, the development in Wolverhampton was more linear, with a multitude of quite short arms and basins coming off he main canal.
These arms were mostly privately owned, penetrating the works which lined the canal corridor all the way out to the massive iron works at Bilston.
The problem with this proliferation of basins is that recording each one is an impossible task, so this page captures the main ones and aims to provide a feel for the industrial vibrancy which used to pervade the area.
The Britain from Above from the 1930's and 1940's are possibly the most telling of all. At a time when the rest of the canal network was coming to a standstill, the canals of the West Midlands were still core to the local transport infrastructure, and the aerial images reveal the continued use of thousands of day or joey boats carrying millions of tons of cargo long after trade had slowed to a trickle elsewhere.
Wolverhampton Top Lock 1955 - Stan Heaton
Broad St Basin
Extra wide "Hampton Boat" at Top Lock 1958 by Roy Martin
Broad St Basin 1952
1965
The old Broad Street Bridge
Victoria Basin (left)
1924
Broad St Bridge 1975 (Hugh Potter)
Broad Street Bridge awaiting relocation (Hugh Potter)
Awaiting transportation to Dudley (Hugh Potter)
Broad St before the new channel in1975 (Hugh Potter)
Awaiting transportation to Dudley (Hugh Potter)
Broad St before the new channel in1975 (Hugh Potter)
Canal routed under new bridge
Broad Street Bridge after relocation
Can Lane Basin being filled in
Can Lane Wharf 1975
Can Lane Wharf 1975
Can Lane Wharf Buildings 1975
Can Lane later
Albion Wharf
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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