Pelsall then and now (1962 and 2025)

Pelsall then and now

23 August 2025

There is always something rather compelling about then and now photos, comparing what we see today with what was there before.

In this case I have dipped into the HE Evans archive which is held by CRT in Ellesmere Port and reproduced courtesy of CRT's National Waterways Archive.  I have highlighted a handful of photos taken of the canals in the Pelsall area in November 1962, and compared them with an identical set taken by myself in August 2025.

The changes which have taken place over the intervening 60 years can be frustrating with built structures changing and vegetation growing, but maybe 50% can be recreated with some degree of accuracy.

Lets start with the entrance to the Gilpins Branch, on the Brownhills side of Pelsall:

The towpath bridge which crossed the entrance to the arm is long gone, now replaced by a bank of reeds:

Then we come to the name plate on Yorks Foundry Bridge. 

By 2025 the bridge has been widened and the concrete addition covers the site of the old name plate, but the plates themselves have been reattached to the new structure.

The sign also remains on the northern side, but again is partially obscured.

Before we leave Yorks Foundry Bridge lets take a peep south through the arch at the ruins of the canal-side cottage in 1962.

Fast forward and the cottage is gone, replaced by a much newer property built on exactly the same spot.

Moving on Pelsall Common (North)

The old bridge remains constant but the vegetation is crowding into the scene.

Turning north up the Cannock Extension Canal the vegetation completely obscures the cottage which still strands at the narrows.

Lets take a look up the Cannock Extension Canal in greater detail:

Next lets take a look back to the Junction Cottage from the bridge we saw in the distance:

Just about recognisable, but much has been obscured by vegetation.

To round off this "then and now" collection I have recreated a couple of scenes based on much older photos. First there is the old Colliery Basin with waste pile of the Grove Pit in the background.

There is not much left in 2025, save a slight variation to the canal bank where the bridge used to stand.

But perhaps the most significant change is the eradication of the three old ironworks which stood on the common;

Not quite the same vantage point, but the change is incredible. Yes it really is the same place!

Island Toll Houses of the BCN Mainline

Toll Islands of the BCN  Mainline Canal

7 Aug 2025

Movement along the BCN  New Mainline Canal is punctuated with narrows, which always seem to accumulate sediment and slow passage to a crawl. The challenge for most boaters is deciding which of the two channels, only a few inches wider than their boat, to go through. Whichever route you chose you can expect progress to be glacial.

If you are new to the region's canals these navigational obstacles may some as something of a mystery, but "back in the day" they served a vital role. These were the toll collection points and can be found adjacent to most junctions.

In its trading days the BCN operated a "pay as you go" system where boats passing along the canal would may the BCN a fee per ton and per mile carried. The challenge was to know how much was being carried and this was achieved by each boat being gauged, which is to say put in a specialist dock and have weights added to it and watching how much it settles in the water. There would be several gauging points along the length of the boat and the average freeboard showing would inform the toll collector of the weight of cargo being carried.

Each boat was unique and so each toll house had a register of all boats approved to use the local canal network, and to help identify individual boats which could look very similar, each had a unique gauging plate attached to it.

On the smaller canals there would be just one "narrows" but given the traffic volumes on the New Main Line two narrows were created and the toll keeper occupied a building constructed on the island in the middle of the canal, reached by a small swinging footbridge.

Today all the mid canal toll houses have gone, their rubble thrown into the canal, but the islands survive. These structures are very distinctive and this page is devoted to those which existed on the Mainline between Birmingham and Tipton.

Whilst the original toll offices have gone, a replica exists at the top of the Smethwick Locks near the Engine Arm Aqueduct.

Toll Island at Winson Green 27th November 1960.

Source HE Evans Collection - courtesy of National Waterways Archive, Canal and River Trust

 The Toll Island booth at Winson Green was present on 25.3.62 but gone by 2.11.63

Source HE Evans Collection - courtesy of National Waterways Archive, Canal and River Trust

Site of the Toll House at Smethwick 27.11.60

Source HE Evans Collection - courtesy of National Waterways Archive, Canal and River Trust

Site of the Toll House at Smethwick 20.10.63

Source HE Evans Collection - courtesy of National Waterways Archive, Canal and River Trust

Bromford Junction Toll House November 1961

Source HE Evans Collection - courtesy of National Waterways Archive, Canal and River Trust

Bromford Junction Toll House October 1963

Source HE Evans Collection - courtesy of National Waterways Archive, Canal and River Trust

Bromford Junction Toll House October 1963

Source HE Evans Collection - courtesy of National Waterways Archive, Canal and River Trust

Gosty Hill Tunnel

 Gosty Hill Tunnel 

One of two very narrow tunnels on there Dudley No2 Canal. The longer one at Lapal collapsed in the early 1900's but its smaller sister survives on the Dudley No2 Canal and was used to access Stewart and Lloyd's tube works and basin till it closed in the early 1960's.

These days it is still used at access the extensive moorings ion Hawne Basin.

It is notable for its varied height, sometimes cavernous and sometimes very low, but also for its very limited depth and width. All this makes for a very slow passage and the old tug captains used to go below to make a brew leaving the boats to inch through themselves.

The building seen at the northern end was a boathouse for a tunnel tug - now just a silted inlet.

Gosty Hill Tunnel in 1966 - Ian Husselbee (RCHS archive)

1966 Ian Husselbee (RCHS Archive)

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).

Union Branch and Albion Interchange

Union Branch

December 2024

The location of the lost Union Branch remains confusing no matter how many times you look at the map, zipping back and forth across Telfords New Main Line.

The reason for this is that the branch predates Telford's canal and was in fact a branch off Brindley's 1767 original canal connecting Birmingham with the collieries of Balls Hill. The New canal sliced right through the branch in two places creating several loops and arms in the process.

Pudding Green Junction area

To complicate matters further the Albion Railway Interchange Basin was built next to the branch's entrance to the Wednesbury Old Canal.

Not easy to understand but well worth the effort expended in the process.

Union Branch and basins off Wednesbury Old Canal

Union Branch west of New Main Line

Union Branch Entrance 1951 Britain from Above

Union Branch mid section 1951 - Britain from Above

Albion Interchange Basin 1951 - Britain from Above

Sally Meadow Basin 1934 - Britain from Above

Entrance to Sally Meadow Basin - Hugh Potter 1974

Izon Bridge Parapet on Brandon Way Hugh Potter 1973 (ish)

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).

The Old Izon Turn

The Old Izon Turn

December 2024

The creation of Telford's New Mainline Canal criss crossed Brindley's 1767 original canal, carving off great loops along its way, taking a much straighter course towards Wolverhampton.

Among these loops there is what I tend to call the Old Iron Turn on account of its proximity to the lost Izon Branch near Pudding Green Junction. This name may be inaccurate and I stand ready to be corrected.

These days you go north from the bottom of Spon Lane Locks / Bromford Junction and then the original Brindley route veers to the east but when originally constructed the Birmingham canal swerved in a loop to the west, smoothing the turn east towards Balls Hill and the coal deposits.

This loop continued to serve the adjacent industry but in time the central section silted up and by the 1940's just the northern end remained in water, playing host to a boatyard with a side slip on its western shore.

1948 - Britain from Above

1948 - Britain from Above

Boats on Izon Old Turn 1961 - HE Evans CRT

Pudding Green Junction from Izon Old Turn 1961 - H E Evans CRT

Pudding Green Junction 1948 - Britain from Above

Pudding Green Junction 1961 - H E Evans CRT

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).