Bentley Canal - central section

Bentley Canal - Willenhall

This is very much the middle section of the Bentley Canal, and was abandoned several years before the upper section. It passed through a lockless section at the Weldless Tube Works (now Tata Steel) before reaching one of the few bends at Monmer Lane and then into the next flight of locks at Sandbeds.

As usual, it's the decaying locks which attracted the photographers and many of the lengths in between are sparsely recorded. Its at times like these when we turn to the Britain from Above archive which offers some good resolution low level images and thus just about completes the photographic record of the built structures.

As with the other posts covering the Bentley Canal, this one has grown like topsy because if we cant have quality images we tend to go for quantity!

The images have been sorted into order from top to bottom.

Fly Bridge

Fly Bridge with Neachell Branch behind

 Fly Bridge 1952 Revision Point Survey Wolverhampton Archive

Fly Bridge 1952 Revision Point Survey Wolverhampton Archive

Weldless Tube Works with Hills Bridge

Weldless Tube Works 1947

Weldless Steel with Neachells Branch

Hills Bridge

Next to Hills Bridge 1952 - Revision Point Survey Wolverhampton Archive

Weldless Tube Works 1984 Arthur Farrand Radley

Hills Bridge in Weldless Tube Works 1986

Loading boats at Coalite on the Bentley Canal

Bentley Canal at Coalite works (now Tata Steel)

Probably Neachell Branch beyond Coalite Works

Inside the Coalite Works near Hills Bridge 1912

Thomas Parker - a true Entrepreneur of his time - he also owned the ‘Phosphorus Works’ that I’m sure you will have seen marked on OS maps at the Bentley flight near Well Lane - selling the rights and patents for his electrical arc manufacturing process to Messrs Albright&Wilson of Oldbury. He bought the land for the Coalite plant with 60 acres which he also intended to mine - but the factory was closed by 1913, just 5 years after the photographs were taken. Not that it wasn’t a success of course - production moved to Bolsover where it remained until closure in 2004. The Weldless Tube company then moved from their Neachells Lane premises (in between the canal and railway bridges) into the Coalite plant.  

(Taken from"The Sphere" and supplied by Mike Morgan)

South from Hills Bridge

Ariel view of Fibbersley Bridge

Fibbersley Bridge

Fibbersley Bridge 1947 (BFA) with Hills Bridge beyond

Fibbersley

Fibbersley Bridge

Fibbersley Bridge 1952 - Revision Point Survey Wolverhampton Archive

Bentley Canal to Dingle Bridge (John Whitehouse)

Dingle Bridge deck 1952 - Revision Point Survey Wolverhampton Archive

Dingle Bridge 1960 (Justin Burrows)

Dingle Bridge north parapet 1952 - Revision Point Survey Wolverhampton Archive


Near Fibbersley

Looking West to Dingle Bridge from Fibbersley Bridge in 1960 - Justin Burrows

Fibersley Bridge to Dingle Bridge - Laurence Hogg collection

Laurence Hogg started on the canals very young, and sadly passed away far too soon.

Fibbersley Bridge - Colin Grewcott

Fibbersley Bridge from Monmer Lane Bridge 1952 - Revision Point Survey Wolverhampton Archive

Monmer Lane 1952

Site of Monmer Lane Bridge

From Monmer Lane 1965 - Arthur Mitchell Jones

Monmer Lane Bridge - John Smith

Monmer Lane Bridge north parapet 1952 - Revision Point Survey Wolverhampton Archive

Monmer Lane Bridge looking north 1952 - Revision Point Survey Wolverhampton Archive

Monmer Lane Bridge looking north 1952 - Revision Point Survey Wolverhampton Archive

Monmer Lane Bridge

Justin Burrows

Monmer Lane looking west -Laurence Hogg slide collection

Springbank Bridge

Springbank Bridge looking upstream

Springbank Bridge being surveyed

May 1985

Springbank Bridge 1964 Ron Grosvenor

Springbank Bridge Laurence Hogg slide collection 

Springbank West - John Adey

Springbank looking east - Laurence Hogg collection

Springbank East - John Adey

Spring Bank Bridge 1971 Ian Huselbee

Spring Bank Bridge 1971 Ian Huselbee

Spring Bank Bridge 1971 Ian Huselbee

Springbank Bridge a few years later

Springbank Bridge south parapet 1952 - Revision Point Survey Wolverhampton Archive

Springbank Bridge north parapet 1952 - Revision Point Survey Wolverhampton Archive

Springbank Bridge - John Adey

Springbank Bridge today

Locks at Sand Beds

Lock 7 with Springbank Bridge 1965 -Ian Husslebee

Lock7 with Springbank Bridge (HNBC Weaver)

Colourised version of the above image

Lock 7 to Springbank Bridge 1965 Ian Hussebee

Lock 7 - Laurence Hogg slide collection

Lock seven to Lock Eight circa 1966 - Clive Taylor

Lock 8 to Lock 7 on 1 Sept 1963 by H E Evans

Courtest of Canal and River Trust's National Waterways Archive

Above and below - Locks 7 and 8 1965 - Ian Husslebee

Locks 8 and 7 on 1 Sept 1963 by H E Evans

Courtesy of Canal and River Trust's National Waterways Archive

Lock 7 - Laurence Hogg

Hope Works Wednesfield by H E Evans on 1 Sept 1963

Courtesy of Canal and River Trust's National Waterways Archive

Hope Works 1 Sept 1963 by H E Evans

Courtesy of Canal and River Trust's National Waterways Archive

Lock 7 from Lock 8 (HNBC Weaver)

Lock 8 to Lock 7 -Ian Husselbee

Bentley Locks 8 and 7 at Sand Beds 1958

Site of Lock 7 Spring 1984

Bollard at Lock 7 Jan 1986

Ian Huselbee 1963

Lock 8 an Sandbeds Bridge

Sandbeds Bridge - Justin Burrows

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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).