Danks Branch
The Danks Branch is an odd section of waterway branching to the east just below the Ryders Green Locks, bisected at its northern end by the Tame valley Canal.
It was named after Edwin Danks, the local ironmaster with industrial premises here, in Oldbury and also Netherton.
When the Tame Valley Canal was built in 1844 the original plan was to use the existing Danks Branch to make a connection with the Walsall Canal. However, in the end the Tame Valley was seen as an overflow link into the Black Country mostly feeding into the Bradley Locks Branch just to the north. As such the Danks would be an inconvenient diversion and the Tame Valley was continued in a straight line to a point almost opposite the lower Ocker Hill Branch.
As such the Tame Valley cut over the Danks Branch leaving its northern tip as a basin accessed under a bridge.
Danks Branch north
Danks Branch south
Southern Arm 1951
Danks Branch entrance before the Black Country Route was built Martin OKeefe BCNS Archive
Towpath edging under the southern railway bridge 2012 Andy Tidy
Near the Walsall Canal - Martin O'Keefe BCNS Archive
West of Moors Mill Bridge Martin O'Keefe BCNS Archive
Danks Branch from the Southern Railway Bridge to Moors Mill Bridge in 1998 Keith Hodgkins
Danks Branch from Southern Railway Bridge - Martin O'Keefe
South to Moors Mill Bridge gateway to the southern arm - Martin O'Keefe BCNS Archive
West from Moors Mill Bridge - Martin O'Keefe BCNS Archive
West from Moors Mill Bridge Martin O'Keefe BCNS Archive
Danks Branch central section 1958 (Keith Hodgkins)
North from Moors Mill Bridge
Danks Branch from Moors Mill Bridge - Martin O'Keefe
North towards Golds Green Bridge - Martin O'Keefe BCNS Archive
Northern end of the Danks Branch with Leabrook Works to the left
The Danks (right) Tame Valley (top) and Lower Ocker Hill (top left) in 1938
Danks Branch south with Moors Mill Bridge (bottom left) in 1938
Leabrook Iron Works at the northern end of the Danks Branch
Moors Mill Bridge parapet looking north John Whitehouse
Dry Danks Branch bed at northern end - 1965 Ian Huselbee
Danks Branch Junction on Tame Valley Canal - Ian Huselbee
Danks Branch off the Tame Valley Canal - Ian Huselbee
Danks Branch looking south from beyond the tame valley (bottom)
Cottages on the Danks Branch viewed from the end of the Tame Valley Canal - Imperial War Museum
Canal Bed under the northern railway crossing 2012 Andy Tidy
Under the northern railway crossing 2012 Andy Tidy
Dried Danks Branch immediately south of tame valley Junction
Danks Branch Junction with Tame Valley Canal - HNBC / Weaver Collection
Danks Branch from the Tame Valley Canal
Dried Danks Branch just before the Tame Valley Canal 1965 - Ian Huselbee
BCN Cottages on the Danks Branch ay Tame Valley Junction 1961 H E Evans
The stub arm of the Danks Branch beyond the "new" Tame Valley Canal
Danks Branch crossed by the Tame Valley 1961 - H E Evans
The following three images are screen grabs from a Laurence Hogg VHS video. Poor quality but included for completeness.
North from Moors Mill bridge (Laurence Hogg video grab)
Moors Mill Bridge from southern Railway Crossing (Laurence Hogg Video grab)
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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