The Tame Valley Canal is a relatively late (1844)

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...

in the West Midlands of

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It forms part of the

Birmingham Canal Navigations Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN) is a network of canals connecting Birmingham, Wolverhampton, and the eastern part of the Black Country. The BCN is connected to the rest of the English canal system at several junctions. It was owned and opera ...

. It takes its name from the roughly-parallel River Tame.

Geography

The canal runs from Tame Valley Junction where it joins the

Walsall Canal The Walsall Canal is a narrow canal, wide, and long, forming part of the Birmingham Canal Navigations, and passing around the western side of Walsall, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It was built in four stages, the first bein ...

near

Ocker Hill Ocker Hill is a residential area straddling the border of Tipton and Wednesbury in the West Midlands of England. Details It is situated in the northern part of the town, on the Leabrook Road, between Dudley and Wednesbury. The area was first ...

and

Toll End Toll End is a residential area of Tipton in the West Midlands of England. It was developed during the 19th century during the Industrial Revolution which saw previously rural Tipton developed as one of the most prolific manufacturing and minin ...

, and terminates at

Salford Junction Salford Junction () is the Junction (canal), canal junction of the Grand Union Canal, Grand Union and Tame Valley Canals with the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal. It is in the north of the administrative city of Birmingham, England and historical ...

where it meets the

Birmingham & Fazeley Canal The Birmingham and Fazeley Canal is a canal of the Birmingham Canal Navigations in the West Midlands of England. Its purpose was to provide a link between the Coventry Canal and Birmingham and thereby connect Birmingham to London via the Oxfor ...

and the

Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the Canals of the United Kingdom, British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another to Birmi ...

. It is long and has twin

towpath A towpath is a road or trail on the bank of a river, canal, or other inland waterway. The purpose of a towpath is to allow a land vehicle, Working animal, beasts of burden, or a team of human pullers to tow a boat, often a barge. This mod ...

s throughout. Between Tame Valley Junction and Rushall Junction it goes under the

West Midlands Metro The West Midlands Metro is a light-rail/tram system in the county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The network has List of West Midlands Metro tram stops, 33 stops with a total of of track; it currently consists of a single r ...

near

Wednesbury Wednesbury ( ) is a market town in the Sandwell district, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England; it was historically in Staffordshire. It is located near the source of the River Tame, West Midlands, River Tame and ...

and crosses over the former

Grand Junction Railway The Grand Junction Railway (GJR) was an early railway company in the United Kingdom, which existed between 1833 and 1846. The line built by the company, which opened in 1837, linked the Liverpool and Manchester Railway to Birmingham via Warri ...

(now part of the

Chase Line The Chase Line is a suburban railway line in the West Midlands region of England. It runs from its southern terminus, , to , and then in Staffordshire, where it joins the Trent Valley line. The name of the line refers to Cannock Chase which ...

) by aqueduct, near Tame Bridge Parkway railway station (an unusual case of the railway pre-dating a neighbouring canal). It passes over the

M5 motorway The M5 is a motorway in England linking the Midlands with the South West England, South West. It runs from junction 8 of the M6 motorway, M6 at West Bromwich near Birmingham to Exeter in Devon. Heading south-west, the M5 runs east of West Brom ...

near the interchange with the

M6 motorway The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It is located entirely within England, running for just over from the Midlands to the border with Scotland. It begins at Junction 19 of the M1 motorway, M1 and the western end of t ...

(M6 junction 8) and joins the

Rushall Canal The Rushall Canal is a straight, , narrow canal suitable for boats which are wide, forming part of the Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN) on the eastern side of Walsall, West Midlands, England. Route The Rushall Canal runs from Rushall Junc ...

at Rushall Junction, inside the triangle formed by the motorway junction. East of Rushall Junction the canal passes under another arm of the M5. At Hamstead the remains of a

wharf A wharf ( or wharfs), quay ( , also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more Berth (mo ...

can be seen, This served the former

Hamstead Colliery Hamstead Colliery in Hamstead, West Midlands, Hamstead (then Staffordshire, now West Midlands (county), West Midlands), England, produced coal between 1878 and 1965, by coal mining, mining the South Staffordshire Coalfield, South Staffordshire 'Th ...

. Further east, there are two more aqueducts (Spouthouse Lane and Piercy, the latter over the Old Walsall Road), and a deep cutting in 200-million-year-old sandstone, under Freeth Bridge (now restricted to pedestrians and bikes only) at

Tower Hill Tower Hill is the area surrounding the Tower of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is infamous for the public execution of high status prisoners from the late 14th to the mid 18th century. The execution site on the higher gro ...

. There are no locks on this section, which is at the

Walsall Level The Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN), a network of narrow canals in the industrial midlands of England, is built on various water levels. The three longest are the Wolverhampton, Birmingham, and Walsall levels. Locks allow boats to move from ...

, but it passes over eight aqueducts within five miles (seven of which are original). The thirteen Perry Barr Locks, where the level drops 106 feet, start just beyond the A34. The original lock keepers cottages remain. Between locks 1 (the top lock) and 2 the canal is crossed by the

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

Perry Barr Locks Bridge, a cast-iron foot bridge with brick pillars, dating from 1844. In the adjacent Perry Park, after lock 7 and near

Alexander Stadium Alexander Stadium is an athletics stadium in Perry Barr, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It is the largest athletics stadium in the United Kingdom. The stadium has four stands with a total seated capacity of 18,000. The stadium site has four build ...

, is Perry Reservoir, a feeder reservoir completed in 1880Environment Agency public register of Large Raised Reservoirs, as at 2 November 2020, via and fed by Holbrook, a tributary of the Tame that rises near

Barr Beacon Barr Beacon is a hill on the edge of Walsall, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England, very near the border with Birmingham. It gives its name to nearby Great Barr (the Beacon borders the Pheasey area of Great Barr) and to the local secon ...

. From there, the canal passes under the M6, and then down the remaining Perry Barr locks. Between locks nine and ten is the site of Perry Barr Wharf, extant in the 1950s but now filled in. The canal passes under the M6 twice more, including

Gravelly Hill Interchange Spaghetti Junction, officially the Gravelly Hill Interchange, is a major road junction in Birmingham, England. It is junction 6 of the M6 motorway where it meets the A38(M) Aston Expressway in the Gravelly Hill area of Birmingham. The interc ...

(Spaghetti Junction), shortly after which it terminates, at Salford Junction.

History

The

was authorised by Act of Parliament in 1839 and built by the

. Construction started in 1841 and it opened on Wednesday 14 February 1844. Its

engineers Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while consider ...

were James Walker and

Alfred Burges Alfred Burges (1796–1886) was a British civil engineer. He was apprenticed to the civil engineer James Walker, and in turn trained several other engineers including Sir Joseph Bazalgette. Walker and Burges were responsible for railways, brid ...

the company engineers. The resident engineer was Mr. Horne, the contractors were Treadwell, Jackson and Bean for the principal part of the works, and Mr. Townshend for the portion near Tipton.

Features

Notes

References

External links