Wednesbury Old Canal leaves the Main line Birmingham level at Pudding Green junction and passes through a completely industrial landscape. At Ryders Green Junction the canal becomes the Walsall Canal and begins its descent down the eight Ryders Green Locks. Just before the locks a BCNS sign post at the junction points down the Ridgeacre Branch towards Swan Village.

The top section of the Ridgeacre Branch was lost in the last ten years and remains a reminder that we must always be aware of what developers and authorities are planning. The canal once went all the way to Swan Village (Black Lake) the canal being adopted near to its terminus by the locals and turned into a nature area.

The canal corridor up to its present terminus up against a dual carriageway runs through an industrail scene. It not pretty but is probably more representative of why the canals of this area ever existed. Today it is hardy cruised, the silt on the bottom is full of industrail fallout. But for all that it is attractive to the true die hards of industrail canals.

The plans of the know defunct Black Country Development Authority pushed through a new road denying the canal head room. The Society and others objected to this but money talks and the new road was built. Using the excuse that there was no reason to go to the end of the canal, the navigation was terminated at the new road.

No sooner than had this been done, that they built a new pub and hotel with canal side terrace and opened up a basin on the cut off section, giving everybody a reason to travel to the terminus?.

The road also denied access to a canal basin that sits beside the Ridgeacre Pub with an arm stretching back to the dual carriageway. This canal should be cruised along its navigable section, just to show that it is not forgotten. BW are at present trying to find more moorings on the BCN, what a chance missed here, this arm would make great moorings, fence them off and they would be as secure as anywhere.

Beyond the new pub the canal stretches for about 3/4 mile. Is crossed by the new Metro Line with a station and road level crossing nearby.The canal is remarkably free of rubbish and reeds line the track.

The whole lenght of the cut off section of canal is in good order. The water appears deep and from the number of fishermen who use the section well stocked with fish. All kinds of wild life abound just yards away from industry. The towpath is in excellant order, and the association looking after this section is to be congatulated.

After the Metro the canal goes under Blacklake Bridge terminating at the end of a long straight where a nature path takes over. The canal is lined with permanent fishing platform pegs, some designed for the disabled and is well used by fishermen.

At the terminus a steel structure commemorates the landscaping of the canal. The lenght of canal is pleasant and should be walked by visitors even if a boat cannot make it. In retrospect the canal from the metro line is probably well served by its present status and stewardship. But its a great pity that the navigable canal does not cross the road and terminate at the basin.

The Walsall Canal starts at the Top lock of Ryders Green locks. The eight Ryders Green Locks are a delight to operate being spaced so it is possible to build up a system of filling or emptying the lock ahead, even when operating single handed. The factories on both sides are not as imposing as they once were and the large chemical works near the top appears to be not working. Once a strong smell of gas lingered here as it was said that they (Robinsons) made the smell that was put into natural gas to make it smell like gas.

As you descend the locks take time to look at the graffiti on some of the walls, its in a time warp being graffiti of the 60's and 70's. But be quick as the powers to be are threatening to remove this peace of social history along with more modern graffiti. Its hard to justify saving graffitti as a conservation project?
Well it happen this piece of social history has disappeared cleaned off by a man with a powerful gun. We'll leave the section on as a record.

Soon we arrive at Great Bridge where a large super market stands next to the line, a connecting bridge to the old shopping area is over head. ( Navigation note:be carefull in this section, shopping trolleys are sometimes to be found in this pound: thrown off the bridge: the two locks either end can have a trolley in them too) This problem has been greatly improved recently as the supermarket know chains up its trolley's, a thing it did'nt do for years. The bottom lock is reached, the area around has been transformed by a new road with new factory units everywhere.

After the bottom lock the canal makes its way to the Tame Valley Junction know through a housing estate. The area is know much changed, and the track is much improved being the subject of a number of BCNS/IWA clean-ups in the recent past and is indeed the subject of a continuing clean-up policy.

But once this section was full of factories were know stand houses, ending in the area around the junction that is also known as Doe Bank Junction. The area was once dominated by a large Power Station, Ocker Hill, nothing know remains of any of this, the only surviving building of the station being the adminsteration block far away from the canal.

Look to your right as you approach the junction and you may still just make out the many wharvies/arms that used to be where an inter change basin once stood. At the junction the Ocker Hill Tunnel Branch goes off to the left were once the BW offices where, closed in 2003.

The tunnel is long gone,it existed to pump water to this canal, its terminus is know moorings. To our right we enter the Tame Valley Canal, its straight ahead for Walsall.

As we leave Ocker Hill the canal runs between a busy road up above us on our right and housing estates that give way to the back of factories. A concrete wall to the canal gives a modern feel to the section that ends at the next road bridge, where the edge becomes softer.

The Gospel Oak branch is just after this bridge, full of reeds its a haven for fishermen. Old basins are on our right just before the junction with the Branch. Again we change to a modern scene the canal being flanked by modern factories that have a tidy towpath edged with mooring posts capable in size to moor a sea going vessel.

Next is Moorcroft Junction where the Bradley Locks Branch came in from the Old Main Line via Bradley. This section is closed and is rip for restoration. (See section at beginning of Photo Gallery "Possible Restoration Project")

The canal then enters a wooded cutting just after the junction that ends at the next bridge. Here we pass across the back of a scrap yard for heavy lorries. The next two bridges take us under and through the centre of a road traffic island the canal becomes very narrow before opening out to enter a more open scene.

The canal know passes across the back of houses with open land on the left that ends with a new road the Black Country Spine Road. We run parrall with this road across open land that once was a crowded industrail area. At Porketts Bridge we pass a run down council estate on one side, with open space on the left that is slowly being re generated with modern factories.

This area used once to be a series of factories belonging to the Ruby Owen Group, so large that the roads in the site had street names. It stood derelict for years finaly being demolished in 2000.

We pass as near as the canal gets to Darlaston behind factory walls with no roofs that used to be part of the Owen Group too. The canal narrows and steel structures in the water mark where once stood a factory swing bridge, long gone but the foundations still remain. We cross a railway line and a wide section of canal marks the spot where the Anson Branch used to join.

Across an aqueduct and then up to the M6 where the canal used to narrow and pass under the road and then through a working foundry, demolished in late 2003, destine to be yet more housing. The canal know approaches Walsall Junction.

At Walsall Junction the canal to our right enters the Walsall Town Arm terminating about half a mile from the junction. The Arm is being re developed with new buildings springing up all along its lenght, finally arriving at the new Art Gallery and Wharf Pub. Walsall Town centre is just a few yards from the end of the Arm. We'll leave you to decide whether the much praised Art Gallery is a good looking building in this setting?.

Shame a phase of the development on the Town Arm, knocked down a covered wharf belonging to the Old Co-op buildings, although one of the buildings has been retained. Further developments are planned for the arm and linked to the new housing around the junction cosmetically the area is improved. But the track to the area needs dredging or the full picture of a thriving canal frontage will not happened if the boats do not come, put off by the canal corridor to the arm.

Straight ahead back at the junction and we are faced with the eight Walsall Locks that take us up past an imposing building, Albion Flour Mill. At present empty but various plans are in the pipe line to save the building.

The locks continue until we reach the top lock where BW services can be found. Beside the top lock stands a Boatmans Mission building alongside a toll house and BCN cottage no 206. The mission once housed a canal musuem but it closed in 2003. A new use for the building is yet to be found.

The canal continues to Birchills Junction, a large retail park with a large Sainsbury's store know covers the site that was once Birchills Power Station. The area is called Reedswood, a colliery of the same name used to be close by. At the junction we join the Wyrley & Essington Canal, left to Wolverhampton, right for Pelsall and the hoped for links to Lichfield.