It opened in 1769, and, although parts of it were abandoned in 1955 and 1960, the section between Pudding Green Junction and Ryder's Green Junction is navigable, as it provides a link to the Walsall Canal. A short stub beyond Ryder's Green Junction is also navigable.
The history
From the quaintly named Pudding Green Junction to Swan Bridge the 1.2 miles of Brindley's Wednesbury Old Canal is criss-crossed by bridges and hemmed in by industrialisation. It is met at Ryders Green Junction by the Walsall Canal.
The line once had numerous small wharves and arms serving a combination of foundries, forges, ironworks and brickworks. A Great Western Railway interchange point was located at the start of the Balls Hill Branch near Swan Bridge Junction and a tramway serving Blacklake Colliery crossed the Ridgacre Branch to the west of Blacklake Bridge.
The Wednesbury Old Canal was truncated by construction of the Black Country Spine Road in the early 1990s thereby isolating the Ridgacre Branch that in turn led to an oil works and the long-abandoned Dartmouth, Halford and Jesson Branches.
