Waterways Walks: Oldbury

Permit me if you will to cast my mind back to December 2009 and a canal stroll that will forever be etched in my memory. The canals of Oldbury aren't the prettiest in the best of conditions but thick fog added a whole new layer of trepidation to a trek that culminated in frozen fingers at Brades Village. I'd always intended to revisit that circuit so it seemed ideal for my first post-lockdown Waterways Walk; Stephen came along too for a spot of exercise, minus any mist this time around...

- Bromford Junction -

Meeting Mr Beardsmore at Wolverhampton in time for the 10:22 stopper train, we proceed with steamed-up spectacles to Sandwell & Dudley (which is what Oldbury Station got renamed as after a 1980s rebuild). Ignoring the Weatherite factory, we join the towpath of the Birmingham New Main Line Canal at Bromford Lane and quickly reach Bromford Stop, a well-known BCN location notable for a pair of roving footbridges forged by the Horseley Ironworks in Tipton. 

- Spon Lane Junction -

The second of those twin turnovers gives us access to the Spon Lane Locks Branch, a short 800 yard link between the Old and New Main Lines. There are three locks for us to investigate along here, albeit the overhanging vegetation does its best to deter us - nothing a bit of waterways gymnastics can't handle! Lock number one heralds our arrival at Spon Lane Junction where the Old Main Line plots a course between motorway support pillars. It's bleak enough already without the derelict Chance Brothers Glassworks adding to the gloom, the site having lain disused since production ceased some forty years or so ago.

- Approaching Oldbury Junction -

We've entered a section that Mr D9 affectionately calls the 'Soviet Swimming Pool' whereby Stephen gamely soaks up the concrete-centric ambience. It's urban architecture at its most gritty yet strangely compelling with the constant drone of M5 traffic overhead. We pass the extensive DPD parcel delivery depot to close in on Oldbury Junction, a place that would never win any canal beauty contests. Metal gantries and a brutalist bridge make this a scene for the purists, although Mr B can detect some aquatic life with little fish fry sending air bubbles to the water's surface.  

- Rounds Green School -

Thankfully we get to leave the bowels of the M5 behind thereafter, with Whimsey Bridge and High Bridge successively leading us through into Rounds Green. A Brades Road detour proves reasonably productive for glimpses of the Brades Tavern (operating as an Indian Bar & Grill) and Kay's Cafe while a traditional sweetshop allows us to stock up on lemon sherbets. I'm particularly pleased to gather some pictures of Rounds Green Primary School; opened in 1910 by the Oldbury Urban District Education Committee, the original separate entrances for girls, boys and infants are still very much evident. 

- Beardsmore Bemusement at Brades Lock -

Retracing our steps to Brades Bridge, the next location of significance is Brades Hall Junction. We leave the Old Main Line here in favour of the Gower Branch, which runs for half a mile in offering another connection to the New Main Line. Locks one and two form a conjoined staircase prior to Brades Hall Bridge with lock three then awaiting further down, not far from the Shri Venkateswara (Balaji) Temple. In the heyday of canal haulage the Gower Branch would have been an important shortcut option, saving boats from having to go to either Smethwick or Tipton to switch between the two main lines. 

- Albion Junction -

The Gower Branch terminates at Albion Junction, a setting we've passed on the train countless times so to see it on foot is something of a novelty. The New Main Line can now take us full circle back to Bromford Lane, spotting Pudding Green Junction and the Walsall Canal in the process. Having endured cloudy skies all morning, it's just typical that the sun should put in a belated appearance as we near the end of our walk, albeit we are grudgingly grateful to have avoided the recent heatwave temperatures. Sandwell & Dudley brings the trip to a close care of our 13:51 homeward train and we consider our Oldbury canal circuit to be a job well done - cheers!