Waterways Walks: The Wyrley & Essington to Wednesfield

Sometimes the places I'm most familiar with are the ones I blog about the least often, as I tend to concentrate my exploration activity (and consequently my writing output) on fresh discoveries. It's nice therefore to shine a belated spotlight upon the Wyrley & Essington Canal as it heads north out of Wolverhampton, a stretch I must have walked countless times over the years...

- Journey's Start: Broad Street Basin -

Trip Log: Friday 5th May 2023 and Broad Street Basin by Wolverhampton Top Lock marks the beginning of this pre-Coronation canal caper. Despite a forecast for thundery showers, there are sunny skies to encourage me along a brief initial segment of the Birmingham Main Line Canal passing directly beneath Wolverhampton railway station's multi-storey car park. The modern apartments of Albion Street stand in stark contrast to some near-derelict industrial ruins as I spot dilapidated workshop signs for Kingfisher Narrowboats. Cleared patches of wasteland are dominated by graffiti as a closed British Steel site rots on the horizon.

- Crane Street Viaduct -

Horseley Fields Junction is the meeting point of the Main Line and the Wyrley & Essington Canals; as waterways locations go, this is definitely one for the purist and would not win any awards for chocolate box-type vistas! The melancholy arches of Crane Street Viaduct are evidence of the railway's gritty presence while an old factory on the other side of Horseley Fields Bridge burnt down last year. From such inauspicious surroundings, the Curly Wyrley will gradually snake its way for 16 and a half miles through to Ogley Junction at Brownhills, encountering Wednesfield, Short Heath, Goscote and Pelsall along the way. 

- Trapmakers Bridge -

Today I'm planning on covering the first three and a bit of those miles which should get me to Perry Hall about lunchtime. Heath Town's dwindling number of high rises still command the inner-city skyline by Deans Road, and I can also see the back end of the Jolly Collier with its scruffy approach to gardening. Even in my relatively short lifetime I can remember what the area looked like before the arrival of the Wednesfield Way bypass and Bentley Bridge Retail Park, so I'm pleased that the traditional humpback of New Cross Bridge offers a rare note of continuity. Before long, the canal secretively sneaks behind Wednesfield High Street with the odd glimpse of St Thomas's Church, the Boat (closed pub alert!) and Trapmakers Bridge, the latter providing handy access into the local park.

- Wards Bridge -

Pinfold Bridge is the next landmark, rebuilt a few years ago and looking quite smart with a Belvoir estate agents hut for company. Wards Bridge used to give its name to an adjacent secondary school (a complex I knew better as the Jennie Lee Centre) but even that is just history now, swept away and replaced with a housing estate. From this point onwards, the scenery becomes ever more leafy thanks to the suburban back gardens of Mattox Road, Hylstone Crescent and Measham Way. Pangs of personal nostalgia have me pausing at Moathouse Bridge, checking that the worn wooden benches where I used to eat packed lunches remain resolutely unchanged. 

- Approaching Perry Hall -

Aiming vaguely north-eastwards, I effectively bisect the residential areas between Linthouse Lane and Olinthus Avenue. Devils Elbow Bridge has a distinctly reddish sandstone hue then Olinthus Bridge nudges the bottom edges of Ashmore Park. Over the course of its journey, the Wyrley & Essington flirts with the A4124 Lichfield Road at several junctures, one such being Castle Bridge in the shadows of the Buzz Bingo site. No full houses for me on this occasion, just more towpath investigations trading views of either Castlebridge Gardens or Peach Road as I close in on the underwhelmingly plain Perry Hall Bridge.

- The Spread Eagle -

The bridge might not be a looker but by emerging onto Broad Lane South, I have reached the Wolverhampton/Walsall metropolitan boundary and the end of my canal sojourn. My reward will be a well-earned pitstop at the Spread Eagle, a Marston's roadhouse operating under the 'Generous George' banner, not that I'm sure who George is/was or what he does to qualify as being generous. Decor-wise I think they're trying to attract a slightly younger target audience although the combination of Banks's Amber (very fresh), scratchings and a Bullseye-themed dartboard is enough to keep me satisfied. The jukebox meanwhile seems to have lodged itself squarely in the 1970s with selections from Demis Roussos, David Essex and the Piglets.

- Barbel Drive -

Quiz night duties mean my main exploring task for the day is effectively done and dusted so I head back into Wednesfield to join Stephen at the Vine. We can't escape Coronation fever completely, hence I patriotically partake of 'Ale to the King', Kinver Brewery's nod to Nick's - sorry, King Charles III's - forthcoming crowning moment. A Friday chippy tea in Heath Town will aid our quizzing preparations, and there's enough time to mooch around the Bowman's Harbour estate where all the roads are named after fish; naturally Mr B Jr wholeheartedly approves of references to barbel, bream and grayling, being a casual angler himself. Alas Team Bears did not romp home to glory - joint fifth was as much as we could muster - but nonetheless we had a great time (apart from being stumped by Francoise Hardy). Cheers!