Cannock Extension Canal - <>

The current Cannock Extension Canal is a 1.8mi canal in England. It runs from Pelsall Junction on the Wyrley and Essington Canal, north to Norton Canes Docks and forms part of the Birmingham Canal Navigations. Historically, it ran to Hednesford, and served a number of collieries, which provided the main traffic. It opened in 1863, and the northern section closed in 1963, as a result of mining subsidence.HistoryFollowing a period of negotiations, the Birmingham Canal Navigations had been leased by the London and Birmingham Railway from November 1845. The lease meant that the railway company had to authorise all new works where the cost exceeded £500. An Act of Parliament was obtained in 1846 to legalise the agreement, by which time the London and Birmingham Railway had become part of the London and North Western Railway. The canal company had made a number of additions to their system in the 1840s, which had been successful in generating new traffic, and they embarked on another programme in 1854. The railway company did not object, although it imposed a condition that dividends paid to shareholders would be restricted to 4 per cent until the cost of the new works had been paid. The scheme included replacing Delph Locks on the Dudley Canal, an extension to Lord Hay's Branch, and the construction of the Cannock Extension Canal, including two feeder tramways.The canal was opened to Rumer Hill Junction in 1858 and its 5.6mi length was fully open by 1863. A connection was made to the Hatherton Canal, a branch of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, at Churchbridge Junction via the Churchbridge Branch, which had thirteen locks. An agreement between the two companies was reached in 1854, before the Cannock Extension Canal had been built, and the cost of the land for the Churchbridge Branch was shared, but when the locks were built in 1858 and 1859, it appears that the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal funded the work alone. Traffic down through the Churchbridge lock flight, which originated on the Extension Canal, was around 12,000 tons per month in 1902.

Tags: Geographical feature