IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Arthur Keen Drive, SMETHWICK, B66 2BF

The last part of the route from Rotton Park Reservoir above ground. Whether the culverted section onwards survives is unclear - there was no discernible flow, yet it was in good water.

Used to lead to a wharf for French Walls (Muntz's Metal Works).

On the Birmingham Canal Navigation.

The one the photographer is standing on, and the one across the canal cross the wiggly old main line. The one ahead of the photographer [where the parapet rises again] crosses the entrance to Muntz Basin.

At Cape Arm Bridge.

On the south side of the BCN's New Main Line.

On the south side of the BCN's New Main Line. Cape Arm was created from a loop of the Old Main Line.

The Cape Arm was part of the original Birmingham Canal which became a subsidiary loop when Telford's New Main Line was cut in the 1830's. It had its own branch from the centre of the loop which extended as far south as Grove Lane, and served many different factories. It leaves the New Main Line under the bridge on the right (which is actually a tunnel without a towpath under a canal feeder which runs along the embankment above). Most unusually, a considerable length of this disused and inaccessible arm is still in water. It can be seen on current aerial photos on Google and Multimap, and can also be seen from Cranford Street bridge, though it cannot be accessed as it does not have a towpath. I assume that it is still used as a source of cooling water by the factories which still line its banks. The Cranford St end of the Cape Arm was also used as a set for a brief scene in the film 'Take Me High' (1973) in which Cliff Richard arrives at a factory in a hovercraft. The second bridge which can just be seen in the photograph is the entrance to a former basin which is shown on the OS 1890 map serving the Imperial Wire Mills.

This bridge crosses an arm of the canal which has now been filled-in. It was originally part of the old Birmingham Canal which was cut through by the New Mail Line and left as a loading basin by an enigmatic works building adjacent to a chemical works (OS 1890). The nearby railway junction was called Soap Works Junction, which gives some clue as to its function. The entire area was cleared and is now part of the emerging forest between railway and canal.

On the right is the feeder from Rotton Park Reservoir to the Engine Arm at the Wolverhampton Level. It was a surprise to climb what appeared to be the side of a cutting from the Main Line at its Birmingham level, to find it was actually a lofty embankment to carry this feeder. The water supply to the various levels of the BCN is from numerous sources. This one is of small capacity and appeared to be disused, certainly not flowing, although in water. The bridge visible in this view is for a disused and filled in arm which looks like it was originally the main line before straightening. It lies opposite a tunnel under the feeder embankment which continued the meander around what was later the Cape Arm. The feeder and its embankment must have been built after the main line was straightened.