Geograph - photograph every grid square

The Wyrley and Essington Canal, a constituent part of the Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN) network, was completed in 1797 and originally connected Wolverhampton with the Coventry Canal at Huddlesford Junction via Lichfield. It was built to carry coal from the Cannock collieries and had several branches. The eastern section of the route was abandoned in 1954 (although efforts are being made to restore it), but elsewhere commercial traffic continued well into the 1960s. What remains today is some 16.5 lock-free miles that meander from Horseley Field Junction on the BCN main line to a dead end at Anglesey Basin; the typical view from the water is of suburban back gardens, although there are some rural stretches. It is not a route that appeals greatly to holidaymakers so boats are generally few and far between.