Titford Canal

[ ] Titford Canal and Tat Bank Branch

Oldbury Junction, BCN Old Main Line 6 Oldbury Locks (Titford Locks) Tat Bank Road Feeder to Edgbaston Reservoir Tat Bank Branch (right) - closed Engine Street Titford Pumphouse Oldbury Railway: Dismantled railway Langley Maltings Station Road Langley Forge Langley Green Road A4123 road (Wolverhampton Road) Portway Branch (left), M5 motorway Titford Pools (both sides of motorway) Causeway Green Branch

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The Titford Canal (grid reference SO984880) is a narrow (7 foot) canal, a short branch of the Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN) in Oldbury, West Midlands, England.

Authorised under the Birmingham Canal Act 1768 which created the original Birmingham Canal, it was constructed in 1836-7 and opened on 4 November 1837. It now runs from Titford Pool, a reservoir made in 1773-4 which now lies under, and to both sides of, an elevated section of the M5 motorway near the motorway's junction 2, to join the BCN Old Main Line at Oldbury Junction, also under the M5.

Beyond Titford Pool was a continuation, abandoned in 1954, as the Portway Branch, which served coal mines in the Titford Valley. Also from Titford Pool was the Causeway Green Branch; opened in 1858 and abandoned, in parts, in 1954 and September 1960.

At a height above sea level of 511 ft Titford Pool was one of the original water sources for the James Brindley 491 foot Smethwick Summit Level of his Birmingham Canal (later called the Old Main Line). This feeder was not made navigable until 1837, with the addition of six locks, nicknamed The Crow, which were adjacent to chemical works owned by Jim Crow. These locks, as is usual on the BCN, have single lower gates to reduce leakage. The Titford Locks (also known as Oldbury Locks) became derelict and were restored in 1973-4.

Between Titford Pool and the locks stand two distinctive buildings: Langley Forge and the grade II listed Langley Maltings (previously used for the malting stage of beer-making). Sadly the Maltings have been badly damaged by fire.

At the top lock stands the grade II listed Titford Engine House; built to pump water back up the six locks from the Wolverhampton Level, but later more often used to supply the feeder. It is now the headquarters of the Birmingham Canal Navigations Society.

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Wikipedia