Flow Chart

Source

Flow

Circulation

Anson Branch History

It would appear that the Anson Branch was named after Thomas Anson, 1st Earl of Lichfield (also known as The Viscount Anson) who owned land in Willenhall.

The branch was probably cut to make more viable the mining of ironstone which was begining to happen in nearby Reeds Wood and subsequently at Parkbrook colliery (today the site of Junction 10). Four acres of Simeon Foster's land was sold for £295 to the Birmingham Canal Company in the 1830s. The presence of the canal benefited the Earl of Bedford's estate and its forays into mineral extraction.

The mining of Blueflats Ironstone took place at Parkbrook Colliery but the workings did not impact upon our site being mainly concerned with land west of the brook. However, coal may have been worked from under the site.

Site Context

This photograph is taken from the Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet beside Junction 10 of the M6. The site is in the centre of the photograph in the trees just beyond the green of the playing field. Just in front is the line of Sneyd Brook running across the shot. The slight rise of the land behind the site towards Southbourne Avenue and Durham Road can just be discerned.

Water V

Water in Sneyd Brook

'Bridge' across Sneyd Brook

The Anson Branch canal near the Wolverhampton Road

NO WEALTH BUT LIFE

"THERE IS NO WEALTH BUT LIFE. Life, including all its powers of love, of joy, and of admiration. That country is richest which nourishes the greatest number of noble and happy human beings; that man is richest who, having perfected the functions of his own life to the utmost, has also the widest helpful influence, both personal, and by means of his possessions, over the lives of others." John Ruskin Unto This Last