Moorings on the Walsall Canal

The Walsall Canal runs 11 kilometres north through the Black Country from Ryders Green Junction on the Birmingham Canal Navigations at West Bromwich, through Great Bridge, Tipton Green, Moxley and Darlaston, to Walsall Town Basin, where the Walsall Locks climb to meet the Wyrley & Essington Canal.

It is a working industrial canal in the truest sense — the towpath runs past scrapyards, foundries and reclaimed industrial land, punctuated by the Ryders Green flight of eight locks at its southern end. What it lacks in prettiness it makes up for in atmosphere and in access to the densest canal network in the country; the Walsall is a key artery for boaters exploring the BCN.

Walsall Town Basin has been regenerated, with the New Art Gallery on the waterside and visitor moorings in the basin itself. Long-stay serviced moorings on the Walsall Canal are limited, and boat owners in this area generally base themselves at Sherborne Wharf or the Birmingham city-centre basins, or further out at Pelsall and Longwood on the Wyrley & Essington. The compensation is cost — Black Country moorings are among the most affordable in the Midlands — and excellent rail and motorway access via Walsall and the M6.