However, a second Act was obtained in 1794, which made the Walsall branch into the mainline and authorised its extension to the east, passing through Pelsall to reach Brownhills, where there were more coal mines, and then descending through thirty locks to the Coventry Canal at Huddlesford Junction.

The new mainline was completed by May 1797, although there were initial problems with water supply, which were resolved in 1800 with the construction of a large reservoir at Chasewater.

It ran from the Hednesford coal fields to the Wyrley and Essington Canal at Pelsall Junction and was completed in 1863.

[4] The canal and hence the junction was an important commercial route until 1961, when the battle with subsidence caused by the mines it served was lost.

[6] The Wyrley and Essington Canal runs east to west at the junction, with the towpath on the southern bank.