A line from coal mines at Wednesbury to central Birmingham was opened in 1769, with both ends built on the 453-foot (138 m) contour, and a summit in the middle, which rose to 491 feet (150 m) to pass over high ground at Smethwick.

This created a lucrative coal trade, and the rest of the main line, which passed around the Wednesbury Oak Loop, was started in 1770.

It too faced high ground at Coseley, but in this case, a circuitous route was followed to avoid a change in level and any locks.

Water would be fed through a tunnel from the 408-foot (124 m) Broadwaters Level, which was under construction at the time and later became part of the Walsall Canal.

The Ocker Hill Tunnel Branch would end at a sump, from which water would be pumped to feed the 473-foot (144 m) Wolverhampton Level of the Birmingham Canal Navigations.

[9] The tunnel needed to be repaired on a number of occasions, as it was affected by mining subsidence,[8] but remained in use until it was designated as 'abandoned' in 1954 and was filled in at the start of the 1960s, with part of the infilled section being developed as the Glebefields housing estate in Tipton.

The southern section around Bloomfield Road was filled in about a decade later, with the aqueduct over Central Avenue (built in the 1930s) being demolished at this time.

[3] Next to the CRT workshops is the modern Bradley pumping station which draws water from flooded coal mines into the Wolverhampton Level.

Then the canal turned to the north-east on a very wide bend, with a basin to the south, serving Deepfields Works, which was manufacturing sheet iron in 1887.

The whole area was covered by Deepfields colliery, which had also engulfed a boat building yard situated by the next bend in 1887 but gone by 1903.

After the next bend there is a much wider section, which acted as a basin and is the final winding point on the branch outside of the hours when the Canal & River Trust depot is open.

The Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway crossed next, with a basin on the north bank on either side of the bridge, the second serving Capponfield Iron Works.

Banks Bridge was located where Dudley Street crossed, and the line followed a big sweeping arc, to turn to the south.

Pothouse Bridge carries Salop Road over the canal, and then another basin served the Regent Iron Works.