Smestow Brook - Course

Course

  • 1. Putative source

  • 2. Emergence in Fowler's Park, Park Village, Wolverhampton

  • 3. Flowing through Fowler's Park

  • 4. The brook disappears into a culvert

  • 5. Over the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal by the Dunstall Water Bridge

  • 6. The Dunstall water Bridge viewed from the canal side

  • 7. By Tettenhall Station

  • 8. Confluence with Graiseley Brook in Smestow Valley Local Nature Reserve

  • 9. In farmland near Trescott

  • 10. Trescott Ford, close to the main Wolverhampton to Bridgnorth Road

  • 11. At Furnace Grange.

  • 12. The Smestow at Seisdon in South Staffordshire

  • 13. At Trysull in South Staffordshire

  • 14. At Swindon

  • 15. Greensforge Mill

  • 16. Marina in the canal basin at Ashwood, Staffordshire, where the Dawley Brook enters the Smestow

  • 17. At Gothersley, close to its confluence with the Spittle Brook

  • 18. Confluence with the Stour

  1. The Smestow Brook has its source in the Springfield area, to the north-east of Wolverhampton city centre, in which many of the street names attest to the plentiful supplies of water originally found there. However, the natural springs were contained and culverted as building began here in the 1870s, with large quantities diverted to the Springfield Brewery. Note the street name and the disused brewery, since finally demolished, in the background of the photograph.
  2. Today there is no sign of the Smestow for several hundred metres from its putative source in Springfield. It emerges further north, in the Park Village area, at the edge of Fowler's Park.
  3. The Smestow flows northwards through the park, supplying water for a pool.
  4. The Smestow then turns sharply to the west and disappears into a culvert, which takes it under the major roads and railway lines to the north of Wolverhampton, as well as under the BCN Main Line canal.
  5. It emerges by Wolverhampton Racecourse at Dunstall, where a small lake provides both flood relief and a wildlife haven. It is then taken over the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal by an aqueduct, the Dunstall Water Bridge.
  6. The aqueduct was provided by James Brindley to maintain the flow of water in the Smestow and the Stour, both important sources of power to 18th century industry. The Smestow then descends to the level of the canal.
  7. The Smestow runs down the length of the Smestow Valley Local Nature Reserve, under the main Wolverhampton – Tettenhall road, and past Tettenhall Station, formerly on the Wombourne Branch Line but now a ranger station.
  8. Here the valley is hemmed in on both sides by steep slopes. The brook flows between the Wolverhampton suburbs of Compton and Tettenhall, being joined by the Graiseley Brook and the Finchfield Brook, which drain areas to the south-west of Wolverhampton city centre. It passes through Wightwick, where it is overlooked by Wightwick Manor.
  9. At Wightwick the brook begins to diverge for some kilometres from the route of the canal, just south of the main Wolverhampton to Bridgnorth road. Although mainly inaccessible to the public, the green trail of the river is easily visible for some distance as it snakes across open farmland.
  10. The innocent looking Trescott Ford is notorious for catching unwary motorists after heavy local downpours.
  11. Passing through the hamlet of Furnace Grange, the Smestow takes a turn southward as it is joined from the right by the Black Brook, a considerable tributary.
  12. The brook swings south-east through the village of Seisdon, where it flows between properties, bordering their gardens.
  13. The same is true at Trysull. It then turns definitively south, grazing the south-western edge of Wombourne, where it used to cause major flooding problems until its course was reshaped in the 1990s. Here it is joined by its most important tributary, the Wom Brook. From this point the Smestow again runs within a few hundred metres of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal.
  14. Passing the hamlet of Smestow it runs to Swindon, from where it shadows the canal very closely, sometimes separated from it only by the width of the towpath. Here the reinforcement of the banks (to prevent collapse during flooding) is very evident.
  15. The meandering course crosses open farmland but is mostly screened from it by linear woodland. At Greensforge it passes a former Victorian corn mill, marking the site of one of the most important forges of earlier centuries, but now converted to apartments.
  16. The valley narrows considerably between steep sandstone ridges after the river passes through Ashwood. The marina at Ashwood coincides with the descent of the Dawley Brook to join the Smestow. This confluence provided Roman soldiers with a natural moat to protect one of the forts, which are generally named after Greensforge.
  17. At Gothersley, just south of Ashwood, the Spittle Brook joins from the right. Here the two streams water a small but valuable area of wetland.
  18. Finally, at Prestwood, close to Stourton and Kinver, the Smestow enters the Stour. After rain, the darker material from upstream shows up very clearly as it flows into the sandy Stour. The Stour swings south, taking the Smestow's course, to join the River Severn at Stourport-on-Severn: its waters ultimately discharge into the Atlantic Ocean via the Bristol Channel.

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