Spon Lane Locks Branch

The Stewart Aqueduct (or Steward Aqueduct) in Smethwick, West Midlands (but formerly in Staffordshire), England carries the BCN Old Main Line Canal (1770) over the BCN New Main Line Canal (1828). Alongside and above the New Main Line Canal is the Stour Valley section of the West Coast Main Line (1852), all three being bridged by the M5 motorway (c. 1970).The Grade II listed aqueduct was built by Thomas Telford in 1829 when he bypassed James Brindley's earlier Birmingham Canal (at the Wolverhampton Level) with his New Main Line (at the Birmingham Level). Both canals contributed to the Industrial Revolution in the Midlands by conveying coal and raw materials to Birmingham, and finished products to the country and ports. It is located at the edge of the former Chance's Glass Works (1824) and is close to Spon Lane Canal Junction, the point where the Wednesbury and Wolverhampton routes of the BCN Old Main Line (former Birmingham Canal) meet.

Bromford Junction (grid reference SO996899) is a canal junction at the foot of the Spon Lane Locks where the Spon Lane Locks Branch meets the BCN New Main Line near Oldbury in the West Midlands, England.

Spon Lane Junction (grid reference SP003898) is the original junction of the Wednesbury Canal and the Birmingham Canal, near Oldbury in the West Midlands, England.

Lyng is a residential area of West Bromwich in the West Midlands of England. It is situated in the south of the town near the border with Oldbury - and part of Oldbury's Ring Road actually borders the southern part of the area. Lyng was developed during the 19th century due to the Industrial Revolution that bought thousands of jobs to the local area. Hundreds of houses were built, but after the Second World War many of these homes were becoming unfit for human habitation. This resulted in extensive demolition work during the 1960s that saw the old homes replaced with new council-owned properties including several high-rise blocks of flats.

Warley was a short-lived county borough and civil parish in the geographical county of Worcestershire, England, forming part of the West Midlands conurbation. It was formed in 1966 by the combination of the existing county borough of Smethwick with the municipal boroughs of Oldbury and Rowley Regis, by recommendation of the Local Government Commission for England. It was abolished just 8 years later in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, with its area passing to the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell.

Chance Brothers and Company was a glassworks originally based in Spon Lane, Smethwick, West Midlands (formerly in Staffordshire), in England. It was a leading glass manufacturer and a pioneer of British glassmaking technology. The Chance family originated in Bromsgrove in Worcestershire as farmers and craftsmen, before setting up business in Smethwick in 1822. Situated between Birmingham and the Black Country in the agglomeration of the Midlands industrial heartland, they took advantage of the skilled workers, canals and many advances that were taking place in the industrial West Midlands at the time. Throughout its almost two centuries of history many changes affected the company which, now in private ownership, continues to function as Chance Glass Limited, a specialised industrial glass manufacturer in Malvern, Worcestershire at one of its small subsidiary factories. The social and economic impact of the company on the region is the subject of a project sponsored by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Spon Lane railway station was a railway station in England, built by the London and North Western Railway on their Stour Valley Line in 1852. It served the western part of Smethwick. The station closed in 1964, although the Rugby-Birmingham-Stafford line/Birmingham Loop from the West Coast Main Line still runs through the site of the station today. There is little evidence of the location of the station on the ground today, and Smethwick Galton Bridge, which opened in 1995 a short distance to the east, now serves the area.

Rood End railway station was on the former Great Western route from Birmingham Snow Hill to Stourbridge Junction. The station opened in 1867 and closed some 18 years later. It was located about one mile north of the current Langley Green railway station. The line is still in use, although there is no sign of the former station.

The Ruskin Pottery was an English art pottery studio founded in 1898 by Edward R. Taylor, the first principal of both the Lincoln School of Art and the Birmingham School of Art, to be run by his son, William Howson Taylor, formerly a student there. It was named after the artist, writer and social thinker John Ruskin, as the Taylors agreed with, and followed the tenets of Ruskin. The pottery was situated at 173-174 Oldbury Road, Smethwick, then in Staffordshire (now part of Sandwell, in the West Midlands county). The pottery produced was notable for the innovative glazes used on a range of brightly coloured pots, vases, buttons, bowls, tea services and jewellery. The ceramic glazes devised by William Howson Taylor included misty soufflé glazes, ice crystal effect glazes - 'crystalline', lustre glazes resembling metallic finishes, and the most highly regarded of all, sang-de-boeuf and flambé glazes which produced a blood red effect. The sang-de-boeuf glazes were created using reduction of copper and iron oxides at high temperature. This was a difficult technique, first developed in China in the 13th century and reinvented by several art potters in Europe in the late 19th century. William Howson Taylor was one of the principal exponents of 'high fired' techniques, producing a range of colours and unique 'fissured' glaze effects. Having exhibited at home and at international fine art exhibitions, the award of a "grand prize" in 1904 at the St Louis International Exhibition, gave them the recognition they needed. Further awards were gained at other international exhibitions, including Milan 1906; Christchurch, New Zealand, 1907; London 1908; Brussels 1910; Turin 1911; Ghent 1913. When the studio closed in 1935 the formulae for the glazes and all the pottery documentation were deliberately destroyed, so that the unique Ruskin products could never be replicated. A large collection of Ruskin Pottery is on public display at Wednesbury Museum and Art Gallery, Wednesbury, about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) north of the factory. The collection is owned by Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council and is managed by Sandwell Museum Service. The site of the factory is now an industrial estate, "Ruskin Place". A blue plaque marking the site, erected by the Smethwick Local History Society, was subsequently stolen.

The Oak House is a timber framed building dating from the early sixteenth century that is located in West Bromwich, England. The Oak House was built in c. 1620, and while the original owners are not known, the family most closely associated with it are the Turtons, who were living there by 1634; the Turtons also built brick additions to the rear of the house during the 1650s. The house remained in the Turton family until 1768 when it passed to William Whyley, the "natural son" of John Turton. Then the Scarlett's tried to steal the land until there was a 20 Vs 10 on the land until the Scarletts lost to the Turtons. It is thought to have taken its name from an oak which stood on the green in front of it and was burnt down around 1800, though it could have been named after the oak woodland that once surrounded the house. The last John Turton advised William Whyley to fell the trees, and in 1768 many were used to make lock-gates for the Birmingham Canal, which was then being built through West Bromwich. Very few oaks remained in 1836. John Wesley preached at the house on two occasions in the late 18th century when it was in the ownership of William Whyley. It remained in the Whyley family until 1837. Following a succession of owners, Reuben Farley (three times Mayor of West Bromwich) purchased the property. Alderman Reuben Farley was one of the towns greatest benefactors. He purchased the Oak House with the intention of making it his private residence, but resolved to present it to the town as a museum. The leading architects in West Bromwich, Messrs. Wood and Kendrick, were employed with the task of restoring the house. Skilled craftsmanship ensured the outstanding quality of the restoration and the museum was formally opened on 25 July 1898; gardens and a bowling green were also laid out. In 1949 the house was protected as a Grade II* listed building. To mark the fiftieth anniversary of the gift, the corporation decided to convert the Oak House into a period house with antique furnishings; the formal reopening took place in 1951.

West Bromwich Central tram stop is a tram stop in the town centre of West Bromwich in the West Midlands, England. It was opened on 31 May 1999 and is situated on West Midlands Metro Line 1. It occupies the site of the former West Bromwich railway station on the Great Western Railway line from Birmingham Snow Hill to Wolverhampton Low Level. The town's main shopping centres are opposite the tram stop, along with the town's main bus station and Sandwell College's main campus. In 2015/16 it was the most heavily used intermediate stop on Line 1.

West Bromwich railway station was a station on the Great Western Railway's London Paddington to Birkenhead via Birmingham Snow Hill line. It opened in 1854 and served the town of West Bromwich in the English West Midlands. It was closed along with the line in 1972.