Fradley Junction - Location

Location

On the Trent and Mersey, the junction is in the middle of a five-lock flight, with Junction Lock just below it and Middle Lock a little further above it. On the Coventry Canal, the pound is level to Fazeley Junction and beyond. Huddlesford Junction where the Wyrley and Essington Canal joined the Coventry Canal is 4 miles (6.4 km) away. It closed in 1954, but may be reopened, as the closed section, now renamed the Lichfield Canal is the subject of an active restoration campaign. At 5.5 miles (8.9 km) is Whittington Brook, where the waterway is officially part of the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal. The canal remains level for another 5.5 miles (8.9 km) to Fazeley Junction, and for a further 3 miles (4.8 km) along the Birmingham and Fazeley to Curdworth Bottom Lock or 1.4 miles (2.3 km) along the Coventry Canal to Glascote Bottom Lock.

A small settlement, popular with gongoozlers and other visitors, has developed there including the Swan Inn, two shops and two cafes. Fradley Pool Nature Reserve is adjacent to the junction, and is named after the local village of Fradley approximately a mile away.

British Waterways have an office there which can advise on mooring and other boating services. The Swan, together with an attached warehouse, both of which date from the 1770s, and an attached cottage dating from the late nineteenth century form a group and are grade II listed structures. Junction Lock and Middle Lock are both in nearly original condition, apart from modern gates, and are listed structures, as are a terrace of three workers cottages dating from the early nineteenth century, the mid-nineteenth century wharf house and a range of red-brick workshops dating from 1872.