Dudley Canal
Encyclopedia
The Dudley Canal is a canal
passing though Dudley
in the West Midlands
of England
. The canal is part of the English and Welsh connected network of navigable inland waterways, and in particular forms part of the popular Stourport Ring
narrowboat
cruising route.
The first short section, which connected to the Stourbridge Canal
, opened in 1779, and this was connected through the Dudley Tunnel
to the Birmingham Canal system in 1792. Almost immediately, work started on an extension, called Line No. 2, which ran through another long tunnel at Lapal
, to reach the Birmingham and Worcester Canal. This was completed in 1798, but significant trade had to wait until the Birmingham and Worcester was completed in 1802. In 1846, the company amalgamated with the Birmingham Canal Navigations
, and various improvements followed, including the Netherton Tunnel, of a similar length to the Dudley Tunnel, but much bigger, with towpaths on both sides and gas lighting. It was the last canal tunnel built in England.
Subsidence from coal mining was a significant problem for much of the life of the canal. The Lapal Tunnel was regularly affected, and a section near Blackbrook Junction fell into mine workings in 1894. The route was restored, but the short Two Locks Line nearby was abandoned in 1909, and the Lapal Tunnel, which has used a pump and stop-locks to create flows to assist the boats in their passage, suffered the same fate in 1917. Most of the canal was abandoned in the 1960s, but a committee was formed, which became the Dudley Canal Trust, and restoration took place, culminating in the reopening of Dudley Tunnel in 1973. Lapal Tunnel remains closed, and although the Lapal Tunnel Trust originally campaigned for it to be reopened, they have modified their plans to include a surface route, following the conclusion of an engineering study.
to the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal
(and hence the River Severn
, River Trent
, and River Mersey
) was the Birmingham Canal. This joined the Staffordshire and Worcestershire at Aldersley
, near Wolverhampton
. The Dudley Canal was seen as part of a scheme to transport coal from coalfields near Dudley to Stourbridge, where it would be used for industry. Limestone
and ironstone
were other potential cargos. A meeting was held in Stourbridge in February 1775, at which Robert Whitworth was commissioned to survey a route, and the whole cost of the project was promised. The principal promoter was Lord Dudley, and the route ran from Dudley to Stourton
on the Staffordshire and Worcestershire. A bill
was placed before Parliament in the spring, but there was opposition from the Birmingham Canal Company, and the promoters withdrew it. They then split the canal into two parts, and presented bills for the Stourbridge Canal
and the Dudley Canal, both of which became Acts of Parliament
on 2 April 1776, despite further opposition from Birmingham.
Thomas Dadford, Sr.
, was engaged as the engineer and surveyor, and acted in this capacity until 1783, after which he was employed more informally. The junction between the Dudley canal and the Stourbridge canal would be at the foot of the 9-lock Black Delph flight. The Act allowed the company to raise £7,000, and this had been subscribed by July 1778, but was insufficient to finance the work. The company continued to call money on the shares, and raised £9,200 in this way, with each £100 share being worth £128. Construction work was completed by 24 June 1779, apart from a water supply reservoir at Pensnett Chase
, although little traffic used the canal until the Stourbridge Canal was completed in December of that year. As built, the canal terminated at two basins at Great Ox Leasow and Little Ox Leasow, both built on land owned by T. T. Foley, one of the main shareholders.
In May 1789, there were further issues, when it was discovered that the tunnel was not straight. Pratt resigned, and Josiah Clowes
was engaged to complete the project. He finished the tunnel, built a new junction with the Birmingham Canal at Tipton, and a reservoir at Gad's Green. Completion was announced at a shareholder's meeting on 25 June 1792, and the official opening was on 15 October.
With the tunnel just finished, a meeting was held in Birmingham on 31 August 1792, at which a canal from Birmingham to serve the collieries at Netherton was proposed. The following day, the canal company proposed their own version of a similar canal, and following meetings with the Birmingham and Worcester Canal, whose line it would join, it was agreed that those who had been at the meeting would raise £61,500, and that the remaining £28,500 required would be subscibed by existing Dudley shareholders. The line would be constructed at the same level as the Dudley Canal at Park Head. A tunnel of 3795 yards (3,470.1 m) would be required at Lapal, and a shorter one of 537 yards (491 m) at Gosty Hill. Another short tunnel was to be built at Halesowen, but became a cutting and bridge when work began. The length of the canal was to be 10.8 miles (17.4 km), for which the working capital would be £90,000, with an additional £40,000 if required. John Snape carried out a survey, and despite opposition from the Birmingham Canal, the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, and a contingent of iron foundries in Wolverhampton
, an Act of Parliament was obtained in 1793. The Stratford-upon-Avon Canal
was authorised soon afterwards, which would provide a connection to London.
The original route was renamed "Line no 1" to distinguish it from the new "Line no 2" which linked the canal at Park Head Junction (near Netherton
) to Halesowen
, and then via the tunnel
at Lapal
to the Worcester and Birmingham Canal
at Selly Oak
, Birmingham. Work began in early 1794 with Josiah Clowes as engineer and William Underhill as resident engineer. Clowes died in early 1796, and Underhill managed the whole project for a year, after which Robert Whitworth carried out an inspection. He was satisfied, and Underhill continued to manage the construction of the tunnel and an aqueduct near the junction with the No.1 Line, while management of the rest of the project was handled by Benjamin Timmins. The section from Netherton to Halesowen had been built about 1 foot (0.3048 m) too high, but this was rectified and the wharf at Halesowen opened for business in early 1797.
Tunnelling proved difficult. Thirty shafts were dug, to provide multiple work faces, but
much of the route was through sand, and large quantities of water had to be pumped out of the workings, using three steam engines. The £90,000 had been spent by May 1796, and additional calls on the shares were used to raise the extra £40,000 authorised. Another Act of Parliament was obtained in December 1796, to authorise a further £40,000, and by the time the new route was completed on 28 May 1798, a total of £162.50 had been called on each £100 share. The original shares were worth £118.75, and financial matters were simplified by issuing additional shares so that they all had a nominal value of £100. Lord Dudley resigned from the committee at this point, having steered the company through twenty-two year of construction. The working capital had risen from just £7,000 to over £200,000 in this period, and no dividends had been paid. Traffic through the new tunnel was meagre until 1802, when the Stratford Canal provided a link to the Warwick and Birmingham Canal (later the Grand Union Canal
), and hence to London. The first dividend was paid in 1804, and although dividends were never high, they averaged around 4 per cent between 1826 and 1844.
Incentives to aid passage through the Lapal Tunnel began in 1820. Any boat carrying over 15 tons could claim one shilling and sixpence (7.5p) for hiring extra leggers. This was increased to three shillings (15p) in 1829, providing the boat was carrying 18 tons. In 1841, the superintendent of the canal, Thomas Brewin, devised a scheme which used a steam pumping engine and stop locks at either end of the tunnel to create a flow, which assisted the movement of the boats. This proved successful, for it continued to be used until 1914, and Brewin was awarded plate worth £50 in recognition of his contribution. In 1838, a 400 yards (365.8 m) cut was made at Lodge Farm, to divert the canal and make room for a stoage reservoir and pumping engine, and the short Withymoor branch was built in 1842.
In 1813, the Birmingham Canal had suggested amalgamation with the Dudley Canal, as a way to prevent continued reductions in tolls, but no action was taken. In 1845, with a number of railway schemes threatening the profitability of the canal, a new approach from the Birmingham Canal Navigations was viewed more favourably, and a merger was agreed on 8 October 1845. An Act of Parliament to authorise it was obtained in the following year, and the Dudley Canal ceased to be an independent concern on 27 July 1846.
The Birmingham Canal Navigations carried out a number of improvements in the 1850s. The Netherton Tunnel, running parallel to the Dudley Tunnel but further to the east, was begun on 31 December 1855, and completed on 20 August 1858. It was the last canal tunnel to be built in England, and compared to the Dudley Tunnel it was huge, being around 27 feet (8.2 m) from side to side at water level, with a towpath on both sides. It was found necessary to build an invert through the tunnel, because of unstable ground caused by mining below its line, and large retaining walls were required at each end. As a result, the cost rose from £238,000 to £302,000, and a tunnel toll was charged to help recoup the cost. Gas lights provided illumination, which were later replaced by electric lighting. The short Two Locks Line was built to reduce the distance travelled by boats passing through the Lapal Tunnel and heading for the Stourbridge Canal. Brewins Tunnel, which had been built on the Lodge Farm Cut in 1838 was made into a cutting, and the Delph Flight of nine locks were rebuilt, the middle seven being replaced by six new locks. A loop to the south of the Netherton Tunnel at Bumble Hole was eliminated by making a new cut.
Dudley Tunnel was closed in 1884, to allow the south end to be rebuilt. The work was completed and the tunnel was reopened on 23 April 1885. It saw considerable traffic, with coal and limestone passing southwards, and blast furnace slag making the return journey. Subsidence affected the canal in 1894, when a section near Blackbrook Junction, including part of the Two Lock Line, fell into mine workings. The canal remained closed for some time while repairs were made. Blowers Green Lock was built near the junction of Line No. 1 and Line No. 2 at this time, to replace two original locks.
A wharf was constructed for the Birmingham Battery and Metal Company
in Selly Oak
.
and Boshboil Arm after a collapse of the canal severed part of the loop. Having suffered from mining subsidence for years, the two-locks line was closed in March 1909 and later filled in. The line is now under a late 20th century industrial estate, and only the junctions, towpath bridges and a few yards of watered but unnavigable canal remain.
After repeated collapses, Lapal Tunnel was abandoned in June 1917 leaving a short stretch navigable between Selly Oak and a brick works at California until 1953, after which it was drained and filled in.
and the IWPS protested, but the protests were ignored, and closure occurred in 1962. Despite this, the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal
Society explored the tunnel in mid-1963, after which a Dudley Tunnel Committee began running boat trips through it. These proved popular, and the Committee became the Dudley Canal Tunnel Preservation Society on 1 January 1964, eventually becoming the Dudley Canal Trust in 1970.
On 26 June 1970, the Inland Waterways Amenity Advisory Council, a government committee created in May 1968, held a press conference at which recommendations about the future of "remainder" waterways were made to the British Waterways Board. "Remainder" was a classification that indicated there was no obvious commercial future for the waterway. The recommendations included the returning to "cruiseway" status of nine canals, which included the Dudley Canal. The Waterways Recovery Group, formed in 1970 to co-ordinate volunteer involvement in canal restoration, began work on the canal later that year, raising public awareness of the canal and its potential as an amenity. In December 1970, the Birmingham Canal Navigations Working Party produced a report, which was published in early 1971. They recommended to the British Waterways Board that much of the Birmingham Canal system should be retained. Canals were grouped into four categories, the first two of which needed little action or expenditure to make them navigable again. The Dudley Canal was in the third category, where it was suggested that the local authorities through which the canals ran should be included in restoration plans. This plan of action had formed part of the 1968 Transport Act, and was adopted soon afterwards for the Dudley Tunnel Branch.
The renamed Dudley Canal Trust began to restore the canal. Over the weekend of 26-27 September 1971, they organised "Dudley Dig and Cruise", at which over 600 people cleared a lock chanber and two lock pounds of debris. In early 1972, Dudley Corporation announced that they would provide half of the cost of restoration, and that the Park Head end of the Tunnel would be landscaped as part of a derelict land regeneration scheme. Some 50,000 tons of mud were removed from the channel by dredging, and the locks reopened later that year. The Dudley tunnel was reopened at Easter 1973, at a ceremony attended by around 14,000 visitors. A short arm north of the tunnel was restored in 1977, as part of the Black Country Museum project. Funding for this was provided by the Job Creation Scheme run by the Manpower Services Commission
, as a way to provide work and training for the unemployed. The Trust were able to use the museum as a base for their electrically powered trip boat, which by then had taken over 25,000 people into the tunnel since the start of trips in 1964.
Plans for the No. 2 Line moved forwards in 1980, when a boat rally was held at Hawne Basin, a former Great Western Railway
interchange, where tubes were moved from boats to trains. The railway had closed in 1967, and the basin had been unused since then, but thirty boats attended the rally, and the Combeswood Canal Trust developed plans for turning it into a marina.
Part of the Lapal Tunnel was unearthed during the construction of the M5 motorway
during the 1960s and the void was filled with concrete. The Lapal Canal Trust is working on the restoration of parts of the lost canal and to replace the tunnels with a completely new line, passing over the hill.
. These are usually known as the Nine Locks, even though they were rebuilt in 1858 as a flight of eight. There is a well-restored stable block by lock 3, and a grade II listed lock keepers house near the line of the old locks, which was built in 1779, probably to a standard design by Thomas Dadford. Above the locks, the canal passes Merry Hill Shopping Centre
, built on the site of Round Oak Steelworks
after its closure in 1983. Although it has been closed for more than 100 years, a cast-iron footbridge, built in 1858, still carries the towpath over the former entrance to the Two Locks Line. An embankment on the side of a hill carries the canal on to Blowers Green Lock, which is the deepest lock on the Birmingham Canal Navigations, as it replaced two earlier locks which were affected by subsidence. Nearby is a pumphouse, managed by the Dudley Canal Trust. At Park Head Junction, Line No. 2 turns off to the south-east, but the original line continues through three locks to a junction with the remains of the Pensnett Canal and the Grazebrook Arm, and into the southern portal of Dudley Tunnel. At the far end is the Black Country Museum, which offers boat trips into the tunnel and associated mines.
Following Line No. 2 from Park Head Junction, the canal passes around Netherton Hill, where there are mass graves for cholera victims in St. Andrew's churchyard, after which is passes through a cutting which is part of the cut made in 1838 to accommodate the construction of Lodge Farm Reservoir. Brewins Tunnel was built here, but was uncapped after 20 years. A short arm managed by the Withymoor Island Trust is located on the west bank and is used for moorings. Beyond it, the Bumble Hole Branch partially encircles Bumble Hole, a water-filled former clay pit. This was once the main line, but the embanked route which cuts off the loop was built as part of the Netherton Tunnel project. Another part of the old loop, the Boshboil Arm, turns to the west opposite Windmill End Junction, where to the north lies the southern portal of Netherton Tunnel. Both this portal and the north portal are grade II listed structures.
From Windmill End Junction, Line No. 2 continues towards the closed Lapal Tunnel. This was once an area of industry, but most of it has gone, to be replaced by housing estates, light industrial units, and playing fields. At the northern end of Gosty Tunnel, a layby marks the site when a tug was once kept to pull barges through the tunnel. Beyond lies Hawne Basin, refurbished as a marina after its use as a railway interchange ceased in 1967. The head of navigation is just beyond the basin entrance. Much of the remaining route to the tunnel mouth is traceable, and the Lapal Tunnel Trust have carried out some restoration, as they have also done on the section from the eastern portal to the Worcester and Birmingham Canal at Selly Oak.
Canal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
passing though Dudley
Dudley
Dudley is a large town in the West Midlands county of England. At the 2001 census , the Dudley Urban Sub Area had a population of 194,919, making it the 26th largest settlement in England, the second largest town in the United Kingdom behind Reading, and the largest settlement in the UK without...
in the West Midlands
West Midlands (county)
The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...
of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The canal is part of the English and Welsh connected network of navigable inland waterways, and in particular forms part of the popular Stourport Ring
Stourport Ring
The Stourport Ring is a connected series of canals forming a circuit, or canal ring, around Worcestershire, The Black Country and Birmingham in central England...
narrowboat
Narrowboat
A narrowboat or narrow boat is a boat of a distinctive design, made to fit the narrow canals of Great Britain.In the context of British Inland Waterways, "narrow boat" refers to the original working boats built in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries for carrying goods on the narrow canals...
cruising route.
The first short section, which connected to the Stourbridge Canal
Stourbridge Canal
The Stourbridge Canal is a canal in the West Midlands of England. It links the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal with the Dudley Canal, and hence, via the Birmingham Canal Navigations, to Birmingham and the Black Country.-History:The Stourbridge and Dudley canals were originally proposed as a...
, opened in 1779, and this was connected through the Dudley Tunnel
Dudley Tunnel
Dudley Tunnel is a canal tunnel on the Dudley Canal Line No 1, England. At about long, it is now the second longest canal tunnel on the UK canal network today....
to the Birmingham Canal system in 1792. Almost immediately, work started on an extension, called Line No. 2, which ran through another long tunnel at Lapal
Lapal Tunnel
The Lapal Tunnel is a disused canal tunnel on the five mile dry section of the Dudley No. 2 Canal in the West Midlands, England....
, to reach the Birmingham and Worcester Canal. This was completed in 1798, but significant trade had to wait until the Birmingham and Worcester was completed in 1802. In 1846, the company amalgamated with the Birmingham Canal Navigations
Birmingham Canal Navigations
Birmingham Canal Navigations is a network of navigable canals connecting Birmingham, Wolverhampton, and the eastern part of the Black Country...
, and various improvements followed, including the Netherton Tunnel, of a similar length to the Dudley Tunnel, but much bigger, with towpaths on both sides and gas lighting. It was the last canal tunnel built in England.
Subsidence from coal mining was a significant problem for much of the life of the canal. The Lapal Tunnel was regularly affected, and a section near Blackbrook Junction fell into mine workings in 1894. The route was restored, but the short Two Locks Line nearby was abandoned in 1909, and the Lapal Tunnel, which has used a pump and stop-locks to create flows to assist the boats in their passage, suffered the same fate in 1917. Most of the canal was abandoned in the 1960s, but a committee was formed, which became the Dudley Canal Trust, and restoration took place, culminating in the reopening of Dudley Tunnel in 1973. Lapal Tunnel remains closed, and although the Lapal Tunnel Trust originally campaigned for it to be reopened, they have modified their plans to include a surface route, following the conclusion of an engineering study.
History
The first canal connecting BirminghamBirmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
to the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal
Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal
The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal is a narrow navigable canal in the English Midlands, passing through the counties of Staffordshire and Worcestershire....
(and hence the River Severn
River Severn
The River Severn is the longest river in Great Britain, at about , but the second longest on the British Isles, behind the River Shannon. It rises at an altitude of on Plynlimon, Ceredigion near Llanidloes, Powys, in the Cambrian Mountains of mid Wales...
, River Trent
River Trent
The River Trent is one of the major rivers of England. Its source is in Staffordshire on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through the Midlands until it joins the River Ouse at Trent Falls to form the Humber Estuary, which empties into the North Sea below Hull and Immingham.The Trent...
, and River Mersey
River Mersey
The River Mersey is a river in North West England. It is around long, stretching from Stockport, Greater Manchester, and ending at Liverpool Bay, Merseyside. For centuries, it formed part of the ancient county divide between Lancashire and Cheshire....
) was the Birmingham Canal. This joined the Staffordshire and Worcestershire at Aldersley
Aldersley
Aldersley is a small suburb of Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It is north-west of Wolverhampton city centre, within the Tettenhall Regis ward...
, near Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
. The Dudley Canal was seen as part of a scheme to transport coal from coalfields near Dudley to Stourbridge, where it would be used for industry. Limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
and ironstone
Ironstone
Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical repacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron compound from which iron either can be or once was smelted commercially. This term is customarily restricted to hard coarsely...
were other potential cargos. A meeting was held in Stourbridge in February 1775, at which Robert Whitworth was commissioned to survey a route, and the whole cost of the project was promised. The principal promoter was Lord Dudley, and the route ran from Dudley to Stourton
Stourton, Staffordshire
Stourton is a hamlet in Staffordshire, England a few miles to the northwest of Stourbridge. There is a fair amount of dispute over the pronunciation, being pronounced 'stower-ton', 'stir-ton' or 'store-ton' by different people from the area. The nearest sizeable villages are Wollaston and Kinver, ...
on the Staffordshire and Worcestershire. A bill
Bill (proposed law)
A bill is a proposed law under consideration by a legislature. A bill does not become law until it is passed by the legislature and, in most cases, approved by the executive. Once a bill has been enacted into law, it is called an act or a statute....
was placed before Parliament in the spring, but there was opposition from the Birmingham Canal Company, and the promoters withdrew it. They then split the canal into two parts, and presented bills for the Stourbridge Canal
Stourbridge Canal
The Stourbridge Canal is a canal in the West Midlands of England. It links the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal with the Dudley Canal, and hence, via the Birmingham Canal Navigations, to Birmingham and the Black Country.-History:The Stourbridge and Dudley canals were originally proposed as a...
and the Dudley Canal, both of which became Acts of Parliament
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
on 2 April 1776, despite further opposition from Birmingham.
Thomas Dadford, Sr.
Thomas Dadford
Thomas Dadford, Senior was an English canal engineer, as were his sons, Thomas Dadford Junior, John Dadford and James Dadford.He probably originated from Stewponey or Stourton near Stourbridge. He started as one of James Brindley's many pupil-assistants, in which capacity he worked on the...
, was engaged as the engineer and surveyor, and acted in this capacity until 1783, after which he was employed more informally. The junction between the Dudley canal and the Stourbridge canal would be at the foot of the 9-lock Black Delph flight. The Act allowed the company to raise £7,000, and this had been subscribed by July 1778, but was insufficient to finance the work. The company continued to call money on the shares, and raised £9,200 in this way, with each £100 share being worth £128. Construction work was completed by 24 June 1779, apart from a water supply reservoir at Pensnett Chase
Pensnett Chase
Pensnett Chase was an area of land owned by the Lords of Dudley Castle in the parishes of Kingswinford and Dudley . As a chase, it was reserved for them to hunt game in...
, although little traffic used the canal until the Stourbridge Canal was completed in December of that year. As built, the canal terminated at two basins at Great Ox Leasow and Little Ox Leasow, both built on land owned by T. T. Foley, one of the main shareholders.
Dudley Tunnel
In 1784, the Stourbridge and Dudley companies approached the Birmingham Canal about a junction. This would involve building extra locks at Park Head, and a tunnel which would link to Lord Dudley's existing mining tunnel, which joined the Birmingham Canal at Tipton. The Birmingham company agreed, but imposed heavy tolls on traffic using the junction, to compensate for the loss of revenue of goods which would formerly have travelled via Aldersely Junction. Lord Dudley agreed to sell his tunnel to the Dudley Canal Company, but never received any payment, as the beneficial tolls and usefulness of the new canal were deemed to be adequate compensation. An Act of Parliament was obtained in July 1785 to authorise the work, which had been surveyed by John Snape and John Bull, and checked by Dadford, who then became consulting engineer. Abraham Lees was the on-site engineering manager, and the main contract for the tunnel went to John Pinkerton. Its width was to be 9.25 feet (2.8 m), with 7 feet (2.1 m) of headroom and 5.5 feet (1.7 m) of water. The contract specified that it should be finished by 25 March 1788. In 1787, Pinkerton's work was thought to be unsatisfactory, and work stopped while arguments took place. Dadford was paid off, Pinkerton had to pay half of his £4,000 bond, and work restarted with Isaac Pratt in charge. He was a member of both the Stourbridge and the Dudley committees. Lees retained his position.In May 1789, there were further issues, when it was discovered that the tunnel was not straight. Pratt resigned, and Josiah Clowes
Josiah Clowes
Josiah Clowes was a noted civil engineer and canal builder.Clowes was appointed head engineer, surveyor and carpenter to the Thames and Severn Canal in 1783 to assist Robert Whitworth. Clowes became resident engineer and was paid £300 per year. Clowes' work on the canal developed him a reputation...
was engaged to complete the project. He finished the tunnel, built a new junction with the Birmingham Canal at Tipton, and a reservoir at Gad's Green. Completion was announced at a shareholder's meeting on 25 June 1792, and the official opening was on 15 October.
Line No. 2
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
, an Act of Parliament was obtained in 1793. The Stratford-upon-Avon Canal
Stratford-upon-Avon Canal
The Stratford-upon-Avon Canal is a canal in the south Midlands of England.The canal, which was built between 1793 and 1816, runs for in total, and consists of two sections. The dividing line is at Kingswood Junction, which gives access to the Grand Union Canal...
was authorised soon afterwards, which would provide a connection to London.
The original route was renamed "Line no 1" to distinguish it from the new "Line no 2" which linked the canal at Park Head Junction (near Netherton
Netherton, West Midlands
Netherton is a town in the West Midlands within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. It lies around south of the town of Dudley and north of Cradley Heath...
) to Halesowen
Halesowen
Halesowen is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands, England.The population, as measured by the United Kingdom Census 2001, was 55,273...
, and then via the tunnel
Lapal Tunnel
The Lapal Tunnel is a disused canal tunnel on the five mile dry section of the Dudley No. 2 Canal in the West Midlands, England....
at Lapal
Lapal
Lapal is a residential area of Halesowen in the West Midlands of England . It is situated in the east of the town on the border with Birmingham and is served by Lapal Primary School and Leasowes Community College. Most of the houses were built between 1930 and 1980...
to the Worcester and Birmingham Canal
Worcester and Birmingham Canal
The Worcester and Birmingham Canal is a canal linking Birmingham and Worcester in England. It starts in Worcester, as an 'offshoot' of the River Severn and ends in Gas Street Basin in Birmingham. It is long....
at Selly Oak
Selly Oak
Selly Oak is a residential suburban district in south-west Birmingham, England. The suburb is bordered by Bournbrook and Selly Park to the north-east, Edgbaston and Harborne to the north, Weoley Castle and Weoley Hill to the west, and Bournville to the south...
, Birmingham. Work began in early 1794 with Josiah Clowes as engineer and William Underhill as resident engineer. Clowes died in early 1796, and Underhill managed the whole project for a year, after which Robert Whitworth carried out an inspection. He was satisfied, and Underhill continued to manage the construction of the tunnel and an aqueduct near the junction with the No.1 Line, while management of the rest of the project was handled by Benjamin Timmins. The section from Netherton to Halesowen had been built about 1 foot (0.3048 m) too high, but this was rectified and the wharf at Halesowen opened for business in early 1797.
Tunnelling proved difficult. Thirty shafts were dug, to provide multiple work faces, but
much of the route was through sand, and large quantities of water had to be pumped out of the workings, using three steam engines. The £90,000 had been spent by May 1796, and additional calls on the shares were used to raise the extra £40,000 authorised. Another Act of Parliament was obtained in December 1796, to authorise a further £40,000, and by the time the new route was completed on 28 May 1798, a total of £162.50 had been called on each £100 share. The original shares were worth £118.75, and financial matters were simplified by issuing additional shares so that they all had a nominal value of £100. Lord Dudley resigned from the committee at this point, having steered the company through twenty-two year of construction. The working capital had risen from just £7,000 to over £200,000 in this period, and no dividends had been paid. Traffic through the new tunnel was meagre until 1802, when the Stratford Canal provided a link to the Warwick and Birmingham Canal (later the Grand Union Canal
Grand Union Canal
The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. Its main line connects London and Birmingham, stretching for 137 miles with 166 locks...
), and hence to London. The first dividend was paid in 1804, and although dividends were never high, they averaged around 4 per cent between 1826 and 1844.
Development
Dudley Tunnel was popular with tourists, and was mentioned is guides to Dudley Castle written by The Rev. Luke Booker in 1825 and W. Harris is 1845. There were complaints that the tunnel was often blocked by unattended limestone boats, but this problem seems to have been resolved by 1799, although there is no mention of how this was achieved. The tunnel was also affected by subsidence from local coal mining, and was regularly closed to allow repairs to be made. Working a loaded boat through the tunnel took about 4 hours, and this caused congestion. Various ways were considered to alleviate this, including rope haulage in 1840, but the cost of £6,000 was deemed to be too expensive. Subsidence in the Lapal tunnel was worse, and it was closed twice in 1801, and for four months in 1805.Incentives to aid passage through the Lapal Tunnel began in 1820. Any boat carrying over 15 tons could claim one shilling and sixpence (7.5p) for hiring extra leggers. This was increased to three shillings (15p) in 1829, providing the boat was carrying 18 tons. In 1841, the superintendent of the canal, Thomas Brewin, devised a scheme which used a steam pumping engine and stop locks at either end of the tunnel to create a flow, which assisted the movement of the boats. This proved successful, for it continued to be used until 1914, and Brewin was awarded plate worth £50 in recognition of his contribution. In 1838, a 400 yards (365.8 m) cut was made at Lodge Farm, to divert the canal and make room for a stoage reservoir and pumping engine, and the short Withymoor branch was built in 1842.
In 1813, the Birmingham Canal had suggested amalgamation with the Dudley Canal, as a way to prevent continued reductions in tolls, but no action was taken. In 1845, with a number of railway schemes threatening the profitability of the canal, a new approach from the Birmingham Canal Navigations was viewed more favourably, and a merger was agreed on 8 October 1845. An Act of Parliament to authorise it was obtained in the following year, and the Dudley Canal ceased to be an independent concern on 27 July 1846.
The Birmingham Canal Navigations carried out a number of improvements in the 1850s. The Netherton Tunnel, running parallel to the Dudley Tunnel but further to the east, was begun on 31 December 1855, and completed on 20 August 1858. It was the last canal tunnel to be built in England, and compared to the Dudley Tunnel it was huge, being around 27 feet (8.2 m) from side to side at water level, with a towpath on both sides. It was found necessary to build an invert through the tunnel, because of unstable ground caused by mining below its line, and large retaining walls were required at each end. As a result, the cost rose from £238,000 to £302,000, and a tunnel toll was charged to help recoup the cost. Gas lights provided illumination, which were later replaced by electric lighting. The short Two Locks Line was built to reduce the distance travelled by boats passing through the Lapal Tunnel and heading for the Stourbridge Canal. Brewins Tunnel, which had been built on the Lodge Farm Cut in 1838 was made into a cutting, and the Delph Flight of nine locks were rebuilt, the middle seven being replaced by six new locks. A loop to the south of the Netherton Tunnel at Bumble Hole was eliminated by making a new cut.
Dudley Tunnel was closed in 1884, to allow the south end to be rebuilt. The work was completed and the tunnel was reopened on 23 April 1885. It saw considerable traffic, with coal and limestone passing southwards, and blast furnace slag making the return journey. Subsidence affected the canal in 1894, when a section near Blackbrook Junction, including part of the Two Lock Line, fell into mine workings. The canal remained closed for some time while repairs were made. Blowers Green Lock was built near the junction of Line No. 1 and Line No. 2 at this time, to replace two original locks.
A wharf was constructed for the Birmingham Battery and Metal Company
Birmingham Battery and Metal Company
The Birmingham Battery and Metal Company was founded in 1836 with a factory in Digbeth, Birmingham.The company did not make batteries, but the use of the word battery in the name refers to a method of metal production and forming .-History:In 1850 the company was described as "manufacturers of...
in Selly Oak
Selly Oak
Selly Oak is a residential suburban district in south-west Birmingham, England. The suburb is bordered by Bournbrook and Selly Park to the north-east, Edgbaston and Harborne to the north, Weoley Castle and Weoley Hill to the west, and Bournville to the south...
.
Decline
The original line at Bumble Hole became the Bumble Hole Branch CanalBumble Hole Branch Canal
The present day Bumble Hole Branch Canal and Boshboil Branch surround Bumble Hole, a water-filled clay pit, in Bumble Hole and Warren's Hall Nature Reserve, Rowley Regis, West Midlands, England. They formed a looped part of the original Dudley No...
and Boshboil Arm after a collapse of the canal severed part of the loop. Having suffered from mining subsidence for years, the two-locks line was closed in March 1909 and later filled in. The line is now under a late 20th century industrial estate, and only the junctions, towpath bridges and a few yards of watered but unnavigable canal remain.
After repeated collapses, Lapal Tunnel was abandoned in June 1917 leaving a short stretch navigable between Selly Oak and a brick works at California until 1953, after which it was drained and filled in.
Restoration
After a period of disuse following nationalisation in 1948, the first suggestions that the canal and others should be restored were made by the newly formed Inland Waterways Protection Society (IWPS) in 1959. However, the British Transport Commission presented their annual Bill in 1961, in which the Dudley Canal and Tunnel were scheduled to be closed immediately, with no provision to safeguard the route for future restoration. Both the Inland Waterways AssociationInland Waterways Association
The Inland Waterways Association was formed in 1946 as a registered charity in the United Kingdom to campaign for the conservation, use, maintenance, restoration and sensitive development of British Canals and river navigations....
and the IWPS protested, but the protests were ignored, and closure occurred in 1962. Despite this, the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal
Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal
The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal is a narrow navigable canal in the English Midlands, passing through the counties of Staffordshire and Worcestershire....
Society explored the tunnel in mid-1963, after which a Dudley Tunnel Committee began running boat trips through it. These proved popular, and the Committee became the Dudley Canal Tunnel Preservation Society on 1 January 1964, eventually becoming the Dudley Canal Trust in 1970.
On 26 June 1970, the Inland Waterways Amenity Advisory Council, a government committee created in May 1968, held a press conference at which recommendations about the future of "remainder" waterways were made to the British Waterways Board. "Remainder" was a classification that indicated there was no obvious commercial future for the waterway. The recommendations included the returning to "cruiseway" status of nine canals, which included the Dudley Canal. The Waterways Recovery Group, formed in 1970 to co-ordinate volunteer involvement in canal restoration, began work on the canal later that year, raising public awareness of the canal and its potential as an amenity. In December 1970, the Birmingham Canal Navigations Working Party produced a report, which was published in early 1971. They recommended to the British Waterways Board that much of the Birmingham Canal system should be retained. Canals were grouped into four categories, the first two of which needed little action or expenditure to make them navigable again. The Dudley Canal was in the third category, where it was suggested that the local authorities through which the canals ran should be included in restoration plans. This plan of action had formed part of the 1968 Transport Act, and was adopted soon afterwards for the Dudley Tunnel Branch.
The renamed Dudley Canal Trust began to restore the canal. Over the weekend of 26-27 September 1971, they organised "Dudley Dig and Cruise", at which over 600 people cleared a lock chanber and two lock pounds of debris. In early 1972, Dudley Corporation announced that they would provide half of the cost of restoration, and that the Park Head end of the Tunnel would be landscaped as part of a derelict land regeneration scheme. Some 50,000 tons of mud were removed from the channel by dredging, and the locks reopened later that year. The Dudley tunnel was reopened at Easter 1973, at a ceremony attended by around 14,000 visitors. A short arm north of the tunnel was restored in 1977, as part of the Black Country Museum project. Funding for this was provided by the Job Creation Scheme run by the Manpower Services Commission
Manpower Services Commission
The Manpower Services Commission was a non-departmental public body of the Department of Employment Group in the United Kingdom created by Edward Heath's Conservative Government in 1973. The MSC had a remit to co-ordinate employment and training services in the UK through a ten-member commission...
, as a way to provide work and training for the unemployed. The Trust were able to use the museum as a base for their electrically powered trip boat, which by then had taken over 25,000 people into the tunnel since the start of trips in 1964.
Plans for the No. 2 Line moved forwards in 1980, when a boat rally was held at Hawne Basin, a former Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
interchange, where tubes were moved from boats to trains. The railway had closed in 1967, and the basin had been unused since then, but thirty boats attended the rally, and the Combeswood Canal Trust developed plans for turning it into a marina.
Part of the Lapal Tunnel was unearthed during the construction of the M5 motorway
M5 motorway
The M5 is a motorway in England. It runs from a junction with the M6 at West Bromwich near Birmingham to Exeter in Devon. Heading south-west, the M5 runs east of West Bromwich and west of Birmingham through Sandwell Valley...
during the 1960s and the void was filled with concrete. The Lapal Canal Trust is working on the restoration of parts of the lost canal and to replace the tunnels with a completely new line, passing over the hill.
Route
The canal forms an end-on junction with the Stourbridge Canal at the foot of the eight Delph LocksDelph Locks
Delph Locks or the Delph Nine are a series of eight narrow canal locks on the Dudley No. 1 Canal in Brierley Hill, in the West Midlands, England....
. These are usually known as the Nine Locks, even though they were rebuilt in 1858 as a flight of eight. There is a well-restored stable block by lock 3, and a grade II listed lock keepers house near the line of the old locks, which was built in 1779, probably to a standard design by Thomas Dadford. Above the locks, the canal passes Merry Hill Shopping Centre
Merry Hill Shopping Centre
Westfield Merry Hill is a shopping centre in Brierley Hill near Dudley, West Midlands, England. It was developed between 1985 and 1990, with several expansion and renovation projects taking place since. The original developers and owners were Richardson Developments but the Centre has had a number...
, built on the site of Round Oak Steelworks
Round Oak Steelworks
The Round Oak Steelworks were an important steel production plant in Brierley Hill, West Midlands , England. It was founded by Lord Ward, later the Earl of Dudley in 1857 as an outlet for pig iron made in the nearby blast furnaces. During the Industrial Revolution, the majority of iron-making in...
after its closure in 1983. Although it has been closed for more than 100 years, a cast-iron footbridge, built in 1858, still carries the towpath over the former entrance to the Two Locks Line. An embankment on the side of a hill carries the canal on to Blowers Green Lock, which is the deepest lock on the Birmingham Canal Navigations, as it replaced two earlier locks which were affected by subsidence. Nearby is a pumphouse, managed by the Dudley Canal Trust. At Park Head Junction, Line No. 2 turns off to the south-east, but the original line continues through three locks to a junction with the remains of the Pensnett Canal and the Grazebrook Arm, and into the southern portal of Dudley Tunnel. At the far end is the Black Country Museum, which offers boat trips into the tunnel and associated mines.
Following Line No. 2 from Park Head Junction, the canal passes around Netherton Hill, where there are mass graves for cholera victims in St. Andrew's churchyard, after which is passes through a cutting which is part of the cut made in 1838 to accommodate the construction of Lodge Farm Reservoir. Brewins Tunnel was built here, but was uncapped after 20 years. A short arm managed by the Withymoor Island Trust is located on the west bank and is used for moorings. Beyond it, the Bumble Hole Branch partially encircles Bumble Hole, a water-filled former clay pit. This was once the main line, but the embanked route which cuts off the loop was built as part of the Netherton Tunnel project. Another part of the old loop, the Boshboil Arm, turns to the west opposite Windmill End Junction, where to the north lies the southern portal of Netherton Tunnel. Both this portal and the north portal are grade II listed structures.
From Windmill End Junction, Line No. 2 continues towards the closed Lapal Tunnel. This was once an area of industry, but most of it has gone, to be replaced by housing estates, light industrial units, and playing fields. At the northern end of Gosty Tunnel, a layby marks the site when a tug was once kept to pull barges through the tunnel. Beyond lies Hawne Basin, refurbished as a marina after its use as a railway interchange ceased in 1967. The head of navigation is just beyond the basin entrance. Much of the remaining route to the tunnel mouth is traceable, and the Lapal Tunnel Trust have carried out some restoration, as they have also done on the section from the eastern portal to the Worcester and Birmingham Canal at Selly Oak.
Points of interest
See also
- Canals of Great Britain
- History of the British canal systemHistory of the British canal systemThe British canal system of water transport played a vital role in the United Kingdom's Industrial Revolution at a time when roads were only just emerging from the medieval mud and long trains of pack horses were the only means of "mass" transit by road of raw materials and finished products The...
External links
- Canal trips
- Dudley Canal Trust
- Commercial video documenting restoration
- Map and aerial photo sources for: - the northern portal of Dudley Tunnel near the Black Country Museum and - the southern portal of Dudley Tunnel.
- Lapal Canal Trust – restoration of the Dudley No 2 Canal between Halesowen and Selly Oak