Lapal Tunnel
Encyclopedia
Dudley Canal
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....
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...
, 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 narrow brick-lined tunnel, built in 1798 by William Underhill, had no towpath. It had a very fine bore - at 7 feet 9 inches, just wider than the boats which used it, with headroom of only 6 feet. Boats originally took about three hours to complete the passage by legging
Legging (canals)
Legging is a method of moving a boat through a canal tunnel or adit containing water.-Legging in canal tunnels:Early canal tunnels were built without a towpath as this would require a much larger bore, and hence cost more to build. Prior to the introduction of motorised boats, legging was one of...
or poling, so in 1841 a steam engine was built at the Halesowen end which drove a scoop wheel to load the tunnel with water. Stop gates could be opened at either end to assist boats along the tunnel in either direction.
The tunnel suffered many collapses and after a collapse in 1917 due to mining subsidence was abandoned. It runs under 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...
, 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...
near junction 3 and Woodgate Valley Country Park
Woodgate Valley Country Park
Woodgate Valley Country Park is a Country Park within the Bartley Green and Quinton districts of Birmingham. Other Birmingham Country Parks are, Sutton Park and Lickey Hills Country Park. The park is maintained as a Wildlife habitat but also has farm animals....
. The canal either side of the tunnel is also disused and has been filled in as the tunnel was considered uneconomic to repair.
Restoration
The Lapal Canal Trust was concerned with restoring the lost canal to make it navigable up to the tunnel from both HalesowenHalesowen
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 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...
, and had a longer term aim of restoring the tunnel. In May 2007 the trust received recommendations from professional consultants, Atkins, that the tunnel should not be restored but replaced by a new up-and-over alignment instead.