History
A short history of the Dudley Tunnel and Canals 1901 - 2013
1959
British waterways propose to close the tunnel.
1960
A protest cruise was organised by local canal societies which raised the issue to local people and more trips were organised.
1962
Dudley Tunnel was officially closed to traffic by British Waterways after no boats had passed through since the 1950s.
1963
The railway bridge which carried the main Stourbridge to Wolverhampton line was found to be unsafe. This bridge crossed the portal at Tipton. The railway wanted to replace the bridge with an embankment which would mean that the tunnel would be sealed off. So a last opportunity cruise was organised, as a result of this a group was formed which was called the Dudley Canal Tunnel Preservation Society.
1968
The railway authorities closed the railway above the portal and so the bridge was never taken down.
1970
The society became the Dudley Canal Trust, and work started to restore the waterway. They borrowed equipment off BW, Dudley Council and local contractors.
1971
The Dudley Dig and Cruise was organised on 26/27 September. This was attended by over six hundred people. over the weekend two lock pounds and one lock chamber were cleaned out and quantities of brickwork were repaired. Later that year on the other side of the tunnel the Lord Ward Arm was restored and at the end of the weekend the first boat for many years passed up the arm.
1972
The approach canals were dredged during which 50,000 tons of mud were pulled out of the canals. Also the basins in the tunnel system were dredged. Also the during this year the locks were reopened and the first boat for ten years navigated the flight.
1973
The Final preparations for the reopening commenced. At Easter the tunnel and canal were reopened with almost 14,000 people in attendance.
1975
The Trust had been operating public trips since the tunnel reopened. To propel the boats through the tunnel the method of legging was used. This became extremely tiring for the crew, so the Trust decided to convert its trip boat to electrical power and employed its first fulltime member of staff to run the boat. The boat was named Electra and it was the first electrically power narrow boat in the world. It is still in service today although it has had a new passenger section built in 1981.
1979
The Black Country Museum opened and this provided the trust with customers for its tunnel trips.
1981
The southern end of Dudley tunnel had begun to collapse about 350 yards from the 1884 section. Because of this the tunnel was closed to through traffic once more.
1981
The Trust built its second trip boat George, this boat was double ended so that it didn't have to reverse out of the tunnel system. After a year in service the boat was found to be taking too much power and it was decided to chop the boat up into two halves and bolt a bow section onto each rear section. This was done and the second boat was called William.
1984
Plans were made to open up one of the limestone mines called Singing Cavern. In order for this to happen a new tunnel would have to be constructed and the whole mine would have to be rock bolted.
1985 23rd April
The cavern was opened by Neil MacFarlane M.P. and John Wilson, Chairman of the M.E.B.
1987
Because of increased passenger number the need for a round trip became apparent. Plans began during this year and it was decided that a new tunnel should be built to link up Singing Cavern and Little Tess Mine where an audio visual show would tell visitors the geology of the hill and mines.
1988
The silt was dug out of the 19th century tunnel linking Little Tess with Singing Cavern, during this operation an old wooden limestone boat was found in the silt. it was decided to try to raise the boat to preserve it. In November of that year work started on the new tunnel to Castle Mill basin.
1990
The new route was opened on 25th April by councilor D.H. Sparkes, chairman of Dudley's Economic Development Committee. The Trust took over an historic working boat called the Bittell. This is a 1930s BCN icebreaker tug built for Stewarts and Lloyds at Halesowen. After being sold by Stewarts and Lloyds it was taken over by British Waterways whom we lease it off. We take it to different shows around the country including the IWA National Shows.
1991
The Trusts fourth trip boat was built to keep up with the public demand. it was named Richard after one of the Trust officials. Also during this year money was found from different funds to restore the fallen section of Dudley Tunnel. The whole project would cost approximately £730,000. Work started in February and was completed on 16th April 1992. The work included the breakout of the 1792 brick lining and replacing it with a concrete tube.
1992
The tunnel was reflooded in April and the opening ceremony took place in the summer. the total works including towpath resurfacing cost £1.8 million.
1995
The triple junction at Parkhead was restored. This involved digging out the Pensnett Arm and Grazebrook Arm. The bridges which spanned the arms were rebuilt and the towpath was resurfaced.
1996
To pull private boats through the tunnel the trip boat had to pull them through. This meant that a trip boat had to be lost from taking passengers which meant that the Trust was losing money so the idea of a tunnel tug was thought of. The final design was to have a boat that was 40 feet long and it was to be powered by batteries. Also a diesel generator would be placed in the bow, this would be used on the open canal to recharge the batteries as they were being used. It was named after John C. Brown who was the main BW engineer in charge of the 1992 restoration, he died suddenly a few years later so the Trust named the boat in his memory.
Also during this year the Trust took over the disused Blowers Green Pumphouse in Peartree Lane. This was to become their offices, education centre and workshops. Previously the building was a steel stockholders warehouse and the two cranes still remain in position. Originally there were two steam pumps inside which we think might have pumped water from the bottom of the Delph or Nine Locks in Brierley Hill back up to the Birmingham level at the top of Blowers Green Lock. The engines were removed some time during the 20th century. Today the building is used throughout the year for administration and educational purposes. The Trust holds regular events and an annual open weekend in June when canal crafts and other canal related activities take place.