The Black Country canals include a fascinating network of junctions and branches. There is a wealth of features of interest to canal enthusiasts and industrial archaeologists: locks, bridges and warehouses. Commercial carrying has long since gone from these waters leaving them to be enjoyed by walkers and boaters. The scenery varies from industrial sections to surprisingly secluded rural lengths.

 

 

These canals played a key part in bringing the Industrial Revolution into what was then rather remote country in south Staffordshire and north Worcestershire situated on the watershed of England and thus distant from navigable rivers. Cheap bulk transport allowed the mineral resources of the area, above all coal, to be exploited to the full. Ironworks, brickworks, glassworks and many other industries proliferated amongst coalmines, claypits and limestone quarries; creating the 'Black Country'. The Stourbridge and Dudley Canals were cut in the late 18th century to link with the Staffs & Worcester Canal to the west and the Birmingham Canal Navigations system ('BCN' to the enthusiasts) to the east and thus become a part of the national network of waterways. The traffic was so great that the old Dudley Tunnel became a bottleneck and was supplemented by a new line of canal, the Dudley No. 2 Canal which originally took a short cut to join the national system at Selly Oak south of Birmingham. This route also had the advantage of avoiding the Birmingham Canal Company's notoriously high tolls! However even this was insufficient and in 1859 a new double width tunnel was driven through the Rowley Hills at Netherton - the last canal tunnel to be built in Britain until the Dudley Canal tunnel was extended into the Singing Cavern in 1984. In addition to the main lines of these canals there were many branches and hundreds of basins and docks serving canalside factories. Most of these have now gone as have many of the factories themselves.

 

The canals provide interesting, peaceful and traffic-free routes around the area. At several places the canals link with other walks and trails around the open spaces of Dudley. Some of these are indicated on the map and referred to in the text. These canals are now home to an increasing variety of wildlife. With the decline of industry the quality of the water has improved greatly and many stretches have good stocks of roach, perch, bream and other coarse fish. Information about angling permits may be obtained from British Waterways Fisheries Officer at Fradley, Telephone (01283) 791395. There is no charge to walkers but cyclists require an annual permit obtainable from British Waterways, Auchinleck House, Five Ways, Birmingham, Telephone 0121 633 3666.

 

 

The Dudley and Stourbridge Canals form part of two cruising circuits shown on the location map below. One, via Wolverhampton and the Staffs & Worcester Canal and the other via the River Severn and the Worcester & Birmingham Canal returning north through Birmingham city centre. These make a pleasant (and energetic!) combination of attractive rural and urban sections. Both 'rings' take several days to complete.

 

 

 

 

 

The end of the Stourbridge Arm is dominated by the restored Bonded Warehouse. This was built in 1779, extended in 1849, and is now a popular meeting place for local societies and other groups. Overlooking the end of the canal is the Moorings Tavern which has a small beer garden. Across the street are the former offices of the Stourbridge Canal Company. Moorings for boats extend along the canal. Beyond them are the historic Stourbridge Ironworks where the Stourbridge Lion - the first locomotive to run on rails in America and the Agenoria, the first in the midlands, - were both built in 1829. At the bend in the canal the remains of the railway from the wharf to the 'New Foundry' behind the Ironworks can be seen as well as 'Riverside', once the home of the manager of the ironworks. There is an interesting short walk along the canal to the junction which continues to the East as the Stour Valley Walk. At the warehouse there are moorings for visiting boats, a water point and winding hole. The town centre of Stourbridge is only a few minutes away.

 

2. WORDSLEY DOCK

 

From Stourbridge the canal climbs 145 feet up the hill towards Dudley through a flight of sixteen locks. Between locks 11 and 12 is a basin with wharves and an unusual timber warehouse built by the canal company in the late l9th century. There is another basin and a side pond above lock 11 next to a row of old cottages. The next locks up are known as 'The Staircase' as they are so close together. There is an old iron split bridge (to allow the rope between boat and horse to pass through) giving access to the attractive lock cottage. This area with its pleasing setting was designated as a Conservation Area in 1977. Just below it the Red House glass cone has its own wharf. The cone is open to the public free of charge. The cone is one of only four left in the country although they were once a familiar sight in the surrounding glassmaking district.

 

 

The canal is not navigable above The Leys Junction but the towpath provides a pleasant walk. The remains of the former Stourbridge Extension Canal which used to run to the long-gone Oak Farm Ironworks near the 'Crooked House' pub can be seen on the north side of the canal. Across the main road the section of canal is known as the 'Wide Waters' and at its head are the three Fens Pools. The Pensnett Railway Walk crosses the surrounding open space and continues via Hunts Mill to Holbeach where it connects with the Kingswinford Railway Walk which, in turn, passes through Wombourne and on to Wolverhampton.

 

 

Black Delph marked the division between the Stourbridge Canal to the south and the Dudley Canal to the north and was therefore technically a 'junction' although this is not apparent since the canals run straight into each other! The impressive flight of locks climbing straight up the hill are part of the Dudley Canal and are known locally as the 'Ninelocks'; another apparent mystery since boaters will be pleased to discover that there are only eight. The original locks built in 1779 by Thomas Dadford, engineer to the Dudley Canal Company, are just south of the present line - their remains can be seen among the trees and grassland. Mining of the Thick Coal seam caused massive subsidence and in 1856 these locks had to be replaced. The old top and bottom locks were kept but the remainder were superseded by six new locks hence the eight locks in existence today. Half way up there is a block of stables once used for boat horses and nearby, alongside the old canal, the former lock keeper's cottage can be seen. Delph Road which crosses the canal below the locks has been described as the 'real ales riviera' of Dudley due to the number and variety of the pubs along its length as it runs parallel to the canal.

 

 

At Parkhead Junction the original canal continues up the locks and under the railway viaduct to enter the low portal of the Dudley Tunnel (no towpath). At the top of the locks the remains of the Earl of Dudley's private canal - the Pensnett Canal - can be seen and there is also a monument in the form of a tunnel ventilation shaft to commemorate the reopening of the tunnel in 1973. At the junction itself, next to the former pumping engine house, the Dudley No.2 Canal branches off and is now the main through route.

 

 

The 115 acres include Saltwells Wood and the former Doulton's Claypit - now a site of considerable botanical interest. The Blackbrook Valley Walk which follows the canal for most of its way from Parkhead here departs through the Reserve to end south of Mushroom Green near the end of the Stour Valley Walk. There are several pleasant walks through the heath and woodland and also around the adjacent Lodge Farm Reservoir. This used to supply the canal but is now used for sailing and water-skiing. The canal skirts the Reserve and passes through a deep cutting which was originally a tunnel, hence its name - 'Brewin's Tunnel' - Brewin being a former engineer to the canal company. Near the 'High' or 'Sounding Bridge' the remains of a short canal arm can be seen where the clay from the pits used to be loaded onto boats.

 

 

The arm is all that remains of the once busy transshipment basin where goods were transferred from canal to railway. It is now used for moorings and the surroundings have been landscaped and thickly planted with trees.

 

 

When Netherton Tunnel was built to relieve the traffic- choked Dudley Tunnel the canal was straightened. The loop of the canal now forms two arms each spanned by a bridge carrying the towpath across as are the Netherton Tunnel Branch and what used to be the main line running down to Halesowen. These elegant black and white bridges are a striking feature of Windmill End. The tunnel was a marvel in its heyday - lit by gas and having two towpaths so boats could pass. Walking through is not really recommended - the scenery is remarkably monotonous for 3,027 yards! The open grassland running up to the top of the Rowley Hills presents a very different scene from that of its industrial heyday. Then the hillside was covered with mineshafts, spoil heaps and coke ovens whilst inclines and railways criss-crossed the area to carry the coal down to the still visible canal basins. The ruins of Cobb's engine house just south of the tunnel portal are a reminder of the past. Near the canal junction was a railway station, next to it a hotel and the grimy hamlet of Windmill End itself. Now a small housing estate and a couple of pubs stand next to acres of grassland dotted with clumps of small trees. One of the pubs is the eccentric 'Dry Dock' where the front half of a narrow boat forms the bar - this is the home of 'Desperate Dan' cow pies.

 

 

From Windmill End the canal runs along the side of the Rowley Hills with extensive views over this part of the Black Country. Emerging from the short Gosty Hill Tunnel (no towpath) the canal passes through the former tube works and now ends at Hawne Basin where there are moorings. Originally the canal continued on to Selly Oak passing through the notoriously long and narrow Lapal Tunnel. It was the repeated collapse of sections of this tunnel that resulted in the remainder of the canal being closed in 1917. A short unnavigable length remains in the Leasowes Park. The canal embankment here closed off the view from the poet William Shenstone's famous landscaped gardens in 1797. Dudley Council is restoring the grounds but in the meantime there are still many pleasant strolls alongside the streams running through the woods. The more energetic can follow the series of footpaths which lead south to Illey and Lapal (not shown on the map). The now disused section of the canal that runs from Hawne Basin to Selly Oak is currently the under gradual renovation by the Lapal Canal Trust.

 

10. THE BLACK COUNTRY MUSEUM AND DUDLEY TUNNEL

 

The Museum includes a Black Country village reconstructed and furnished as it would have been at the turn of the century; a replica of the famous Newcomen steam engine which was built nearby in 1712; a convincing and exciting replica of a Black Country coal mine, and trams and trolley buses. The canal interest includes an old time boatyard which is still used and an unusual lifting bridge across the arm which runs into the village. There are boat trips from the wharf into the Dudley tunnel with its impressive open air basins and rock-lined sections. Even more impressive is the 'Singing Cavern', a disused limestone mine reached by new tunnels constructed in 1984 and 1989. The main Dudley Tunnel runs for nearly two miles beneath the town centre to Parkhead. Visiting boats may moor at the Black Country Museum but the crew will not escape the normal admission charges! There is no access from the towpath so walkers have to make their way to the main entrance in Tipton Road.

 

 

The first canal between Wolverhampton and Birmingham (the Old Main Line) followed the contours to reduce the number of locks and in the course of its wanderings reach as many collieries and ironworks as possible. In the early 19th century Thomas Telford was called in to build the New Main Line which by means of embankments and tunnels took a much more direct route. At Coseley the line was reduced by several miles by tunnelling through the hill. The 360 yards-long tunnel has a towpath through it. South of the tunnel is a surprisingly green and secluded cutting where short stay moorings for boats have been provided and named 'Coseley Stop'. A 'stop' was a place where the working boatmen would moor overnight, usually near pubs and shops, as here at Coseley.