Dudley No. 1 Canal

 

Nine locks in one long, curving flight originally carried the Dudley Canal up the Black Country plateau from its head-on junction with the Stourbridge Canal. From the top of the lock flight the canal travels east and north east through industrial sites. A cast iron footbridge takes the towpath over what was once the entrance of the Two Lock Line which went south east for about 600 yards to form a very short short-cut to the Dudley No.2 Canal. Woodside Bridge now carries the busy A4036 dual-carriageway. The Two Lock Line was officially closed in 1909 after 15 years of disuse due to subsidence. It was officially abandoned in 1954. 

 

Today the canal goes straight past the former terminus and arrives at Blowers Green Lock. Peartree Lane crosses over right beside the lock. Parkhead Junction is immediately above the lock, to the right the Dudley No.2 Canal heads off south eastwards while the main line continues north through the 3 Parkhead Locks which have a toll house and cottage alongside. The restoration society hope to reopen part of this line though some parts have been built on. Opposite the entrance to the Pensnett Canal there is another waterway, the Grazebrook Arm.

 

A few yards further along the main line the Dudley Canal turns north east and enters Dudley Tunnel. The tunnel is 3,154 yards long though there are over 5,000 yards of underground waterways inside. These run into underground basins and natural caverns. Some of the underground channels have long since been cut off but most are still accessible and are part of the circular underground boat trips which are run by the canal trust from the Black Country Museum. A new section of tunnel was cut as recently as 1974 for easier access into the inner caverns. The underground canals were originally built to connect with mines and quarries which were already in use long before the canal was built. To the north of the tunnel the Dudley Canal now runs right through the Black Country Museum to Tipton Junction on the Birmingham Canal