The Stourbridge Canal - Windmill End

 

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.