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Dudley Tunnel
Dudley Tunnel is a canal tunnel on the Dudley Canal Line No 1, England. At about 3,172 yards (2,900.5 m) long, it is now the second longest canal tunnel on the UK canal network today. (Standedge Tunnel is the longest, at 5,456 yards (4,989.0 m), and the 3,931 yards (3,594.5 m) Higham and Strood tunnel is now rail only). However, since the Dudley Tunnel is not continuous this status is sometimes questioned:[citation needed] (the main tunnel is 2,942 yards (2,690.2 m), Lord Ward's tunnel is 196 yards (179.2 m) and Castle Mill basin is 34 yards (31.1 m)).
In 1959 the British Transport Commission sought to close the tunnel but this led to an Inland Waterways Association-organised massed protest cruise in 1960. The tunnel was however closed in 1962; and was further threatened with permanent closure by British Railways who wished to replace a railway viaduct at the Tipton portal with an embankment and a culvert. However, this never happened as the railway was closed in 1968 and the disused bridge demolished in the 1990s.
The tunnel was reopened in 1973, as a result of restoration, which had been a collaboration between local volunteers (originally the Dudley Canal Tunnel Preservation Society, later the Dudley Canal Trust), and the local authority, Dudley Borough Council. The opening ceremony was advertised as "TRAD 1973 – Tunnel Reopening at Dudley".
When the Dudley Canal Act 1776 (16 Geo. 3. c. 66) to construct a canal near Dudley was obtained in 1776, it did not include Dudley Tunnel. It authorised a route that started in two fields called Great Ox Leasow and Little Ox Leasow, a little to the south of the tunnel site near Peartree Lane in Dudley, and ran southwards to an end-on junction with the Stourbridge Canal, authorised by a separate act on the same day. The principal shareholders included Lord Dudley and Ward and Thomas Talbot Foley. Shareholders had contributed the authorised capital of £7,000 by July 1778, and the canal was completed on 14 June 1779, at a total cost of £9,700. The Stourbridge Canal opened in December.
Quite separately, Lord Dudley and Ward was mining limestone in the Castle Mill and Wren's Next area, further to the north. This was brought up to the surface, and transported overland. In 1775, he started building a private canal, which branched from the 473 ft Wolverhampton Level of the Birmingham Canal at Tipton, and reached Tipton Colliery through a tunnel. This was known as Lord Dudley and Ward's branch, and the first phase was completed by 1 June 1778. It was later extended to Castle Mill, where a basin was constructed.
The Dudley Canal and Stourbridge Canal then looked at an extension northwards from Dudley, to join the Birmingham Canal. This would involve a long tunnel, and Lord Dudley and Ward agreed to sell his branch canal and tunnel to the company. The enterprise was authorised by another act of Parliament, the Dudley Canal Act 1785 (25 Geo. 3. c. 87), obtained in July 1785, which was steered through the parliamentary process by Lord Dudley and Ward. He was thanked for his efforts, but the company argued that he received sufficient benefit from the convenience of the Dudley Canal and the favourable tolls awarded to him, that payment for his branch canal should not be made, and it never was. The Dudley Canal Act 1785 authorised the company to build five locks to the north of their existing canal, to reach Parkhead, and a long tunnel to link up with Lord Dudley and Ward's Castle Mill Basin. The route was surveyed by John Snape and John Bull, and was checked by Thomas Dadford. He then became the consulting engineer for the project, while Abraham Lees supervised the day-to-day work. In September 1785, the company announced that the tunnel would be 9 feet 3 inches (2.82 m) wide, the water would be 5 feet 6 inches (1.68 m) deep, and there would be headroom of 7 feet (2.1 m).
John Pinkerton, one of a family of respected canal contractors, was awarded the contract for construction of the tunnel, but it was the first time he had worked on a tunnel, and he hit problems, first with the quality of the ground he was trying to excavate, and also with the large volumes of groundwater that he encountered. There were complaints about his lack of progress and the poor quality of the brick lining, resulting in him being dismissed in 1787. He had to pay £2,000, which was an amount agreed as a bond when the contract was awarded, after which there was an interlude, while arguments were resolved. The tunnelling was then supervised by Isaac Pratt, one of the Stourbridge and Dudley committee members, with Abraham Lees continuing as resident engineer. In May 1789, there were more difficulties, when it was realised that the tunnel had deviated from its proper line in several places, and that progress was slow. Isaac Pratt ceased supervising the work on 30 May 1789, and Josiah Clowes was employed as engineer from early June, aided by John Gunnery. Gunnery died in December 1791, and a newspaper article announced that the tunnel he had been working on was complete. The work included a stop lock in the tunnel where it joined Lord Dudley and Ward's basin, and a new straighter section and junction with the Birmingham Canal at the north end. The new junction opened on 6 March 1792, but the tunnel was not formally announced as being complete until 25 June.
The stop lock in the tunnel did not last for long, and was removed in December 1795. There were initially complaints, because the tunnels were used by limestone boats working the quarries, as well as being a through route. Normal passage was often obstructed by boats loading limestone at Charles Starkey's Quarry, by empty boats blocking the tunnel, and by full boats blocking access to the stop lock into the Birmingham Canal. Such complaints ceased after 1799, presumably because more space was made for the limestone boats, and their organisation was better regulated. More serious was that the tunnel was affected by mining subsidence, and the regular closure for repairs damaged trade. The company employed their own Inspector of Mines to keep on top of the situation. Boats could pass in one direction for four hours, and then the direction was reversed, but in 1830, the time allowed was reduced to three hours, with a penalty imposed if the time was exceeded.
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Dudley Tunnel
Dudley Tunnel is a canal tunnel on the Dudley Canal Line No 1, England. At about 3,172 yards (2,900.5 m) long, it is now the second longest canal tunnel on the UK canal network today. (Standedge Tunnel is the longest, at 5,456 yards (4,989.0 m), and the 3,931 yards (3,594.5 m) Higham and Strood tunnel is now rail only). However, since the Dudley Tunnel is not continuous this status is sometimes questioned:[citation needed] (the main tunnel is 2,942 yards (2,690.2 m), Lord Ward's tunnel is 196 yards (179.2 m) and Castle Mill basin is 34 yards (31.1 m)).
In 1959 the British Transport Commission sought to close the tunnel but this led to an Inland Waterways Association-organised massed protest cruise in 1960. The tunnel was however closed in 1962; and was further threatened with permanent closure by British Railways who wished to replace a railway viaduct at the Tipton portal with an embankment and a culvert. However, this never happened as the railway was closed in 1968 and the disused bridge demolished in the 1990s.
The tunnel was reopened in 1973, as a result of restoration, which had been a collaboration between local volunteers (originally the Dudley Canal Tunnel Preservation Society, later the Dudley Canal Trust), and the local authority, Dudley Borough Council. The opening ceremony was advertised as "TRAD 1973 – Tunnel Reopening at Dudley".
When the Dudley Canal Act 1776 (16 Geo. 3. c. 66) to construct a canal near Dudley was obtained in 1776, it did not include Dudley Tunnel. It authorised a route that started in two fields called Great Ox Leasow and Little Ox Leasow, a little to the south of the tunnel site near Peartree Lane in Dudley, and ran southwards to an end-on junction with the Stourbridge Canal, authorised by a separate act on the same day. The principal shareholders included Lord Dudley and Ward and Thomas Talbot Foley. Shareholders had contributed the authorised capital of £7,000 by July 1778, and the canal was completed on 14 June 1779, at a total cost of £9,700. The Stourbridge Canal opened in December.
Quite separately, Lord Dudley and Ward was mining limestone in the Castle Mill and Wren's Next area, further to the north. This was brought up to the surface, and transported overland. In 1775, he started building a private canal, which branched from the 473 ft Wolverhampton Level of the Birmingham Canal at Tipton, and reached Tipton Colliery through a tunnel. This was known as Lord Dudley and Ward's branch, and the first phase was completed by 1 June 1778. It was later extended to Castle Mill, where a basin was constructed.
The Dudley Canal and Stourbridge Canal then looked at an extension northwards from Dudley, to join the Birmingham Canal. This would involve a long tunnel, and Lord Dudley and Ward agreed to sell his branch canal and tunnel to the company. The enterprise was authorised by another act of Parliament, the Dudley Canal Act 1785 (25 Geo. 3. c. 87), obtained in July 1785, which was steered through the parliamentary process by Lord Dudley and Ward. He was thanked for his efforts, but the company argued that he received sufficient benefit from the convenience of the Dudley Canal and the favourable tolls awarded to him, that payment for his branch canal should not be made, and it never was. The Dudley Canal Act 1785 authorised the company to build five locks to the north of their existing canal, to reach Parkhead, and a long tunnel to link up with Lord Dudley and Ward's Castle Mill Basin. The route was surveyed by John Snape and John Bull, and was checked by Thomas Dadford. He then became the consulting engineer for the project, while Abraham Lees supervised the day-to-day work. In September 1785, the company announced that the tunnel would be 9 feet 3 inches (2.82 m) wide, the water would be 5 feet 6 inches (1.68 m) deep, and there would be headroom of 7 feet (2.1 m).
John Pinkerton, one of a family of respected canal contractors, was awarded the contract for construction of the tunnel, but it was the first time he had worked on a tunnel, and he hit problems, first with the quality of the ground he was trying to excavate, and also with the large volumes of groundwater that he encountered. There were complaints about his lack of progress and the poor quality of the brick lining, resulting in him being dismissed in 1787. He had to pay £2,000, which was an amount agreed as a bond when the contract was awarded, after which there was an interlude, while arguments were resolved. The tunnelling was then supervised by Isaac Pratt, one of the Stourbridge and Dudley committee members, with Abraham Lees continuing as resident engineer. In May 1789, there were more difficulties, when it was realised that the tunnel had deviated from its proper line in several places, and that progress was slow. Isaac Pratt ceased supervising the work on 30 May 1789, and Josiah Clowes was employed as engineer from early June, aided by John Gunnery. Gunnery died in December 1791, and a newspaper article announced that the tunnel he had been working on was complete. The work included a stop lock in the tunnel where it joined Lord Dudley and Ward's basin, and a new straighter section and junction with the Birmingham Canal at the north end. The new junction opened on 6 March 1792, but the tunnel was not formally announced as being complete until 25 June.
The stop lock in the tunnel did not last for long, and was removed in December 1795. There were initially complaints, because the tunnels were used by limestone boats working the quarries, as well as being a through route. Normal passage was often obstructed by boats loading limestone at Charles Starkey's Quarry, by empty boats blocking the tunnel, and by full boats blocking access to the stop lock into the Birmingham Canal. Such complaints ceased after 1799, presumably because more space was made for the limestone boats, and their organisation was better regulated. More serious was that the tunnel was affected by mining subsidence, and the regular closure for repairs damaged trade. The company employed their own Inspector of Mines to keep on top of the situation. Boats could pass in one direction for four hours, and then the direction was reversed, but in 1830, the time allowed was reduced to three hours, with a penalty imposed if the time was exceeded.