History1959 - present
1959
British Transport Commission proposes closing the tunnel.
1960
A protest cruise was organised by local canal societies which made local aware of the issue and more trips were organised.
1962
Dudley Tunnel was officially closed to traffic by British Waterways,since no working boats had used it since the 1950s.
1963
The railway bridge which
carried the main Stourbridge to
1968
BR closed the railway above the portal and the bridge was not demolished. Work started to restore the tunnel approaches, in a small way at first.
1970
The society became the Dudley Canal Trust.
1970
The Dudley Dig and Cruise was organised on
26th/27th September. The ?Dig? was attended by over three hundred volunteers from all over the country and
50 boats joined the cruise. Equipment was borrowed from Dudley Council,
British Waterways Board and local contractors and over the weekend one lock
chamber was cleaned out, pounds were dredged and copings, weirs, wing-walls and
wharves were repaired. A year later what survives of the Limekiln Branch and the
link to the tunnel approach were restored during the Dudley Dig-In and at the
end of the weekend the first boat for many years passed up the
1972
About 50,000 tons of mud and rubbish was dredged from the approach canals and the basins. Restoration of Parkhead locks was completed and the first boat for ten years navigated the flight.
1973
Restoration was completed and the Tunnel Branch was opened at Easter by Sir Frank Price, Chairman of BWB, and Alderman E. Morris, Mayor of Dudley. The spectacular reopening at Parkhead Top Lock attracted a crowd of some thousands.
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 was extremely tiring for the crew, so the Trust decided to convert its trip boat to electrical power and employed its first full-time member of staff to operate the boat. This was named Electra and it pioneered electrically-powered trip-boats on canals. It is still in service although a new passenger section was built in 1981.
1979
The
1981
The southern end of
1981
The Trust built its second trip boat George that was double ended,so that it didn't have to reverse out of the tunnel system. After a yearin service it was found to be taking too much power and it was decided to cut the boat in half and attach a bow to each stern section. This third boat is 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 rock bolted.
1985 - 23rd April
The cavern was opened by Neil MacFarlane M.P. and John Wilson, Chairman
of the
1987
Because of increased passenger numbers the need for a round trip became apparent. It was decided to build a new tunnel to Little Tess Mine, where an audio-visual show would explain to visitors the geology of the hill and mines.
1988
The silt was dug out of the 18th century Rock Tunnel linking Little Tess with Singing Cavern and during this operation an old wooden limestone boat was found. This, one of the earliest surviving narrow boats, was raised, recorded and floated out of the Rock Tunnel, but was not preserved. 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 David H. Sparkes, Chairman of Dudley Councils Economic Development Committee. The Trust took over a historic working boat called 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, from whom the Trust leases it. The Trust takes it to different shows around the country,including IWA National rallies.
1991
The Trusts fourth trip boat was built to keep up with the public demand. It is named Richard after one of the Trust officials and early member. Also during this year money was found from different sources to restore the collapsing section of the tunnel. Work started in February and was completed on 16th April 1992. It entailed removing the 1792 brick lining and replacing it with concrete segments.
1992
The tunnel was re-watered in April and the opening ceremony took place in the summer. The total work, including towpath resurfacing, had cost ?1.8 million.
1995
The triple junction at Parkhead was restored. This
involved digging out a section of the
1996
Private boats have to be pulled through the tunnel. In order to avoid using a trip boat and consequential loss of income, a tug was built for the purpose. This is 40 feet long and is battery-powered. Also a diesel generator was placed in the bow, to be used on open canal to recharge the batteries. It was named after John C. Brown, the BW engineer in charge of the 1992 restoration. He died a few years later and the Trust named the boat in his memory.
Also during this year the Trust took over the disused
Blowers GreenPumphouse in
2009 - 25th June
Dudley Canal Trust take over the custodianship of GUCCC Sagitta from British Waterways. In 2011 the DCT complete the purchase of the vessel.
2011 - April
The Dudley canal tunnel is commemorated by the Transport Trust wilh the award of a Red Plaque in recognisation of its importance with the history. At this presentation the Chairman of British Waterways was in turn presented with the recovered notice from 1962 declaring the tunnel closed. The Dudley Canal Trust in addition produced a new sign stating 'Dudley Tunnel: Closed by the Government on behalf of the people. Reopened by the people on behalf of themselves'