Dudley Canal

Dudley Canal Act 1785
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act for extending the Dudley Canal to the Birmingham Canal, at or near Tipton Green in the County of Stafford.
Citation	25 Geo. 3. c. 87
Dates
Royal assent	4 July 1785

In 1784, the Stourbridge and Dudley companies approached the Birmingham Canal about a junction. This would involve building extra locks at Park Head and a tunnel which would link to Lord Dudley's existing mining tunnel which joined the Birmingham Canal at Tipton. The Birmingham Canal Company agreed but imposed heavy tolls on traffic using the junction to compensate for the loss of revenue of goods which would formerly have travelled via Aldersely Junction. Lord Dudley agreed to sell his tunnel to the Dudley Canal Company but never received any payment as the beneficial tolls and usefulness of the new canal were deemed to be adequate compensation. An Act of Parliament was obtained in July 1785 to authorise the work which had been surveyed by John Snape and John Bull and checked by Dadford, who then became consulting engineer. Abraham Lees was the on-site engineering manager and the main contract for the tunnel went to John Pinkerton. Its width was to be 9.25 feet (2.82 m) with 7 feet (2.1 m) of headroom and 5.5 feet (1.7 m) of water. The contract specified that it should be finished by 25 March 1788. In 1787, Pinkerton's work was thought to be unsatisfactory and work stopped while arguments took place. Dadford was paid off, Pinkerton had to pay half of his £4,000 bond and work restarted with Isaac Pratt in charge. He was a member of both the Stourbridge and the Dudley canal company committees. Lees retained his position.[3]

In May 1789, there were further issues when it was discovered that the tunnel was not straight. Pratt resigned, and Josiah Clowes was engaged to complete the project. He finished the tunnel, built a new junction with the Birmingham Canal at Tipton and a reservoir at Gad's Green. Completion was announced at a shareholder's meeting on 25 June 1792, and the official opening was on 15 October.[4]

1955 Ordnance Survey map of the west portal of Lapal Tunnel, the western dry section, and the last half mile of navigable canal (entering from the top)

1955 Ordnance Survey map of the east portal of Lapal Tunnel and dry canal to Selly Oak Junction

Selly Oak Canal Act 1793
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act for making and maintaining a Navigable Canal from the Dudley Canal, in the County of Worcester, to the Worcester and Birmingham Canal now making at or near Selly Oak, in the said County; and also certain Collateral Cuts to communicate therewith.
Citation	33 Geo. 3. c. 121
Dates
Royal assent	17 June 1793

With the Dudley Tunnel just finished, a meeting was held in Birmingham on 31 August 1792 at which a canal from Birmingham to serve the collieries at Netherton was proposed. The following day, the Dudley Canal Company proposed their own version of a similar canal and following meetings with the Worcester and Birmingham Canal, whose line it would join, it was agreed that those who had been at the meeting would raise £61,500 and that the remaining £28,500 required would be subscribed by existing Dudley shareholders. The line would be constructed at the same level as the Dudley Canal at Park Head. A tunnel of 3,795 yards (3,470 m) would be required at Lapal and a shorter one of 537 yards (491 m) at Gosty Hill. Another short tunnel was to be built at Halesowen but became a cutting and bridge when work began. The length of the canal was to be 10.8 miles (17.4 km), for which the working capital would be £90,000 with an additional £40,000 if required. John Snape carried out a survey and despite opposition from the Birmingham Canal, the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal and a contingent of iron foundries in Wolverhampton, an Act of Parliament (33 Geo. 3. c. 121) was obtained in 1793. The Stratford-upon-Avon Canal was authorised soon afterwards which would provide a connection to London.[5]

The original route was renamed "Line no 1" to distinguish it from the new "Line no 2" which linked the canal at Park Head Junction, near Netherton, to the Worcester and Birmingham Canal at Selly Oak, Birmingham via Halesowen and the tunnel at Lapal.[6] Work began in early 1794 with Josiah Clowes as engineer and William Underhill as resident engineer. Clowes died in early 1796 and Underhill managed the whole project for a year after which Robert Whitworth carried out an inspection. He was satisfied and Underhill continued to manage the construction of the tunnel and an aqueduct near the junction with the No.1 Line while management of the rest of the project was handled by Benjamin Timmins. The section from Netherton to Halesowen had been built about 1 foot (0.30 m) too high but this was rectified and the wharf at Halesowen opened for business in early 1797.[7]

Dudley Canal Act 1796
Act of Parliament
Parliament of Great Britain
Long title	An act to enable the company of proprietors of the Dudley canal navigation, to raise a further sum of money for completing the said navigation; and for amending the several acts relating thereto.
Citation	37 Geo. 3. c. 13
Dates
Royal assent	23 December 1796

Tunnelling proved difficult. Thirty shafts were dug, to provide multiple work faces, but much of the route was through sand and large quantities of water had to be pumped out of the workings using three steam engines. The £90,000 had been spent by May 1796 and additional calls on the shares were used to raise the extra £40,000 authorised. Another Act of Parliament (37 Geo. 3. c. 13) was obtained in December 1796 to authorise a further £40,000 and by the time the new route was completed on 28 May 1798, a total of £162.50 had been called on each £100 share. The original shares were worth £118.75 and financial matters were simplified by issuing additional shares so that they all had a nominal value of £100. Lord Dudley resigned from the committee at this point, having steered the company through twenty-two year of construction. The working capital had risen from just £7,000 to over £200,000 in this period and no dividends had been paid. Traffic through the new tunnel was meagre until 1802 when the Stratford Canal provided a link to the Warwick and Birmingham Canal (later the Grand Union Canal) and hence to London. The first dividend was paid in 1804 and although dividends were never high, they averaged around 4 per cent between 1826 and 1844.[8]

Dudley Tunnel was popular with tourists and was mentioned in guides to Dudley Castle written by the Rev. Luke Booker in 1825 and W. Harris in 1845. There were complaints that the tunnel was often blocked by unattended limestone boats but this problem seems to have been resolved by 1799 although there is no mention of how this was achieved. The tunnel was also affected by subsidence from local coal mining and was regularly closed to allow repairs to be made. Working a loaded boat through the tunnel took about 4 hours and this caused congestion. Various ways were considered to alleviate this, including rope haulage in 1840, but the cost of £6,000 was deemed to be too expensive. Subsidence in the Lapal tunnel was worse and it was closed twice in 1801 and for four months in 1805.[9]

Incentives to aid passage through the Lapal Tunnel began in 1820. Any boat carrying over 15 tons could claim one shilling and sixpence (7.5p) for hiring extra leggers. This was increased to three shillings (15p) in 1829 providing the boat was carrying 18 tons. In 1841, the superintendent of the canal, Thomas Brewin, devised a scheme which used a steam pumping engine and stop locks at either end of the tunnel to create a flow which assisted the movement of the boats. This proved successful for it continued to be used until 1914 and Brewin was awarded plate worth £50 in recognition of his contribution.[10] In 1838, a 400-yard (370 m) cut was made at Lodge Farm to divert the canal and make room for a storage reservoir and pumping engine and the short Withymoor branch was built in 1842.[11]

Birmingham and Dudley Canal Consolidation Act 1846
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Citation	9 & 10 Vict. c. cclxix

In 1813, the Birmingham Canal had suggested amalgamation with the Dudley Canal as a way to prevent continued reductions in tolls but no action was taken.[12] In 1845, with a number of railway schemes threatening the profitability of the canal, a new approach from the Birmingham Canal Navigations was viewed more favourably and a merger was agreed on 8 October 1845. An Act of Parliament (9 & 10 Vict. c. cclxix) to authorise it was obtained in the following year and the Dudley Canal ceased to be an independent concern on 27 July 1846.[13]

The Birmingham Canal Navigations carried out a number of improvements in the 1850s. Building of Netherton Tunnel was begun on 31 December 1855 and completed on 20 August 1858. It was the last canal tunnel to be built in England and compared to the Dudley Tunnel, it was huge, being around 27 feet (8.2 m) from side to side at water level with a towpath on both sides. It was found necessary to build an invert through the tunnel because of unstable ground caused by mining below its line and large retaining walls were required at each end. As a result, the cost rose from £238,000 to £302,000 and a tunnel toll was charged to help recoup the cost. Gas lights provided illumination which were later replaced by electric lighting. The short Two Locks Line was built to reduce the distance travelled by boats passing through the Lapal Tunnel and heading for the Stourbridge Canal. Brewins Tunnel, which had been built on the Lodge Farm Cut in 1838 was made into a cutting and the Delph Flight of nine locks were rebuilt, the middle seven being replaced by six new locks. A loop to the south of the Netherton Tunnel at Bumble Hole was eliminated by making a new cut.[14]

Dudley Tunnel was closed in 1884 to allow the south end to be rebuilt. The work was completed and the tunnel was reopened on 23 April 1885. It saw considerable traffic with coal and limestone passing southwards and blast furnace slag making the return journey. Subsidence affected the canal in 1894 when a section near Blackbrook Junction, including part of the Two Lock Line, fell into mine workings. The canal remained closed for some time while repairs were made.[15] Blowers Green Lock was built near the junction of Line No. 1 and Line No. 2 at this time to replace two original locks.[16]

A wharf was constructed for the Birmingham Battery and Metal Company in Selly Oak.

The original line at Bumble Hole became the Bumble Hole Branch Canal and Boshboil Arm after a collapse of the canal severed part of the loop. Having suffered from mining subsidence for years, the two-locks line was closed in March 1909[15] and later filled in. The line is now under a late 20th century industrial estate and only the junctions, towpath bridges and a few yards of watered but unnavigable canal remain.[17]

After repeated collapses, Lapal Tunnel was abandoned in June 1917[15] leaving a short stretch navigable between Selly Oak and a brick works at California until 1953, after which it was drained and filled in.