History of the Dudley No 1 Canal
There are two Dudley Canals. The Number 1 was opened throughout in 1792 and runs from its junction with the Stourbridge Canal at the bottom of Delph Locks to the Old Main Line at Tipton, passing through the 3,154 yards of(2,882m) Dudley Tunnel.
The area is plagued by subsidence and the Delph Nine Locks were rebuilt as eight in 1858 though the old terminology persists. The remains of the original flight together with restored stables can be seen to the east amidst what is now a conservation area.
Latterly the line declined to little more than a water abstraction facility for the Round Oak Steel Works. Ironically it is the canal that has since flourished whilst the steelworks and adjacent Merry Hill Farm are no more, the gargantuan Merry Hill Shopping Centre having taken their place.
A cast iron bridge carries the towpath over the Two Lock Line, built to create a short cut between the Number 1 and the Number 2 by cutting off Parkhead Junction. From 1858 it was considered to be part of the main line before mining subsidence led to its closure in the early 20th Century.
Blowers Green Lock is the deepest on the BCN and replaced two earlier locks affected by the ubiquitous subsidence. Above the lock is Parkhead Junction from which the Dudley Number 2 breaks off towards Netherton. Directly ahead of the junction three locks lift the Number 1 and take it beneath a huge railway viaduct. At the top of the rise are two long-derelict offshoots, the Pensnett Canal and Grazebrook Arm. The main line continues a few yards to the southern portal of Dudley Tunnel. The tunnel started in 1775 as a short private branch off the Birmingham Canal at Tipton to enable the Earl of Dudley to extract limestone from beneath Castle Hill. Following discussions with the Dudley Canal Company the tunnel was extended through the hillside to connect with Parkhead, opening in 1792.
