Dudley Canal Trust

Today’s moment and image come from the Dudley Canal Trust.

In 1963 Dudley Canal Preservation Society evolved, when a group of young men joined together to protect the tunnel.  The campaign was successful and in 1970 the Dudley Canal Trust was formed.  In 1984 we built the first tunnel for 126 years within the Cavern network with a second one in 1989 being built to allow our passengers a unique insight into this underground world under Dudley.  Today we carry around 80,000 visitors a year from all over the world through the underground network of tunnels and caverns with stunning audio visual shows taking you back 420 million years to the silurian age when Dudley was a tropical seabed, a music and light show, a lifelike reconstruction of miners working underground and a chance to experience the old fashioned art of “legging” the boat through the tunnel.  With four trip boats we run every fifteen minutes at busy times throughout the year.  We also special events underground including Halloween, Santa and Ghost Hunting evenings.

We are currently in the planning stage of a new Learning and Access Hub which will be built on site to enable us to tell the story of the history of the tunnels, caverns and waterways.  Our Charitable Trust continues to preserve the Caverns and Waterways for future generations to enjoy.