Woodside

Dudley Canal and Caverns

Priory Estate · 18 miles

A canal tunnel of roughly 3,172 yards (2,900.5 m) runs beneath the Dudley area, forming the core of the Dudley Canal and Caverns attraction. The structure comprises a main section of 2,942 yards, a shorter Lord Ward’s tunnel of 196 yards and a 34-yard basin at Castle Mill, making it the second-longest continuous canal tunnel on the UK network. The site lies close to the Priory Estate and is managed by The Dudley Canal and Tunnel Trust together with the Dudley Canal Trust. The tunnel’s origins trace back to the Dudley Canal Act of 1776, which authorised a canal but not the tunnel itself. A later act in 1785 permitted the construction of a long tunnel linking the Dudley Canal with Lord Dudley and Ward’s Castle Mill basin. Surveyors John Snape and John Bull, and engineer Thomas Dadford, oversaw the design, while Abraham Lees acted as resident engineer. Construction began under contractor John Pinkerton, who was dismissed in 1787 after difficulties with ground conditions and water ingress. Subsequent supervision passed to Isaac Pratt and then Josiah Clowes, with the tunnel finally declared complete on 25 June 1792. A stop lock added at the northern end was removed in December 1795, and by 1799 complaints about congestion from limestone boats had subsided. Threats of closure emerged in 1959, leading to a protest cruise in 1960; the tunnel closed in 1962, faced further danger from railway plans, but was ultimately reopened in 1973 following a restoration campaign by local volunteers and Dudley Borough Council.

War Memorial Ironbridge

Ironbridge · 0.6 miles

This memorial commemorates the residents of Ironbridge who died in the First (53 names) and Second World War (10 names).

Swan Farm Pool

Coalmoor · 2.5 miles

Created from opencast coal mine.

Second Lieutenant Clifford Wallace Jenson USAAF

Dawley Bank · 2.5 miles

Memorial to US airman who died at this location 20th June 1944

Blockleys Chimney

Trench Lock · 5 miles

The last remaining Chimney from the historical Blockleys Site, made into a feature for the local area to celebrate the history of Hadley and the Brickworks.

Nancy's Seat

Downton · 11 miles

A bench made out of a tree trunk. Nancy Spragg used to live on the hill nearby and run serve refreshments to visitors until she died in 1904