Information about Dudley Canal Trust

Our history goes back to 1963 when the Dudley Canal Tunnel Preservation Society was formed to protect the tunnel, and in particular to oppose the Railway plans to block the Tipton Portal with an embankment. IN 1970 the Society became the Dudley Canal Trust.

The campaign was successfull, and developments continued with the tunnel and Parkhead Locks which were reopened to form a through route in 1973.

In 1984 with Grant Aid help, the Trust built the first new canal tunnel for 126 years connecting into the singing cavern. 1989 saw the opening of yet another new tunnel, this time allowing our passenger boats to complete a unique underground circular trip.

At this time all of our staff were volunteers, and the success of the tunnel trips was placing a great strain on them. To cope with this, Dudley Canal Trust (Trips) Ltd. was formed as a charity to run the boat trip side of the business, and today we have professional staff to run our boat trips, shop sales and catering ventures.

We cater for over 80,000 passengers per year and any trading surplus is given annually to Dudley Canal Trust who use these funds to help maintain the Tunnel and Dudley Canal and it's environment.