Canal walking in May: Walk 2, part 2 Tividale and Dudley Port

Leaving Netherton Tunnel behind, I climbed up to the Old Main Line Canal which "flew over" the Dudley No 2 Canal.

This is top of the aqueduct seen on my previous blog.

Looking back to the earlier route

There are only a few industrial buildings left now.

The Dudley Road Bridge - specially for Dudley residents who mostly drive over it unaware of what is beneath

Greenery amid the warehouses

And a lovely clump of naturalised bluebells

Water lily pads

Then I turned left onto this canal, the Brades Hall Branch (sometimes called the Gower Branch - according to which map you look at)

This lock is by Tile Plus...

...on the Tipton Road

The Brades Hall locks are a staircase, running straight into the next lock with no stretch of water in between. (Pity about the graffiti, though)

And on to the next locks, taking the canal down to the new Main Line

Hecla was on its way to a canal rally.

Abundant cow parsley on the canal bank

A family of mallards

Back on the Wolverhampton Birmingham Canal, Main Line.

I passed a huge "hole in the ground", now beautifully over-run with wild flowers. I assumed it was a quarry.

There was a very steep hill at the side, which I climbed - because it was there

A strange tree on the top.  It was clear that this was actually an old open cast coal mine - there were glittering black lumps of coal all over it.

Back on the canal, the heron plays chicken with a cyclist.

Another cast iron bridge

A cycleway map  - I have just walked round the square (by the red arrow - "you are here")

And here I am back at the aqueduct that started it all off.

This was an extraordinary walk: looking at how many canals are crammed together in such a small space makes me think this must have been the absolute heart of the Industrial revolution. It gave me a new respect for the Black Country and its history. And now it has grown back into a green space in the middle of a busy urban area.

If you want to see the first half of this walk, click here
For mobile users, to see other walks, click here

Today's walk: Park in the streets by Dudley Port Station, and joining the canal by the aqueduct. Turn right, and walk to the first canal junction. From here, you will walk a square shape. So, turn right, but keep on the left hand side of the canal. Walk as far as Netherton Tunnel, and then retrace your steps to the first bridge. Ascend this to another canal, and turn left (again keeping to the towpath on the left hand side.) Turn left at the next canal junction, and then left again at the next, which takes you back onto to the first canal. Walk back to your starting point. About 4 miles of surprisingly green and pleasant walking deep in one of the most urban areas of the Black Country.