Black Country Walk Through Time

Watershed viewpoint

You're now standing on a watershed.

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Look out at the stunning view across Dudley. To the left (East) water drains into rivers which flow into the North Sea. To the right (West), water drains into the Atlantic.

What can you see from the viewpoint? Listen to Graham Worton »

From here you can see Dudley Castle, the BT Tower in Birmingham to the left (if you squint a bit) and woodlands where limestone has been quarried for hundreds of years.

Straight in front of you is Rowley Hill which is 970ft high. People think the Midlands is flat - but if you carried on in a straight line after this point, the next highest peak is in the Urals! The Abberley Hills are on the right - these mark the Herefordshire/Worcestershire border.

Walking past the engineering site

Under your feet are underground mines. At the moment (2004), there is major repair work taking place to fill these in because they are unsafe and liable to collapse. It's not just people who are in danger - thousands of rare bats live in the underground caverns beneath Dudley.

Bats and their habitat are protected in Britain. All the engineering work to stabilise the mines has to be done in summer when the bats are not hibernating in the mines.

Why do the bats like living in Dudley? Listen to Ali Glaisher »
Find out more about the engineering work. Listen to Ali Glaisher »

Also under your feet here are underground canals which were used to transport limestone out of the mines. It was easier to build a canal than have to haul the rock 100m up from the seam!

Continue on the footpath until you reach the 'Ninety-Nine Steps'. Descend the steps - be careful on the steep steps down.

Try to count them. It's said no-one ever counts the same number...

Walk along to the right on the path. You'll emerge on Cedar Road. Keep going straight on then cross Priory Road at the pedestrian crossing. Turn left into Woodland Avenue and enter Priory Park, on the footpath on the right.

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Priory Hall

(Optional route without steps: Go back along the high-level path to Wren's Hill Road. Continue along Priory Road to Priory Park. If you want to drive, you can park at Dudley Technology College, just off The Broadway.)

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