presented on 3 November 1961 by W I Ives, a senior official within the organisation, called for changes in the law to make it much easier to close redundant canals. When the British Transport Commission presented their annual bill to Parliament in November 1961, it included proposals to close ten waterways immediately, of which the Dudley Canal and Tunnel were one. While there was an assurance that no action would be taken that would adversely affect the possibility of navigation on three of them, the Dudley Tunnel did not fall into this category. Protests by the Inland Waterways Association and the Inland Waterways Preservation Society were rejected, and the Dudley Canal Branch closed in 1962. The following year, the viaduct that carried the Stourbridge to Wolverhampton railway line over the northern portal of the tunnel at Tipton was found to be structurally unsound. The line was largely a goods line since the closure of passenger stations along it from 30 July 1962, but the railway authorities planned to preserve the railway line and wanted to replace the viaduct with an embankment, which would have sealed off the northern portal. However, the railway closed completely in 1968 as part of the Beeching cuts, and so the tunnel mouth remained accessible. Reopening Despite the fact that it was officially closed, Vic Smallshire and some colleagues decided to travel through the tunnel and return via the Netherton Tunnel. However, when they got to Park Head, the three locks down to the No 2 Line had been damaged by British Waterways to prevent navigation, and while returning through the Dudley Tunnel, he found a message in a bottle. He made contact with the writers, John Westwood and Cliff Sherwood, and plans to rescue the tunnel were soon drawn up. Regular trips were made through the tunnels on Sundays, and when barriers were erected at the tunnel ends, these were removed with crowbars, sledge hammers and ropes. The Dudley Tunnel Committee was formed, co-ordinating interest in its plight within the local community. Smallshire wrote an 8-page article about the need to preserve the tunnel for the Inland Waterways Association, and there was widespread interest in the concept. The committee was approached by the Workers Educational Association, to arrange a trip into the tunnels. After a date was agreed, Dr John Fletcher, their regional officer, contacted the press and invited anyone who was interested to come