The geology of the town is such that the main hill on which the castle is situated has a vein of limestone rock running through it, now the then Earl of Dudley mined this limestome and canal tunnels were built that ran into the hill to transport the material away.
Today some of these tunnels still exist and a couple form part of what is now called "The Black Country Museum" which is well worth a visit if you happen to be in this area.
Some time in the mid-eighties me and some friends wondered down a couple of the old caves before they were filled in, sadly once again a major regret of mine was in failing to take any pictures
What I did learn from one of my friends was that the area is very fossil rich and simply by breaking a couple of rocks revealed fossilized sea shells of which I have posted pictures below, these shells being found by myself.
Now the last picture shows another fossil which is nicknamed "The Dudley Bug" because it is quite common in the area and this one was uncovered by a lady friend of mine. The fossil is called a Trilobite and all that is left of this one is the head, the two "U" shaped things atop are its eyes which are multifaceted similar to the eyes of a common housefly.
Jeremy
haha
the third picture is actually an articulated crinoid (sounds like something you'd expect to find on an episode of Dr Who!), or to give the correct title; Climatocrinus Retiarius Crinoid.
but a good time was had by all.
