Corixa

We did the flight up and down 2 weeks ago. What a haven for Coots it is, I have never seen so many family groups abutting each other most of the way from Wolverhampton to the BCLM.

We got caught up with the Avon River Festival at Stratford last year on our route out onto the Avon and onto the Severn. We did not realise it was on until we got the Lapworth where another boater asked us if we were attending it. By this time is was a bit late to change our plans so we just carried on and hoped for the best finding a mooring. Well it was not a problem, we arrived on the Friday afternoon by which time most of the festival boats were moored up very neatly on the river. There were at least 3 moorings free on the pontoons in the Bancroft Basin. We dropped down onto the river on the Saturday morning quite late but did not get caught in any festival activities and went through the first lock ( Colin P Witter ) with out any delays.

Stopped/moored at the Bird in Hand at Stourport last July - nice traditional friendly pub and a fine pint of Hobsons.

We moored just below Bagnall Lock after the winding hole and walked to the A513 via Fox Lane courtesy of Google maps. Not a very pleasant walk but at least we did not have to run the gauntlet across the A38, which was very busy both ways. Well worth the 30 minutes walk too. Thanks for all the replies.

We have a week out on our shared ownership boat next week. We would like to visit the Arboretum as it does not look to be too much of a walk from the canal at Alrewas. Just wondering where the best place to moor would be, hopefully not too close to a busy road if at all possible. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

We hired from College Cruisers in Oxford a couple of times a few years ago. They did an excellent handover, chap came on board with us down and through Isis lock, winded and back up again before jumping off at the boatyard. This was despite both my wife and I having taken the helmsmans course, which they were aware of and had seen our certificates.

Well we made it into the basin yesterday and there were/are a few moorings here. Eventful day which started with no water in the pounds from Wilmcote top lock at all! CRT guy was in the flight running water through to top up the flight when a 'helpful' cyclist decided to drop the paddle on the top lock so the pounds on at the top of the flight just drained away. The CRT guy was further down so could not see what had happened. Fortunately the cyclist admitted to his actions when he saw the CRT guy at the bottom of the flight.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Just heading down Lapworth flight heading for Stratford upon Avon. Heard there is a festival this weekend and wondered how busy it will be and will mooring tomorrow afternoon be a likely problem? We are heading out on the river to Tewkesbury on Saturday.

Sorry I meant up not down, coming from Bordesley Junction on the Digbeth Branch ( as I am aware that the Aston flight is closed). Then onto Kings Norton on the Worcester and Birminghan Canal. Heading to Stratford upon Avon and beyond?

Have the water levels in the area originally affected recovered or are they still low? I am planning on coming into Birmingham down the Farmers Bridge flight next Tuesday.

And me too! I was planning to come down Aston and Farmers Bridge Locks at the end of June en-route to Gas Street ( or thereabouts ). I have just adjusted the route in Canalplan to use the Garrison Locks and it makes little to no difference to the original route in terms of number of Locks and only a couple more miles.

Thank you for your replies. I am using a very old Nicholson guide so much of the information is now out of date. I was hoping that Stratford Marina would still be providing these services but I can't find any current information on it on-line. Looks like it will be Valley Cruises or Evesham Marina.

We will be requiring a pump out and diesel coming off the Stratford Canal and onto the Avon in June. Searches with Google are not coming back bearing fruit. Could someone more familiar with the area let me know were the closest services are? Thanks in advance for your help.

Thanks for all the replies. I will be trying to plan in a couple of nights on the river now and agree that the £50 is going to a really good cause.

I am planning a trip in June part of which involves moving onto the River Avon from Bancroft Basin down to Tewkesbury to pick up the River Severn. The excellent CanalPlan tool says this will take just over 15 hours as it is 42 miles and 18 locks. I would like to make one overnight stop on the river. I am conscious that I will need to get a license from the Avon Navigation Trust. But I am a little confused as to which one I will need. Having looked on their website I see that there is a 24 hour overnight for £5 but I am guessing this will not be sufficient to cover the trip and take in an overnight stop – or will it? I will not be returning to Bancroft Basin so this would appear to cut out the 48 hour option. Does anybody know if I will have to take the £50 7 Day Through license or if there is a more cost effective way to do this? Thanks in advance for any help.

We found the VM at Jericho very noisy at night. There is a lot of activity on the nearby railway which sounded like rolling stock being shunted around at all hours of the night and morning.

It may be me but when we moored up opposite College Cruisers it was very noisy from trains arriving/going and shunting all night. Great location though for access to the city and Jericho - also the Bookies is a very acceptable pub IMHO!

Probably best to buddy up with another narrow boat, hopefully with their own lock crew, if you can co-ordinate it.

Re Bath moorings: we have moored by the rugby ground just before Pulteney Bridge in the past. Have these moorings been removed or prohibited for some reason?

Hillmorton Locks are on the Oxford near Rugby if I remember correctly. And I am far too slow :^)

Another vote for Llangollen and back here too - stunning canal, scenery and the two aqueducts. Get the Nicholson ( other guides are available ) book 4 guide to the four counties and the Welsh canals. I use a combination of these guides and the canal planning tool ( excellent it is too ) to plan our trips. Good advice on this forum too of course! For the narrow section of the Llangollen we found it a good idea to put one of the crew ashore to walk ahead and check that it was clear to proceed. Mobile phone contact does the job. Enjoy!

Me too - but mine was only 4 years ago. Went out on the cut for a week 3 months after the replacement and had no problems. Been great ever since, long may it last

£320k

Thanks all - good feedback on the EOG mooring situation from you, it is something that I would like. I hadn't realised that I would have to check with CRT about the transfer of the mooring rights. Anyway after contacting the vendor the asking price is deemed to be prohibitive on this occasion. But we did see a house for sale in Milton on the Caldon that is with an agent and the asking price is in range. This potentially has a mooring but is close to a bridge!