[Stourport Ring Advice]

Thanks all - plenty of great suggestions.

 

Plan A - Stourport Ring

Plan B - Stratford Canal there-and-back

 

We will make a call on it depending on 1) the weather / River Severn, and 2) at the time whether we feel like taking it easy or pushing on.

 

Greatly appreciate all the advice.

[Stourport Ring Advice]

41 minutes ago, doratheexplorer said:

I'd assumed the it would be via the Droitwich canal.  Via Worcester makes for a heck of a second day, with limited daylight hours and a rushing crew, it's a recipe for disaster.

 

If the River is open, try this itinerary:

 

Saturday - to Hanbury Junction. (Eagle and Sun)

Sunday to the River pontoon by Hawford Junction, or the Lock pontoon at Holt Fleet. (No pub, or the Holt Fleet)

Monday to Wolverley, mooring by the Lock Inn. (You'll arrive at Stourport mid morning and I doubt there will be any queues.)

Tuesday is tricky.  If you're going well, you could moor at the top of the Stourbridge flight, but there's no decent pub (Samson and Lion?) and it's not the nicest spot.  A better option would be in the flight on the same pound as the Red House cone.  Some top notch pubs and a brilliant Indian nearby, so let's say that. (Bird in Hand, Old Cat, New Inn, Crystal Balti)

Wednesday to Windmill End (Ma Pardoes/Old Swan)

Thursday to Alvechurch (choice of 4 pubs)

Friday to Stoke Pound (Queens Arms)

Saturday to Stoke Prior.

 

It means the longest day, according to canalplan would be Windmill End to Alvechurch, which has no locks, so would be far less tiring.  Every other day is far more manageable.

 

The most locks in a day would be 30 at Tardebigge, but those locks are easy to work and you won't need to cover much distance that day either. By the end of the week, you'll know what you're doing better too.  After that, your next busiest day would include 21 locks, which is part of Stourbridge, the Delph and 1 lock at Parkhead.  This should be pretty manageable.

 

 

Yes plan is to go via the Droitwich canal.

 

Your itinerary looks more do-able than mine, much appreciated thanks. I'm fancying the alternative plan you suggested more now as I don't want to be too pushed for time (and daylight).

[Stourport Ring Advice]

35 minutes ago, David Mack said:

From Hanbury to Stourport you can go either via Worcester or via Droitwich. The latter will be a little quicker.

 

You say you are doing this trip 'in a few weeks time'. When exactly? The stoppage 'season' starts at the beginning of November, and may significantly restrict your route options. And regardless of stoppages you will have limited hours of daylight. Early starts will be in order.

Thanks David - we're going from the 17th to 24th October so hopefully avoid the stoppage season.

 

As you say daylight hours will be a limiting factor.

[Stourport Ring Advice]

23 minutes ago, doratheexplorer said:

Assuming the Severn is back open:

 

I also think you're under estimating how long lock flights can take.  Especially if you're new to it.  Kinver to Merry Hill is over thirty locks with a fair cruising distance added in.  That's gonna be a long day.  You then have two short days with 1 lock on the first and no locks on the second, and those canals are nice and deep for the most part with few moored boats. You could potentially do both of them in 1 day. 

 

I would look at overnight mooring at the bottom of the Delph on day 4 and then going from there to Birmingham on day 5.

 

If the Severn remains closed, I'd recommend a there-and-back trip on the Stratford canal.  Mid point would be somewhere around Lowsonford/Wooton Wawen.  It would be a lot less stressful for a beginner too.  Lots of locks but no stressing about sticking to a tight schedule and worrying about river levels, lock timings etc.

 

A nice itinerary would be:

 

Saturday:  To The Queens Head at the bottom of Tardebigge.

Sunday:  To Hopwood.

Monday to Lapworth top lock

Tuesday to Lowsonford or a bit further, and turn.

Wednesday back up and to Hockley Heath

Thursday to Alvechurch

Friday to Stoke Prior

Saturday into the boatyard.

 

A different mooring every night and near enough to a pub every night, if that's your thing.

Great advice thanks. Alternative route may be the one we go for - as you say a lot less stressful and can turn around when we hit the halfway point on Tuesday evening.

[Stourport Ring Advice]

8 minutes ago, john6767 said:

Others will comment on the details, but I would suggest that you also plan a trip that just involves canals, in case the Severn is not passable due to rain. 

Thanks John - will also devise a Plan B just in case the rain is here for the next few weeks.

[Stourport Ring Advice]

Hi everyone,

 

Total beginner here booked for a week with Black Prince from Stoke Prior in a few weeks time departing on a Saturday. Inspired by the posts from fellow beginner BavariaOne I intend to write up a similar report once completed.

 

They'll be two of us and we're just cruising the loop to experience the canals, we have no places we plan to visit.

 

Using the impressive amount of information available on this forum and Canal plan I thought I'd share the draft plan I've managed to come up with and ask for any hints, tips and advice you guys may have;

 

Day 1 (Saturday) - Stoke Prior to Hanbury. Only a few hours to get used to the boat and bearing in mind sunset will be around 6.30pm

 

Days 2 (Sunday) - Hanbury to River Severn Moorings at Stourport. Now this is a long day of approx 9.5hrs at Canal Plan, this is probably too long for the time of year with limited sunlight. Would appreciate if some could advise on a overnight a few hours south on the Severn (maybe around Holt?).

 

Day 3 (Monday) - Stourport to Kinver. Canal plan warns that the narrow lock from the Severn to Stourport is currently out of action and that the wide lock must be used which only operates Mon, Wed, Fri 9am to 3pm. Please can someone confirm there is no alternatives and, if not, will there likely be a queue at 9am on a Monday morning?

 

Day 4 (Tuesday) - Kinver to Merry Hill Visitor Moorings. 

 

Day 5 (Wednesday) - Merry Hill to Oozells St or Gas St Basin, Birmingham

 

Day 6 (Thursday) - City Centre to Alvechurch

 

Day 7 (Friday) - Alvechurch to Stoke Pound

 

Day 8 (Saturday) - Stoke Pound to Stoke Prior

 

Concerns are really only around the potentially long day on Day 2 and access to Stourport on Day 3, advice would be much appreciated. Other than that I just wanted to make sure I hadn't made any glaring errors or missed a better alternative on one of the overnights.

 

Thanks for reading