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Stourport Ring


Valnic

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At that time of year the only problem may be the Severn going in to flood but if it is ok I would head up the Severn to Stourport at the start and then back on the canals.  I would head up the Stourbridge from Stewponey rather than via Wolverhampton.

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If you get 'organised' - not in a military way, but each person has a defined task and sticks to it (until you / they change it by agrement), then it'll be great and great fun.

It's when folks dither around - not knowing what job they're supposed to do (drive the boat / operate the bottom gate / operate the top gate and so on. Change who does what as often as you like - just as long as everyone know what's happening  all the time.

 

There's a certain satisfaction to be had by moving along at whatever pace you are all comfortable with and no feeling of one or other rushing it..

Perhaps I / we've been boating too long.....

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2 hours ago, Valnic said:

Is the stourport ring suitable for beginners? Worcester was only place i could hire a boat for 7 days in Oct. A bit nervous. There are 4 of us. Any helpful tips would be appreciated.

 

It's quite hard work for beginners, with 4 of you should be OK but you need to like locks and want to travel most of the day (about 7 hours) every day. Trip report from when we did it is here...

 

 

Edited by IanD
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By Military way I meant something on the lines of  -

1. Walk up to lock gate

2. Is the lock set in your favour?

and so on...

A good boater performs the same task(s) in the correct / azppropriate order without any hassle or apparent rush. She knows what to do and usually in the most efficient order and the job gets done without any hassle / panic / rush.

We just look back at the flight completed and think - "did we just whor the wqhole flight without any hassle?" and we did.....

 

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With a ring you are committed to doing the whole thing from the start, and if you make slower progress than planned in the first half of the week, the second half will be arduous.

 

You could start off doing the ring - I would go upriver from Worcester to Stourport then onto the Staffs & Worcs, and if after 2 or 3 days it all seems too much, you could simply turn round half way through the week and return the way you came. And perhaps on the way back, if you have a day or two in hand, leave the river at Hawford (above Bevere Lock) and return via the Droitwich Canals and the bottom end of the Worcester & Birmingham to Worcester.

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7 hours ago, Valnic said:

Is the stourport ring suitable for beginners? Worcester was only place i could hire a boat for 7 days in Oct. A bit nervous. There are 4 of us. Any helpful tips would be appreciated.

Why do a ring, just out and back, you will probably enjoy it more

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So far, we have always hired. We have pretty much always done rings.

 

'We' were originally a large group of young adults but are now two adults and two children, now 10 and 12 but when we first started again they were 8 and 10.

 

Different people enjoy different things about boating. Some like to potter about, tie up, go and look at things etc. Others (like us) like to travel. To put that in context, the most recent boat we hired was from Norbury Wharf. With Norbury you pay for the diesel you use, the boat being filled up when you get back. The boat which arrived back at the same time as us had used 27 litres of diesel in the week; we had used 95.

 

The trip we did a couple of years ago with the children aged 8 and 10 was from Penkridge on the Staffs & Worcs, down to Stourport, down the Severn, across the Droitwich, up the Worcester and Birmingham to Gas Street, then the New Main Line/Old Main Line, down the Wolverhampton 21 and back to Penkridge. We also fitted in Cadbury World, the Black Country Living Museum and Wolverhampton Art Gallery. This is a longer version of what you are planning.

 

Some observations:

 

The above is quite intensive, but was clearly possible. You wouldn't want to do quite so much, partly because you are finding your way and partly because you will lose the light at the end of the day at this time of year, however the route you are planning is fine for a week.

 

I suggest feeding your route into canalplan.org.uk. It's a bit fiddly to get used to the settings, but once you have them you can play with variables. The main thing is to work out where you sensibly want to be each night. We generally try to be a little ahead of where we need to be each night - say the next pub on. That way there is no pressure.

 

I concur with the suggestion of going up the Severn first. It is slower, but it means you know it won't be in flood and cause problems at the end of the week.

 

If there are things you want to stop and look at, I would plan those for the back end of the week and play with the planner accordingly. That way, you actually have the time in hand on your route to use as contingency - if you are on track you visit them, if not you have that extra time to travel. The one I would be thinking of on that route is Avoncroft if that is of interest.

 

At this time of year you should not have too many problems with queues at locks. The Tardebigge flight will be the big one, but that comes fairly near the end so you should be up to speed with them. The main thing is to send someone on ahead to set up the next lock while you are going through (say the person who closes the top gate behind the boat then goes on, the others already standing by the paddles ready to open them when the gate is shut). You are aiming for the boat to be always moving so far as is possible, be that along the canal or up/down a lock.

 

If you find after a couple of days that you are preferring to moor up and visit places rather than cruising, you can turn around and go back at the half-time point. Downstream on the Severn is much quicker than upstream so you will make it back comfortably, but do keep an eye on the river levels. There is a Facebook page with the river levels which is updated very regularly.

 

Enjoy!


Alec

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Five of us did the shorter version via Netherton Tunnel in a weekend a few times. Gas Street to Kinver on the first afternoon/evening, Kinver to Tibberton on the Saturday then back to Gas Street for the Sunday evening. 

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3 hours ago, Sally Grim said:

Just bear in mind that in you’re supposed to be moored up by sunset, that’s a requirement by most hire companies. And sunset is rather earlier in October than in summer, so you get less hours actually boating  

 

It's a good point. Not for the sake of splitting hairs but because it actually makes a difference, I would check the wording on your terms carefully. There is enough time between official sunset and 'the hours of darkness' for it to add up across the week. We've always had 'must not travel in the hours of darkness'. It's also that time of year where sunset time is changing quickly, so when in the month you are travelling will have a bearing on how much light you will have. On October 1st sunset is at 18.55, definitely twilight by 19.15 and definitely dark by 19.30 but by the end of the month it's moved to 17.48 (the clocks don't change until the 31st).

 

That said, if you set off around 8.00-8.30 you will still have 9.5-10hrs of cruising time per day available which is more than enough (Canalplan says you need 8hrs/day and if you get efficient at locks it will be less than that).


Alec

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15 minutes ago, agg221 said:

 

It's a good point. Not for the sake of splitting hairs but because it actually makes a difference, I would check the wording on your terms carefully. There is enough time between official sunset and 'the hours of darkness' for it to add up across the week. We've always had 'must not travel in the hours of darkness'. It's also that time of year where sunset time is changing quickly, so when in the month you are travelling will have a bearing on how much light you will have. On October 1st sunset is at 18.55, definitely twilight by 19.15 and definitely dark by 19.30 but by the end of the month it's moved to 17.48 (the clocks don't change until the 31st).

 

That said, if you set off around 8.00-8.30 you will still have 9.5-10hrs of cruising time per day available which is more than enough (Canalplan says you need 8hrs/day and if you get efficient at locks it will be less than that).


Alec

 

We did it quite easily in a week with four of us (including half a day at the BCLM, and a long lunchtime at the Bull and Bladder), but we're all experienced and know how to speed up locking -- I don't think we set off earlier than 9pm or stopped later than 6pm.

 

I'd echo the comments above -- use Canalplan to work out stops and see if it all works in the time available, go up to Stourport first, and have a backup plan to turn round if you find it's too hard work or you fall behind.

 

It's a great ring to do with some good places to stop, even in Birmingham 😉

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1 hour ago, IanD said:

 

We did it quite easily in a week with four of us (including half a day at the BCLM, and a long lunchtime at the Bull and Bladder), but we're all experienced and know how to speed up locking -- I don't think we set off earlier than 9pm or stopped later than 6pm.

 

I'd echo the comments above -- use Canalplan to work out stops and see if it all works in the time available, go up to Stourport first, and have a backup plan to turn round if you find it's too hard work or you fall behind.

 

It's a great ring to do with some good places to stop, even in Birmingham 😉

A couple of points to echo/expand. If you are running ahead of time and like such things, BCLM is a good diversion. If the timing makes it work, the NEC to Gas Street Basin area of central Birmingham is a really nice overnight mooring with rings to tie up to and plenty of good pubs and restaurants all around it. You also go right past Cadbury World if that's your preference (travelling with two daughters it was obligatory!) and to reiterate, I rather like Avoncroft which is later on in the week and makes an interesting diversion.

 

One really good thing about this ring is that you get to experience almost everything that inland waterways have to offer - lock flights, long stretches without locks, straight bits, windy bits, tunnels, city centre and open countryside, plus a river. There is something for everyone in that route.


Alec

Edited by agg221
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