Mooring options in Birmingham

[RobertT]

We are first-time canal boaters on ABC, taking the Birm mini ring from Alvechurch week of July 29th. The night of 29th is our planned stop in Birmingham and first piece of advice I know is to decide on moorings and reserve if possible.

I am registered with CBT at https://www.watersidemooring.com/ but this seems to have no reservations available, like *anywhere* this side of Poland.

In Birm, abc and maps point us to Gas St Basin, Cambrian Wharf.. as the mainstays.

So is there any chance of us booking ahead at this point? And if not, what are our best choice/worst choice scenarions for mooring for the night? I keep hearing near the Sea Life museum, not sure how many opportunities to expect in general area.

Thanks for any ideas!

Edited July 17 by RobertT

[IanM]

As far as I am aware there are no bookable moorings, unless Sherbourne Street Wharf have any.  There are plenty of CRT moorings of varying time limits so you'll be very unlucky not to find anywhere.

[nicknorman]

You can’t book any mooring in central Birmingham, unless you want to go into the private Sherborne Wharf marina (assuming they have space). But it is nothing to worry about, there are a lot of opportunities for on-line moorings and it’s highly unlikely you won’t find a space somewhere. My preference is on the mainline between old turn junction and St Vincent street bridge, but there are opportunities above Farmer’s bridge top lock/outside the NIA, at the start of the Oozels St loop, and between Gas St basin and the Mailbox, plus a few other spaces. Most of Cambrian Wharf is now permanent moorings although there are a few spaces. Overall, I wouldn’t worry about it and central Birmingham is great by canal.

 

If you turn down Oozels St loop bear in mind that at the far end you can’t turn right due to the angles (unless you have a very short boat) but there is a basin a bit further along towards Wolverhampton, you can turn in the entrance, or you can go round the interesting Icknield port loop.

[Francis Herne]

Waterside Moorings is for long-term mooring, months at a time, for a hire boat there's no point looking at it.

 

Short-term moorings that need booking are unusual on the canals, I can't think of any on your route.

 

I'd agree that the best mooring in Birmingham is from Old Turn to St. Vincent Street on both sides, all 4-day on rings. The ones between Gas Street and the Mailbox are a bit more convenient for where you're going but can be a bit loud because of the bars there.

 

Be aware that leaving the centre of Birmingham onto the Grand Union, there's nowhere particularly good to moor until Catherine-de-Barnes.

Edited July 17 by Francis Herne

[john6767]

You don’t need to book anything in the centre of Birmingham, just rock up and find a mooring.  There is less foot fall on the towpath if you go through Gas Street basin to Old Turn junction (the roundabout) and to the left there is moorings along both sides of the Main Line.  You can either back up to Old  Turn to turn to go down Farmers Bridge locks, or continue on the Main  Line for a quarter of a mile and turn a Monument road basin just before the road bridge of that name.

[IanD]

6 hours ago, RobertT said:

We are first-time canal boaters on ABC, taking the Birm mini ring from Alvechurch week of July 29th. The night of 29th is our planned stop in Birmingham and first piece of advice I know is to decide on moorings and reserve if possible.

I am registered with CBT at https://www.watersidemooring.com/ but this seems to have no reservations available, like *anywhere* this side of Poland.

In Birm, abc and maps point us to Gas St Basin, Cambrian Wharf.. as the mainstays.

So is there any chance of us booking ahead at this point? And if not, what are our best choice/worst choice scenarions for mooring for the night? I keep hearing near the Sea Life museum, not sure how many opportunities to expect in general area.

Thanks for any ideas!

If you plan your route on CanalPlanAC it will show you where all the moorings are, with comments on how good they are (or not).

 

https://canalplan.uk/cgi-bin/canal.cgi

 

BTW which ring do you mean -- north via the Wyrley & Essington, or south via the Southern Stratford/GU?

Edited July 17 by IanD

[hider]

I use the free moorings at the beginning of the Sherbourne Wharf loop, very peaceful as you are off the main route.

Or the couple of spaces at the top of Farmers locks before the services off the roundabout at OldTurn.

[BEngo]

All the Brum moorings are popular, so rock up as early as you can.  

 

If Alvechurch are late giving you the boat for any reason, consider a stop at Hopwood.

[Stroudwater1]

46 minutes ago, BEngo said:

All the Brum moorings are popular, so rock up as early as you can.  

 

If Alvechurch are late giving you the boat for any reason, consider a stop at Hopwood.

 

There usually loads of moorings at Birmingham, no need to be pushing on worried about no moorings. Sure you may not get prime slot but they are usually taken everywhere by non or slow movers. At absolute worst bash mooring pins in deeply a bit further up the main line past the suggested moorings where mooring rings/ bollards stop.

 

I  wouldn't stop at Hopwood, as it makes the next day very long going to Catherine De Barnes if thats what the Birmingham Ring entails. At worst stop at the visitor moorings at Bournville, the non towpath ones are usually full but there are rings on the towpath side. If late setting off from ABC its more likely that Wast Hill Tunnel will be quiet too which is a bonus. 

[Annie cariad]

Mooring close to the mailbox no drama just don't leave to late ,feed the street people breakfast,shared our bacon sandwiches earlier this year with them , could not have been nicer x

[IanD]

4 minutes ago, Annie cariad said:

Mooring close to the mailbox no drama just don't leave to late ,feed the street people breakfast,shared our bacon sandwiches earlier this year with them , could not have been nicer x

 

In my experience, most people are nice if you treat them as human beings not scum, whether living on the street or doing menial jobs...

[IanM]

We moored near the mailbox a few years back. We talked to the people begging, gave them a packet of crisps, a light for their cigarette, etc and they were no problem at all. I thought of them as onsite security for the boat when we’d popped out for a bit. 

[BCN Challenge]

7 hours ago, BEngo said:

All the Brum moorings are popular, so rock up as early as you can.  

 

If Alvechurch are late giving you the boat for any reason, consider a stop at Hopwood.

There really is no need to consider stopping at Hopwood unless the OP is very late leaving Alvechurch.

 

It’s doubtful there is ever nowhere to moor in Birmingham and with the extension of moorings beyond Sheepcote Street it’s even less likely.

6 hours ago, Stroudwater1 said:

 

There usually loads of moorings at Birmingham, no need to be pushing on worried about no moorings. Sure you may not get prime slot but they are usually taken everywhere by non or slow movers. At absolute worst bash mooring pins in deeply a bit further up the main line past the suggested moorings where mooring rings/ bollards stop.

 

I  wouldn't stop at Hopwood, as it makes the next day very long going to Catherine De Barnes if thats what the Birmingham Ring entails. At worst stop at the visitor moorings at Bournville, the non towpath ones are usually full but there are rings on the towpath side. If late setting off from ABC its more likely that Wast Hill Tunnel will be quiet too which is a bonus. 

Bournville is a poor mooring. The offside is often taken up. There’s new opportunity in Selly Oak and better than both at The Vale.

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

and if you get as far as the Vale you might as well keep on to  Brum. 
..another half hour ?

[BCN Challenge]

Just now, beerbeerbeerbeerbeer said:

and if you get as far as the Vale you might as well keep on to  Brum. 
..another half hour ?

Well, yes. That applies to anywhere between Alvechurch and Birmingham city centre unless you really need to stop short.

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

Alvechurch to Brum is about a 4 hr run,

so simply meant if you get as far as the Vale from Alvechurch after picking the boat up you may as well do the last half hour and get in to Town. 

 

 

[BCN Challenge]

Just now, beerbeerbeerbeerbeer said:

Alvechurch to Brum is about a 4 hr run,

so simply meant if you get as far as the Vale from Alvechurch after picking the boat up you may as well do the last half hour and get in to Town. 

 

 

Not on a hire boat if it’s after sunset.

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

Set off at sunrise then there’s no problem 👍

all day to faff about

[dmr]

37 minutes ago, beerbeerbeerbeerbeer said:

and if you get as far as the Vale you might as well keep on to  Brum. 
..another half hour ?

 

We've done this really late and getting into brum in the dark is quite spectacular, especially going through the bar with all the nightlife going on, a bit stressful in case there is nowhere to moor but it all worked out fine.

[agg221]

I have rocked up in the centre at quarter past midnight and still found a mooring (near Vincent Street). There were plenty of moorings when we passed this year at 11:30 but we carried on to Spon Lane as we had time to get there for around midnight. Timing is not so suitable for a hire boat (even we in our most extreme days would have considered that a little past twilight) but the point is there should be no problem finding a mooring.

 

One option, coming from the Alrewas direction, is to temporarily stop at the first available mooring near Mailbox Turn, then send someone on ahead (5mins walk each way) to see if there is a preferable mooring just down the main line. If yes, move on; if no, moor up.

 

Alec

[IanD]

The OP is on a hire boat, so all the talk about how it's nice to carry on after dusk is irrelevant, the boat will not be insured for this.

 

We've had this problem in the past (but not there specifically), aiming to get somewhere nice the first evening but either being delayed setting off or en route and having to stop somewhere unpleasant when it got dark -- in one case opposite busy mainline railway lines and a building site that started up at 7am, next to a brick wall with a traveller encampment on wasteland the other side, with no pub or shops or anything else nearby... 😞 

 

Alvechurch to Brum is 4hrs or so -- or 4h30m with canalplan defaults, which may be more appropriate for a newbie -- which may be pushing it, especially given that the boat hire people are likely to get experienced boaters away first and leave a newbie who needs more instruction and explanation until last.

[David Mack]

19 minutes ago, IanD said:

The OP is on a hire boat, so all the talk about how it's nice to carry on after dusk is irrelevant, the boat will not be insured for this.

So if a hire boat travelling after dark hits your boat causing damage, who are you going to claim against? Of course they are insured. The hire companies just tell their customers they are not as a deterrent to travelling in the dark.

[IanD]

26 minutes ago, David Mack said:

So if a hire boat travelling after dark hits your boat causing damage, who are you going to claim against? Of course they are insured. The hire companies just tell their customers they are not as a deterrent to travelling in the dark.

<sigh> yes the boat is probably insured at night (maybe third party only?), but the hirer can be liable for part or all of the cost of any claim because they breached the T&Cs of their hire agreement -- the insurance company (or hire company?) can try and recover costs or excess from them. Or maybe the insurance covers third party damage at night but not damage to the boat itself. Or maybe it's not covered and you have to sue the hirer if your boat is damaged, who knows the exact terms, they may differ between insurance companies. So as far as the hirer is concerned, it might as well not be insured because they could be hit with a big bill.

 

Easy summary for normal people to understand -- "don't travel after dark, the boat isn't insured"... 😉 

Edited July 18 by IanD

[Rob-M]

The instructions my dad use to give out to hirers when he did handovers at Alvechurch was you could boat whilst the grass was green, once you could no longer see grass as green it was too dark to continue boating.

[Stroudwater1]

47 minutes ago, Rob-M said:

The instructions my dad use to give out to hirers when he did handovers at Alvechurch was you could boat whilst the grass was green, once you could no longer see grass as green it was too dark to continue boating.

Great advise at the time Rob . The grass is all so high now that it’s dried out and gone yellow. Can we receive further instructions, as yellow looks yellow till later at night I believe 🤣 

 

Accepting @BCN Challenge expertise and local knowledge our stops on the towpath visitor mooring side at Bournville have been uneventful and very handy for trains. Selly Oak moorings are good but some is lost to the S Brum Paddle  club and realistically it’s down to two 57foot plus a squeeze in 30 foot. There seems to be a CM there too?  Unreasonable to then turn back to Bournville. That just leaves The Vale which isn’t brilliant IMHO and you best push on to the green grass of Gas Street. 
 

BTW  there were two or three hire boats on the BCN challenge this year cruising till 22.00 and starting at 4am so this appears to be covered by insurance. I would think it unlikely that a giant hire boat policy would be altered specifically for them but could be wrong.