Black country ring

[pomkitanner]

Based on a 7 hour day with a 1-2 hour lunch stop is this feasible in a 1 week hire ? Our crew will consist of 2/ 70+ year olds .  2 in their 40's  and children of 14 and 9. We are thinking late May - early June . Most days we would look to start at about 8 am. Thanks all. 

[Yellowback]

Yes, no, maybe.

 It's a hell of a long way to come to be let down by "The Canal and River Trust"

Sorry but it's a crystal ball question.

[Rob-M]

Depends where you start from, if somewhere on the ring than it is about a steady 40hrs of boating as long as there are no hold ups.  The thing with cruising a ring is if you get to the mid point before the middle of your holiday you know you have plenty of time left, if you get to the middle of your holiday and not reached the mid point of the ring you know you have to cruise more each day or turn round and go back the same way.

[Tonka]

Cab you define which canals you plan to do on your BCN ring, it may be  different to my BCN ring.

[Jonny P]

Yes.

 

Canalplan has it as 42.5 hours cruising. The default timings are not difficult to achieve on narrow canals.
 

In reality I think you’ll find quite easy to achieve with that crew.

 

For clarity though I’m referring to a ring that is Great Haywood - Aldersley Jn (Wolverhampton) - Birmingham - Fazeley Jn - Fradley Jn - Great Haywood Jn.

 

 

[pomkitanner]

7 hours ago, Jonny P said:

Yes.

 

Canalplan has it as 42.5 hours cruising. The default timings are not difficult to achieve on narrow canals.
 

In reality I think you’ll find quite easy to achieve with that crew.

 

For clarity though I’m referring to a ring that is Great Haywood - Aldersley Jn (Wolverhampton) - Birmingham - Fazeley Jn - Fradley Jn - Great Haywood Jn.

 

 

Thanks.  I note the system around Birmingham is riddled with canals. Do I use the "New main Line " as the quickest route ? Is it well sign posted or is there a risk of taking a wrong turn ?  Our starting point is likely to be Autherley Junction , although we have yet to book. 

[Rob-M]

The New Main line is fairly straight and easy to follow, personally I would use the Old line as it is a little more interesting and doesn't add much more time.

[BEngo]

The new main line is the most direct route. It is straight, and a bit boring.   The old main line is much more interesting, and passes close to the Black Country Living museum and the Dudley Tunnel trips  which are well worth a side visit.  You *could*  do a bit of the Old, then down the Brades staircase, Smethwick locks, 8 or Spon Lane for the adventurous, to do some of the New main line.  We always use the Old line

 

If starting at Autherley you have the Wolverhampton 21 either at the start or the end of your ring.  OK going up on a pleasant evening, if you get an early send off .  Bit of a drag if it is late and  pissing down.  Also, you really have to be at the bottom the night before handover if you dont go up at the start.

 

N

[Rob-M]

On the couple of occasions we hired from Autherley we spent the first or last night at Compton.

[Tonka]

But do you have to do Birmingham centre as you could do Wolverhampton 21 then turn left and do the Wyreley and Easington canal with or without Norton Canes or Angelsey Basin. Down Rushall locks, then down Perry bar onto the Birmingham & Fazely canal to Fazely junction

[David Mack]

2 hours ago, BEngo said:

You *could*  do a bit of the Old, then down the Brades staircase, Smethwick locks, 8 or Spon Lane for the adventurous, to do some of the New main line. 

And closer to Birmingham you can go round the loops, Brindley's original canal route, rather than follow Telford's later straight line.

[Stroudwater1]

Another vote for the Old main line. As well as reasons mentioned the water is very clear and you often can see fish darting around. 
The Old Main line is full of waterlilies but generally that doesn’t seem to cause trouble. 

 

[Ronaldo47]

A planned ring trip many years ago became a there-and-back trip when a landslip in a cutting blocked the canal  couple of miles ahead of us. Fortunately we were only a couple of days out when it happened, so we had no problems getting back to our hire base. At least there are plenty of alternative routes in the Birmingham area.

Edited January 10 by Ronaldo47

[David Mack]

1 hour ago, Ronaldo47 said:

A planned ring trip many years ago became a there-and-back trip when a landslip in a cutting blocked the canal  couple of miles ahead of us. Fortunately we were only a couple of days out when it happened, so we had no problems getting back to our hire base. At least there are plenty of alternative routes in the Birmingham area.

Takes me back to a trip when I was a student. We had booked the first week of the university Easter holiday, before the schools had broken up, so it was a cheap hire (of a bargain basement no frills boat) from Gregorys Canal Cruisers at Autherley Junction. The winter stoppages were supposed to have finished the previous week but had overrun. So when we got to Armitage Tunnel and found it still closed we had to reverse a 70 footer back to Rugely aqueduct to turn and change plans. The T&M west of Great Haywood, S&W South of Compton and Shroppie were all closed, so we spent the rest of the week on the BCN.

[IanD]

11 hours ago, David Mack said:

Takes me back to a trip when I was a student. We had booked the first week of the university Easter holiday, before the schools had broken up, so it was a cheap hire (of a bargain basement no frills boat) from Gregorys Canal Cruisers at Autherley Junction. The winter stoppages were supposed to have finished the previous week but had overrun. So when we got to Armitage Tunnel and found it still closed we had to reverse a 70 footer back to Rugely aqueduct to turn and change plans. The T&M west of Great Haywood, S&W South of Compton and Shroppie were all closed, so we spent the rest of the week on the BCN.

 

Worst boat we ever hired -- multiple breakdowns (engine, electrics, heating) starting on the first afternoon... 😞 

[agg221]

1 hour ago, IanD said:

 

Worst boat we ever hired -- multiple breakdowns (engine, electrics, heating) starting on the first afternoon... 😞 

Their successors weren't much better. Our infamous 'Wolverhampton 84' incident, where we traversed the flight four times in 48hrs was courtesy of them. Colloquially known in our circle as 'Dodgy Ron's boatyard'.

 

To the OP: Yes, if everything is open as it should be, it's a nice trip. Canals are not like roads - you are going very slowly, junctions are few and far between and it is obvious which way you should go. I wouldn't be too worried about risk, but I would be prepared to be flexible, just in case something isn't open. Hire bases I would be considering would be Anglo Welsh at Great Haywood and ABC at Great Haywood, Gailey Wharf or Alvechurch. I haven't hired from either so no personal comment, but they are in good locations where there would be alternative options for your route if something changed, and they are big enough companies that if something went wrong with your planned boat, there would be a good chance that they would have another one, even if it meant a change of plan on the route.

 

Assuming everyone in your crew is reasonably physically able, they should be able to operate locks and steer the boat (note, that's as in they can physically do it, but you need to check what's in the hire terms as most I have seen say 'under close supervision' for under 18s but some may vary). For reference, the first time we hired after our children were born was when they were 8 and 10. Both could operate any part of a lock that was in good order, but there were some paddles and gates that were too heavy and defeated the 8yr old on her own, so we tended to have them working in such a way that if she couldn't do it, her 10yr old sister could come round and help her. At that time of year, you would have long daylight hours available so that wouldn't be a problem, which means people can take turns at steering and have a break.

 

There are enough of you that when you come to a flight of locks, some people can go ahead to set them up while others work the boat through the current lock - that makes it a lot quicker.

 

Otherwise, it's an interesting area with plenty to see and a good contrast of city and countryside, plenty of good places to moor and should make a nice trip.

Alec

[IanD]

I can recommend Napton Narrowboats at Autherley Junction, they have good boats which are well maintained (we've hired from Napton several times).

 

I expect you're looking for a boat with 2 double berths and 2 singles, I'd recommend getting one of the "up to 8 people" boats like the Elite6R2B so you don't have to convert the dinette to/from beds every night, which can be a pain.

 

https://www.napton-marina.co.uk/boats/elite_fleet/elite_6r2b.php?start_date=31/05/25&end_date=06/06/25

[agg221]

Probably worth mentioning that whilst @IanD and I now have boats, in both cases this is relatively recent and we have both hired for many years prior to that. Ian probably hired at the upper end of the market, mine was definitely 'cheap and cheerful', mainly because, since I was probably going to be stood on the back end steering all daylight hours, so long as it had a cooker so someone could bring me tea and bacon sandwiches, and a bed, I didn't really care too much beyond that! There are quite a few current/ex-hirers who can probably comment too.

 

It occurred to me (having school age children and my wife is a teacher) that it might be useful to know that the school half-term holiday week in the UK will be the week beginning 26th May. It won't make much difference, but if you want it slightly quieter and have a choice, that would be the week to avoid, or if you would rather see slightly more people about, that would be the week to go for.

 

If you decide to go ahead, and have any further questions e.g. around moorings, realistic timing etc. then here would be a good place to ask them.

 

Alec

[IanD]

9 minutes ago, agg221 said:

Probably worth mentioning that whilst @IanD and I now have boats, in both cases this is relatively recent and we have both hired for many years prior to that. Ian probably hired at the upper end of the market, mine was definitely 'cheap and cheerful', mainly because, since I was probably going to be stood on the back end steering all daylight hours, so long as it had a cooker so someone could bring me tea and bacon sandwiches, and a bed, I didn't really care too much beyond that! There are quite a few current/ex-hirers who can probably comment too.

 

It occurred to me (having school age children and my wife is a teacher) that it might be useful to know that the school half-term holiday week in the UK will be the week beginning 26th May. It won't make much difference, but if you want it slightly quieter and have a choice, that would be the week to avoid, or if you would rather see slightly more people about, that would be the week to go for.

 

If you decide to go ahead, and have any further questions e.g. around moorings, realistic timing etc. then here would be a good place to ask them.

 

Alec

 

I would always recommend going for the better boats (and boatyards) if you can afford them, they're just plain nicer to spend a week on, especially for people who aren't rough tough boater types -- and by the time you add up all the other costs for a week (food, drink...) the cost difference is not as big as at first sight.

 

Avoiding half-term is why I picked the following week, the half-term week is also £300 more expensive... 😞 

 

(though I also note Napton are offering 15% off for bookings in January...)

Edited January 11 by IanD

[David Mack]

3 hours ago, IanD said:

 

Worst boat we ever hired -- multiple breakdowns (engine, electrics, heating) starting on the first afternoon... 😞 

For us the engine and electrics were fine and the boat was generally adequate for our needs, with the exception of the heating. The only heater fitted was one of those small wall-mounted catalytic gas heaters in the saloon. This was the last week in March and it snowed on the first afternoon after we picked up the boat. The heater gave out virtually no heat. We were 11 students with sodden clothing and the heater could barely dry out one pair of gloves. Only one thing for it - retire to the pub!

 

None of this should put the OP off. Today's hire boats are much higher standard and almost all have central heating with radiators.

[IanD]

8 minutes ago, David Mack said:

For us the engine and electrics were fine and the boat was generally adequate for our needs, with the exception of the heating. The only heater fitted was one of those small wall-mounted catalytic gas heaters in the saloon. This was the last week in March and it snowed on the first afternoon after we picked up the boat. The heater gave out virtually no heat. We were 11 students with sodden clothing and the heater could barely dry out one pair of gloves. Only one thing for it - retire to the pub!

 

None of this should put the OP off. Today's hire boats are much higher standard and almost all have central heating with radiators.

We've been hiring from the better companies like Napton and Anglo-Welsh and Shire for many years and have rarely had any problems***, including being cold... 🙂 

 

*** at least, not ones that can be blamed on the boat... 😉 

Edited January 11 by IanD

[pomkitanner]

Thank you all for the much appreciated advice. Yes Napton boats are who we are considering. One reason being 2 of our adults are very tall and their king size beds fit the bill. For the record I have hired on 3 previous occasions. South Oxford, L & L , and Grand union. Hence my preference for a mostly narrow canal, being ,in my view , easier to opperate locks. I am not averse to again doing the south Oxford, there and back should we choose otherwise. But my preference is for a ring and the Black country seems on the face of it , achievable in a week . There seems to be a good balance between country and city, with we hope some villages to explore and pubs for lunch.  Again many thanks to everyone.

[Ronaldo47]

Hiring with a start on a day other than Saturday should give you a  Saturday's late morning and early afternoon cruising with significantly fewer other  boats around.

[Jonny P]

19 hours ago, pomkitanner said:

Thank you all for the much appreciated advice. Yes Napton boats are who we are considering. One reason being 2 of our adults are very tall and their king size beds fit the bill. For the record I have hired on 3 previous occasions. South Oxford, L & L , and Grand union. Hence my preference for a mostly narrow canal, being ,in my view , easier to opperate locks. I am not averse to again doing the south Oxford, there and back should we choose otherwise. But my preference is for a ring and the Black country seems on the face of it , achievable in a week . There seems to be a good balance between country and city, with we hope some villages to explore and pubs for lunch.  Again many thanks to everyone.

The Black Country, Stourport, Four Counties and Warwickshire rings are all achievable in a week.

 

The former two are comfortable in a week; the latter two require a full days cruising every day. 

[Tonka]

On 11/01/2025 at 14:10, agg221 said:

Probably worth mentioning that whilst @IanD and I now have boats, in both cases this is relatively recent and we have both hired for many years prior to that. Ian probably hired at the upper end of the market, mine was definitely 'cheap and cheerful', mainly because, since I was probably going to be stood on the back end steering all daylight hours, so long as it had a cooker so someone could bring me tea and bacon sandwiches, and a bed, I didn't really care too much beyond that! There are quite a few current/ex-hirers who can probably comment too.

 

It occurred to me (having school age children and my wife is a teacher) that it might be useful to know that the school half-term holiday week in the UK will be the week beginning 26th May. It won't make much difference, but if you want it slightly quieter and have a choice, that would be the week to avoid, or if you would rather see slightly more people about, that would be the week to go for.

 

If you decide to go ahead, and have any further questions e.g. around moorings, realistic timing etc. then here would be a good place to ask them.

 

Alec

Don't forget the BCN will be busier then usual on the Whitsun weekend because of the BCN challenge