Tardebigge Locks

[Doris]

Hello fellow boaters.

 

We've booked a week on the Stourport Ring in September, leaving from Stoke Prior. We've been advised to go through the Tardebigge Locks first, ie towards Alvechurch.

 

I assume this means going up the locks? We are four (over 50) boaters with previous experience and the discussion between us is whether to get this flight out of the way first or leave it to the end. The old saying "dont put off till tomorrow what you can do today" comes to mind. However, I wouldn't mind hearing some argument and thoughts as to direction please. Do we eat the frog for breakfast or leave it until supper?

 

Thanks

 

Doris

[jollyroger]

We came down them about 2 weeks ago and we found it hard work(we are in our 50's) going up I think would be harder. More important though I think is to do the River section first, as a good downpour can put the river on a Red warning, which means you would have to moor up until the level went down.

[magpie patrick]

I witnessed this many years ago and my advice is... don't start from stoke prior! a bit late!

 

The base is above the first lock. so 35 to go. You may well be finishing in the dark BUT if you end with them you need to start down Lunchtime of the last day.

 

Uncluttered, Tardebigge can be done in three hours. On Saturday afternoon, they are not uncluttered...

[hmallett]

I did the same as you a couple of months ago. We went up the Tardbigge flight.

We got to the top (apart from the top lock, which is slightly further apart than the others) at about 7:30pm, having started at about 2:30pm. Some of the lock gear is very hard work, as it has no gearing on it. We had most of the locks against us, but very little traffic, and we only stopped for about 10 minutes for a drink. It was a roasting hot day too.

[T.A]

We did the Tardebigge flight in May myself and 2 women one 50 the other 60 they did the locks I steered the boat(they would'nt do it) they both lived to tell the tale. We did it in about 3 1/2 hours and both were novice standard at locks. So I think it just depends on what you want to do on the trip, the river thing could happen just as easily on the way out as the way back. After the flight you have a good lock free run down to Gas Street Basin (on the way a mile and half tunnel all right if it's raining!) where you can spend a pleasant evening mooring up in Shrebourne Wharf which is mainly residential (so quieter) and from there you can walk up into Brindley Place to the many restaurants and vibrant scene a must do part of the trip IMHO. Well good luck and enjoy the trip.

[Doris]

Thanks all for your comments.

 

JollyRoger - I assume there were only two of you which I think would be extremely hard. We are four and hope to get a system running. Useful information about the river flooding. We're going mid September so might encounter drought rather than excess but you never know. Maybe we should make a decision on our leaving day depending on what the recent weather has been.

 

MagpiePatrick on Ripple - Very useful observation about the locks being busy on a Saturday afternoon but hopefully mid September will be quieter? The BP base is below the locks is it not, at Stoke Prior? Thanks for the "latest start time" for descending on the last day, concretes it into my mind.

 

HMallett - Thank you too for your comments, especially about the gearing. We'll make the chaps do the locks then! Knowing your ascent time is useful too.

 

T.A. on Louie May - Steering is fun, especially in the locks, and we shall all do our share. In fact, everything is fun on a canal boat! Good point about the river flooding either way and thanks for suggestion about Shrebourne Wharf.

 

We'll enjoy the week, enjoy the locks and the tunnels, whatever the weather, whichever the direction. Thanks for your advice everyone.

 

Happy canalling (is that a proper word?)

 

Doris

[hmallett]

JollyRoger - I assume there were only two of you which I think would be extremely hard. We are four and hope to get a system running.

 

MagpiePatrick on Ripple - The BP base is below the locks is it not, at Stoke Prior?

I forgot to mention that it's only the ground paddles that are hard work, not the gate paddles.

If there are four of you, what we did is to have one steerer, one working the boat through the lock (i.e. paddles and gates), one working ahead to the next lock to prepare it (we needed this as 90% of locks were against us), and one sweeper-upper (i.e. closing the gate behind the boat). Ideally you should also have another crew member to be continuously supplying coffee.

The BP base is (IIRC) between locks 1 and 2 of the Tardebigge flight.

[magpie patrick]

MagpiePatrick on Ripple - Very useful observation about the locks being busy on a Saturday afternoon but hopefully mid September will be quieter? The BP base is below the locks is it not, at Stoke Prior? Thanks for the "latest start time" for descending on the last day, concretes it into my mind.

 

Hi Doris,

 

It was the BP yard that was creating the problem as their entire fleet were setting off and going up the locks! The yard is just above the bottom lock of the Stoke Prior flight, but with no meaningful gap between that and Tardebigge you are more or less committed to doing the lot altough you could probably stop at the pub after five locks.

 

Whatever you do, you'll enjoy it though: the worcs and brum is an underrated canal. Are you going to go through Stourbridge or Wolverhampton on the other half of the ring?

 

Patrick

[Doris]

I forgot to mention that it's only the ground paddles that are hard work, not the gate paddles.

If there are four of you, what we did is to have one steerer, one working the boat through the lock (i.e. paddles and gates), one working ahead to the next lock to prepare it (we needed this as 90% of locks were against us), and one sweeper-upper (i.e. closing the gate behind the boat). Ideally you should also have another crew member to be continuously supplying coffee.

The BP base is (IIRC) between locks 1 and 2 of the Tardebigge flight.

 

 

This sounds like very useful advice, thank you. Would you like to come along too to make the coffee please! I think something a little stronger might be required on completion though!

[Doris]

Hi Doris,

 

It was the BP yard that was creating the problem as their entire fleet were setting off and going up the locks! The yard is just above the bottom lock of the Stoke Prior flight, but with no meaningful gap between that and Tardebigge you are more or less committed to doing the lot altough you could probably stop at the pub after five locks.

 

Whatever you do, you'll enjoy it though: the worcs and brum is an underrated canal. Are you going to go through Stourbridge or Wolverhampton on the other half of the ring?

 

Patrick

 

The nice man at the BP yard said we might be able to get away a tad earlier, if the boat is ready, which would be very helpful. If was he who said we should go straight through the Tardebigge Locks but I have to say, I think we are leaning towards going away from the locks, especially if other boats are going up - I cant stand processions! Will have to make sure we ask him to have the boat facing in the right direction, assuming we choose to go that way.

 

We're going Hanbury, Worcester, Stourport, Audersley Junction, Wolverhampton, Old Line by Oldbury, Old Turn Junction past Kings Norton, Alvechurch and back to base.

 

Thanks for your interest.

 

Regards, Doris

[KenK]

We did the ring two years ago starting from Alvechurch. We went towards Birmingham first, there are few if any safe places to moor before you reach Gas Street other than at the top of the flight. If I was doing it from Stoke Prior I'd go to Worcester and leave the flight until the end, its easier going downhill.

 

Ken

[Doris]

We did the ring two years ago starting from Alvechurch. We went towards Birmingham first, there are few if any safe places to moor before you reach Gas Street other than at the top of the flight. If I was doing it from Stoke Prior I'd go to Worcester and leave the flight until the end, its easier going downhill.

 

Ken

 

Thanks Ken, all these differing suggestions are interesting and thought provoking. Have to confess that, not being city folk, I dont think Birmingham will interest us and I suspect we shall just shoot through as fast as we can without making waves! But we are a democracy and we'll take a vote on it, together with the direction we take but I'm leaning towards eating the frog for supper as you suggest.

 

Doris

[oldade]

Thanks Ken, all these differing suggestions are interesting and thought provoking. Have to confess that, not being city folk, I dont think Birmingham will interest us and I suspect we shall just shoot through as fast as we can without making waves! But we are a democracy and we'll take a vote on it, together with the direction we take but I'm leaning towards eating the frog for supper as you suggest.

 

Doris

Hi

If you do the locks last you have two advantages.

You are going down the flight (allways easyer)

You are going against the river flow on the Seven (you tend to have more control of the boat going against the flow).

Thanks

ADE

[Doris]

Hi

If you do the locks last you have two advantages.

You are going down the flight (allways easyer)

You are going against the river flow on the Seven (you tend to have more control of the boat going against the flow).

Thanks

ADE

 

Good morning Ade,

 

Thanks for your comments. As we've not done a river before, we didnt know about better boat control against the flow. I guess it'll make the going a bit harder and longer, but I guess the flow isnt that fast anyway, is it?

 

Anything else I should know about being on the River?

 

Regards, Lin

[Zoe]

If you decide to come down the Tardebigge flight then make sure that you moor near the Queen's Head - http://www.queens-head-inn.co.uk/ - the food is superb. Make sure you book a table. There are just a few locks you'll have to do the next morning.

 

We did the Stourport Ring a few years ago and went down to Worcester first, the thought being, as others have said, that the river might stop us doing the ring if it were in flood. Then last year we went from Stoke Prior and did a short ring around Birmingham so we did both up the flight and then down again! There are just the two of us (and we are both early 50s) so it was hard work. On the way up we did not quite get all the way up, there are a few stretches where you can moor between locks. On the way down it was really hot and it was completely exhausting, but as a reward we had a wonderful meal at the Queens Head.

 

Also, when picking up our hire boat we always employ the following strategy:

 

Before we go we find out a good pub for meals near to the base.

 

Get there in good time and get a proper meal.

 

If possible we check with the base when the earliest is to collect the boat.

 

When loading the boat we only pack away the essentials (ie food in the fridge), the rest can wait.

 

We get the boat 'tour' and checks and go. We aim to be the first or second boat out.

 

Because we've eaten we can then cruise on a little longer when others are stopping for their evening meal, although the evenings will be 'drawing in' in September.

 

Have a good trip.

[alan_fincher]

Based on our working up the Worcester & Birmingham from, errm, Worcester and in to, errm, Birmingham, I would say that many of the top gate paddles are the toughest on all of the 373 hand wound locks from our recent trip.

 

As the paddle gear itself seems to be top quality, and superbly maintained, the issue is almost certainly with the paddles themselves.

 

This was confirmed by a BWB man who said that most had been replaced with the dreaded plastic paddles, and that these were getting progressively worse since installation.

 

I'm seldom reduced to usuing a long throw windlass, (I hate the long throw ones), but there were several paddles on the Worcester & Birmingham I was unable to wind with the standard offering.

 

It's worth factoring this in. Doing each Tardebigge lock is appreciably tougher in paddle winding terms than a typical narrow canal lock. (The gates move easily enough, though!.....)

[Catrin]

The phrase "over 50" can mean many things, are you all in your fifties, or are some older (considerably older?)?. Only you four can assess your own levels of fitness - I met an 84 year old this week coming down Whilton Locks, he was completely OK with winding paddles and pushing the heavy gates, as well as walking all the pounds. On the other hand as you get older you are more likely to get back trouble, aches, pains, etc. It's worth thinking about who can do the steering. Are you all able to take a stint driving (as a break from winding stiff paddles)? Some women don't like steering, but it may be worth making sure all women feel OK with it.

 

From my own point of view, as an "over 50" who doesn't get the exercise she would like (or should get) I find the first few days of a trip out very hard work, with all my muscles aching (we do tend to push things quite hard), but after about 4 days I have got some strength back, after which I can handle most things. If you aren't particularly fit now, you could make sure that you've done a bit of exercise in the next few weeks to make it all a bit easier. Or think about doing Tardebigge at the end of the trip.

 

If there are four of you one could be going on ahead to set the next lock wherever possible, which will considerably ease things.

 

As others have said the top paddles are very hard to do, make sure you've got long throw windlasses on board - once the first bit has been wound they are OK, but starting them is the problem. I also found that if I couldn't get very far with one side I would leave it, then go and do the other side, by which time I could do the first side (I presume that this was reality and not just exhaustion frying my brain) - I think it has to do with how much water pressure is on each side of the paddle.

 

Have fun - I loved doing Tardebigge.

 

Cath

[Doris]

If you decide to come down the Tardebigge flight then make sure that you moor near the Queen's Head - http://www.queens-head-inn.co.uk/ - the food is superb. Make sure you book a table. There are just a few locks you'll have to do the next morning.

 

We did the Stourport Ring a few years ago and went down to Worcester first, the thought being, as others have said, that the river might stop us doing the ring if it were in flood. Then last year we went from Stoke Prior and did a short ring around Birmingham so we did both up the flight and then down again! There are just the two of us (and we are both early 50s) so it was hard work. On the way up we did not quite get all the way up, there are a few stretches where you can moor between locks. On the way down it was really hot and it was completely exhausting, but as a reward we had a wonderful meal at the Queens Head.

 

Also, when picking up our hire boat we always employ the following strategy:

 

Before we go we find out a good pub for meals near to the base.

 

Get there in good time and get a proper meal.

 

If possible we check with the base when the earliest is to collect the boat.

 

When loading the boat we only pack away the essentials (ie food in the fridge), the rest can wait.

 

We get the boat 'tour' and checks and go. We aim to be the first or second boat out.

 

Because we've eaten we can then cruise on a little longer when others are stopping for their evening meal, although the evenings will be 'drawing in' in September.

 

Have a good trip.

 

All this is useful advice, thank you Zoe. I especially like the info about the Queens Head! We normally take a meal for the first night, like a huge cottage pie to put in the oven whilst we chug along, which we then have with crusty bread and a bottle of something nice!

 

Based on our working up the Worcester & Birmingham from, errm, Worcester and in to, errm, Birmingham, I would say that many of the top gate paddles are the toughest on all of the 373 hand wound locks from our recent trip.

 

As the paddle gear itself seems to be top quality, and superbly maintained, the issue is almost certainly with the paddles themselves.

 

This was confirmed by a BWB man who said that most had been replaced with the dreaded plastic paddles, and that these were getting progressively worse since installation.

 

I'm seldom reduced to usuing a long throw windlass, (I hate the long throw ones), but there were several paddles on the Worcester & Birmingham I was unable to wind with the standard offering.

 

It's worth factoring this in. Doing each Tardebigge lock is appreciably tougher in paddle winding terms than a typical narrow canal lock. (The gates move easily enough, though!.....)

 

 

Thank you - we've not come across long throw windlasses before but I shall ask for one to be thrown in on the boat!

 

The phrase "over 50" can mean many things, are you all in your fifties, or are some older (considerably older?)?. Only you four can assess your own levels of fitness - I met an 84 year old this week coming down Whilton Locks, he was completely OK with winding paddles and pushing the heavy gates, as well as walking all the pounds. On the other hand as you get older you are more likely to get back trouble, aches, pains, etc. It's worth thinking about who can do the steering. Are you all able to take a stint driving (as a break from winding stiff paddles)? Some women don't like steering, but it may be worth making sure all women feel OK with it.

 

From my own point of view, as an "over 50" who doesn't get the exercise she would like (or should get) I find the first few days of a trip out very hard work, with all my muscles aching (we do tend to push things quite hard), but after about 4 days I have got some strength back, after which I can handle most things. If you aren't particularly fit now, you could make sure that you've done a bit of exercise in the next few weeks to make it all a bit easier. Or think about doing Tardebigge at the end of the trip.

 

If there are four of you one could be going on ahead to set the next lock wherever possible, which will considerably ease things.

 

As others have said the top paddles are very hard to do, make sure you've got long throw windlasses on board - once the first bit has been wound they are OK, but starting them is the problem. I also found that if I couldn't get very far with one side I would leave it, then go and do the other side, by which time I could do the first side (I presume that this was reality and not just exhaustion frying my brain) - I think it has to do with how much water pressure is on each side of the paddle.

 

Have fun - I loved doing Tardebigge.

 

Cath

 

 

Hi Cath,

 

Funny you should say that ... we're in the process now of shedding a few pounds and trying to get our fitness up! We're between 53 and 65 and some are fitter than others!

 

Everyone has said how hard the top paddles are and you confirm that we need at least one long throw windlass on board. Useful info about leaving one side and going to the other if it wont wind, thank you. I'll remember that advice and think of you when that problem occurs!

 

I dont care how hard it is, I'm going to enjoy this trip!