Black Country Ring

[viewer]

Afternoon all

 

A nice forum you've got here.

 

The missus and I have a boat hired from Great Haywood for a week in mid-March and are looking to do the Black Country Ring. We are in our early 30's and fairly fit however our previous experience is limited to one day on the Brecon and Monnmouth (and no locks).

 

I appreciate it is 80 something miles and a similar number of locks. We are early risers and don't intend to stop off for wandering around too often. Is it feasible to do it in a week?

 

I also have a number of other questions below but would appreciate any other comments / advice from you guys who have the knowledge and experience.

 

Anywhere particularly good / bad to moor?

The boat has a solid fuel stove, is wood / coal easily available on the canal or should i have a couple of sacks with me?

Clockwise or anti-clockwise?

Good pubs / attractions on the ring?

Is it worth taking the bikes or should we focus on making progress in the boat?

 

I'll probably have a few more q's later but that'll do for starters.

 

Thanks in anticipation of your replies

 

V

 

[Naughty Cal]

I dont personally know the route or the waterway but 80 miles and around 80 locks sounds pretty hard going for novice hirers in a week.

[Graham Davis]

Not a route I would recommend for a first-timer.

[PeteS]

We did it 2 years ago (April 2008) from Great Haywood. 4 on the boat 2 novice, my wife and I had hired before.

 

Did it in a week with a day to go up the Shroppie to Brewwod and a trip up to Weston for the last night.

 

You will find the worst bit is going up/down into Birmingham/wolverhampton.

 

I'll have a look at my logs tonight and add some info on pubs etc

[Tim Lewis]

Afternoon all

 

A nice forum you've got here.

 

The missus and I have a boat hired from Great Haywood for a week in mid-March and are looking to do the Black Country Ring. We are in our early 30's and fairly fit however our previous experience is limited to one day on the Brecon and Monnmouth (and no locks).

 

I appreciate it is 80 something miles and a similar number of locks. We are early risers and don't intend to stop off for wandering around too often. Is it feasible to do it in a week?

 

I also have a number of other questions below but would appreciate any other comments / advice from you guys who have the knowledge and experience.

 

Anywhere particularly good / bad to moor?

The boat has a solid fuel stove, is wood / coal easily available on the canal or should i have a couple of sacks with me?

Clockwise or anti-clockwise?

Good pubs / attractions on the ring?

Is it worth taking the bikes or should we focus on making progress in the boat?

 

I'll probably have a few more q's later but that'll do for starters.

 

Thanks in anticipation of your replies

 

V

 

 

Youve picked an interesting route for your trip but as a Stourbridge lad I would say that.

 

80 miles and 80 locks is only 25 Lock miles a day - that is hardly going to kill anyone (Did 200 locks on my first weeks hiring but that was with a big crew) but you will need to be boating every day. You will not be doing any queing at locks that time of the year. Did Great Heywood To Stourbridge two Handed on an ex working boat in two days.

 

I personally would also do the Stourbridge Arm if only to visit my favorite pub from my youth, the Royal Exchange in Enville Street - a smartish Black Country boozer but don't think it does food. A visit to the Bull and Bladder (Vine) at The Delph is also Compulsory as should be Ma Padoes at Netherton.

 

On the S & W best get passed Wolverhampton in one hit - Compton is a useful place to stop - lots of pubs and shops

 

A visit to the Black country Museum would be good but allow a good three hours.

 

I dont recall much in the way of canalside places to buy coal once off the Staffs & Worcs so best stock up.

 

Worth checking the latest stoppages on Waterscape as many are overrunning.

 

Tim

Edited February 9, 2010 by Tim Lewis

[Jim]

Not sure why most people are being so pessimistic - you are young (ish) and, presumably, keen so why not go for it! Most hire boat companies seem to regard it as a one-week trip (although they may be assuming a slightly larger crew). It may need some early starts as it still gets dark early in mid-March but on the other hand you won't encounter any queues at locks.

 

The only places where mooring should be an issue are between Curdworth on the Birmingham and Fazeley and Autherley Junction where sticking to recognised visitor moorings is advisiable. At the speed you'll be going you should only need one night in this area so I'd plan to be either in Birmingham (at the top of Farmer's Bridge Locks near the Indoor Arena) or Wolverhampton Top Lock (others may disagree on this but I've always found it OK). The Great Western on Sun St nearby is a cracking pub - although it'll take some finding as a stranger - best to ask.

 

A bike will come in useful for lockwheeling but I doubt you have time to do anything else with it.

 

Whichever way round you go most of the locks will come in the middle of your trip so no particular advantage that I can think of in going either way. I can't think of too many places to buy coal etc en-route, although others who know the route better may, so perhaps best to make sure you have enough before you set off - if only have the fire on in the evenings so you won't need too much.

 

Edited to add: There are, of course, two versions of the "Black Country Ring" As you are starting from Great Haywood I'm assuming you mean the one that uses the New Main Line from Birmingham to Wolverhampton and so misses out most of the "Black Country!"

 

Have a good trip.

 

jim

Edited February 9, 2010 by Jim

[Naughty Cal]

Not being pessamistic, just realistic. In an ideal world 25 lock miles a day isnt hard to achieve. However for a novice 2 man crew the first few days will not be achieve anything like that. Why set targets? Take it steady, get used to the boat and working locks and enjoy yourself.

[viewer]

Folks

 

Thanks very much for the replies so far. All very informative.

 

Early satrts not a problem and yes it would be Birmingham main line.

 

Will speak to the hirer ref coal.

 

Thanks for the pub tips and morring suggestions.

 

Keep em coming!

 

[bottle]

Hi Viewer and welcome.

 

Have a look here CanalplanaC, click on 'plan a journey' (left hand column), on the next page look for 'load a ring'.

 

Have a 'play' with the options, it will give you some idea of the route/journey.

 

Also suggest a Nicholsons or Pearsons guide, for the route you are planning.

 

Nearly forgot, when you buy your own boat let us all know. It can become addictive

 

Edit: forgot the link

Edited February 9, 2010 by bottle

[alan_fincher]

Not being pessamistic, just realistic. In an ideal world 25 lock miles a day isnt hard to achieve. However for a novice 2 man crew the first few days will not be achieve anything like that. Why set targets? Take it steady, get used to the boat and working locks and enjoy yourself.

A statement about narrow-boating, made by someone who has little, (no ?), experience of narrow-boating !

 

There is absolutely no reason in the world why a fit novice two man crew can't easily do 25 lock miles in a day.

 

Not that I like the "lock mile" idea, as it implies time taken to do a typical lock in some way approaches time taken to travel a typical mile. Whilst that might be a very conservative estimate for novices, most people working even half way efficiently can get through more locks in an hour, particularly narrow ones, (5 say) than they can travel miles (3 say).

 

Even going for a pessimistic view that you can only do three locks an hour, (which is ridiculous, in most places on a narrow canal where there is no congestion) ,then 25 lock miles a day still only represents about 8 hours of travel.

 

Looking back at our last summer trip, if you want to look at "lock miles per day" we did an average of about 35. That included lots of double locks, and lots of queuing for congestion on the Four Counties ring,plus swanning around in lifts and on rivers. At a non busy time on non busy canals we would better that - our usual crew being two "fifty somethings".

 

I agree if you want relaxation time, and to go see lots of places away from the boat, your choice is not a good one. If you want to get immersed in boating it's an excellent choice, and you'll have few problems, I believe.

 

It costs an arm and a leg to hire a boat - some people like to get use out of it - go for it!!

[viewer]

Nicholson's all sorted. That journey planner is a great website. Exactly what i have been (unsuccessfully) looking for.

 

Cheers

[Graham Davis]

I might be getting confused here (old age creeping up!) but exactly what do you mean by the Black Country Ring?

I took it is as Great Heywood to Stourton Junct, up through the Netherton Tunnel and then down the 21 and back up to Great Heywood.

[alan_fincher]

This seems to be the most popular use of that term....

 

Map Link

[viewer]

This seems to be the most popular use of that term....

 

Map Link

 

 

Aye, that's the one i ment - as below

 

Black Country Ring

Edited February 9, 2010 by viewer

[magpie patrick]

Not being pessamistic, just realistic. In an ideal world 25 lock miles a day isnt hard to achieve. However for a novice 2 man crew the first few days will not be achieve anything like that. Why set targets? Take it steady, get used to the boat and working locks and enjoy yourself.

 

They probably will manage it Phylis as they are all narrow locks which are a lot quicker, and also many of them have only one bottom gate, quicker still. From Great Haywood in eaither direction you get a gentle start to work out lock technique before you hit a big flight. And if you are going through Wolverhamton Locks then there are 21 in 2 1/2 miles, so that bit alone gets you well on the way to 25 lock miles that day. Most people manage that flight in 3-4 hours.

 

My record (admittedly not a novice) is single handing through Wolves in 2 1/2 hours and getting through Farmers Bridge (13) in just under 40 minutes. Viewer, you can afford to double these times and still be on target.

[bottle]

Viewer

 

Another couple of links, if you have not been there all ready.

 

http://www.waterscape.com/

 

And perhaps even more important.

 

Boaters Handbook, from the same site.

 

This is a downloadable PDF booklet of 48 pages so rather a big download.

[viewer]

Guys and gals

 

again many thanks for your continued assistance and advice

 

Good stuff magpie, that kind of knowledge is exactly why i searched this forum out.

 

cheers

[Graham Davis]

OH! Well in that case it should be a good trip.

When I get home I shall look in my annotated Nicholsons to see where we have stopped on the bits we have done.

 

I do wonder how they can call it Black Country when only a little bit of it is in the Black Country? My "yam yam" friends would be most insulted.

[creamcheese]

They probably will manage it Phylis as they are all narrow locks which are a lot quicker, and also many of them have only one bottom gate, quicker still. From Great Haywood in eaither direction you get a gentle start to work out lock technique before you hit a big flight. And if you are going through Wolverhamton Locks then there are 21 in 2 1/2 miles, so that bit alone gets you well on the way to 25 lock miles that day. Most people manage that flight in 3-4 hours.

 

My record (admittedly not a novice) is single handing through Wolves in 2 1/2 hours and getting through Farmers Bridge (13) in just under 40 minutes. Viewer, you can afford to double these times and still be on target.

 

Blimey, we thought we were doing well getting down Farmers Bridge in an hour ten! I'm kinda hoping that the flight wasn't set against you (as it was for us) so I don't feel like too much of a big girl

 

viewer, I'm sure you'll have a fantastic time and will be feeling well pumped and healthy by the end of it!

[Dave_]

Hi Viewer

 

We did the Stourport Ring (84 miles & 118 locks) last year in a week without much trouble, 7 to 8 hour cruising days. This was the first time we had hired a narrow boat and was my 50th birthday present from the wife and 16 year old son and 14 year old daughter. Great birthday present as we hit the Tardbigge flight on my birthday! My message is relax and enjoy, some days were harder than others and we had a plan of what we needed to do each day, some days we went further and some not but we always new if we needed to make up time to complete the ring.

[PaddingtonBear]

Will it be affected by the lack of water on the BCN? - don't all shout at once, I don't know the area and was only asking

[viewer]

Will it be affected by the lack of water on the BCN? - don't all shout at once, I don't know the area and was only asking

 

Good question PB - Does anyone know about the water? No mention of it when i spoke to the hirer but I expect the forum users may know. This does lead to a second question - looking through the Nicholson's etc last night, i noticed that the BCN main line and the Wolverhampton level are pretty much parallel. I believe the BCN is shorter by (not sure by how much) than the Wolverhampton Level but has 3 more locks. I am assuming the timing for this section would probably be similar given the lock miles calculation. Any thoughts?

 

Also as they are so close together, I am assuming the sceneery is very similar.

 

Edited February 10, 2010 by viewer

[magpie patrick]

Good question PB - Does anyone know about the water? No mention of it when i spoke to the hirer but I expect the forum users may know. This does lead to a second question - looking through the Nicholson's etc last night, i noticed that the BCN main line and the Wolverhampton level are pretty much parallel. I believe the BCN is shorter by (not sure by how much) than the Wolverhampton Level but has 3 more locks. I am assuming the timing for this section would probably be similar given the lock miles calculation. Any thoughts?

 

Also as they are so close together, I am assuming the sceneery is very similar.

 

 

They are, technically, the new main line and the old main line, connected by 3 locks at 4 different places

 

Old main line every time for me, as the New Main Line is a bit TOO straight, OML is about a mile longer

 

You could take the Curly Wyrly, either to Walsall of to Rushall. This is fewer locks but is several miles longer. That said, the scenery on the Wyrley and Essington canal is far superior to the New Main Line, but you may find yourself down the weed hatch rather a lot.

 

edited to add: water won't be a problem when you are going even though Chase Water has been drained

 

As it's your first time, do either the New Main Line or the Old Main Line, then next time you can appreciate just how good the W and E is!

Edited February 10, 2010 by magpie patrick

[viewer]

Thanks MP

[alan_fincher]

Also as they are so close together, I am assuming the sceneery is very similar.

Not really....

 

New Mail Line is 20 feet lower down for a start, so you go through a lot of cuttings at the Birmingham end.

 

Neither are classically beautiful (!), although you do pass through remarkably rural looking settings, and can sometimes spot animals you might associate more with the countryside.

 

In my view, the open straightness of much of the New Main Line gets fairly boring after a while,9although you can get up very good speeds in it's deep waters, and make up a bit of time.

 

The Old Main Line, on the other hand, cris-crossing over the new, and actually running under motorways in parts gives a bit more of the feel of the old BCN, and I much prefer it.

 

There can be the odd shopping trolley to bounce over in bridge holes, and we did find ourselves down the weed hatch a couple of times on our last trip - something that has not happened previously.

 

The water is remarkably clear usually, and for much of the time the bottom of the cut is in clear view.

 

Despite a distance penalty of only about an extra mile (I think) going "Old Main Line", I think it's best to actually assume it will take more like 1 hour longer though, just because it is a bit shallower, and the chances of getting something on the prop are somewhat higher, (in my view!).

 

If going right through, the number of locks is the same - it's just a matter of which flight of three you use to get from one level to the other.