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Anyway to do Stourport or Warwickshire Rings but bypass Birmingham?


aceware

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Still trying to coax my wife to make the trip (this trip is something I really, really want to do - but the wife is not keen - feel like giving up soon)

I know that Birmingham is a completely lovely, safe and interesting place to visit but I cannot convince my wife (unfortunate experience earlier in her life)

Are there any canals that would us to bypass the city ?

Stourport and Warwickshire are logistically attractive because we could stretch a one week journey out to two weeks and really slow it down.

Our next choice is the Avon ring but this is 5 hours per day over two weeks - so no opportunity to stretch it out (on a two week limit)

 

Many thanks in advance

Tony

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You could go for the Staffordshire and Worcestershire, Stourport to Great Haywood, then the Trent and Mersey, Great Haywood to Fradley, then the Coventry \Birmingham and Fazeley, Fradley to Hawkesbury Junction, then the Oxford, Hawkesbury to Braunston, then the GU, Braunston to Napton, then GU, Napton to Kingswood Junction, then the Stratford, Kingswood Junction to King's Norton, then the Worcester Birmingham, King's Norton to Worcester and then finally the Severn back to Stourport.

That would be 2 weeks cruising of 190 miles and 194 locks.

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There's one obvious way - change wife.

 

But no, since those rings include Birmingham, there is no easy alternate avoiding Birmingham. The Warwickshire Ring doesn't do as much of Birmingham as the Stourport Ring but there's a bunch of locks in that area so its still there. You could of course, do a larger ring which goes further north, and further south (ie some of the Avon Ring too) but then it couldn't be called Warwick/Stourport Ring, and it would take much longer too.

 

Basically, putting to one side the multitude of rings possible within the BCN itself (because there's a lot of canals there) there's 4 rings which surround the area and use Birmingham as one of their corners. By going round the outside of these, you could circumnavigate Birmingham without actually ever going in it.

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Birmingham is the most stupid place to have a canal - as it's placed on top of a plateau, completely blocking through access from 'nicer places'

(this of course is 'irony'.....)

 

So why not attempt to break is down into

  1. The pleasant places,
  2. the perhaps grotty / less pleasant places
  3. the AARRGGHH bits

by separating travel into these three groups, you can perhaps take joy and stop overnights in (1)

move on through (2)

and minimise time spent in (3). Fortunately there aren't many of these....

 

My list for (3) are:-

Minworth top lock to three locks up the Aston flight

Cape Locks

Garrison flight

Wolverhampton top to BCLM

 

For (2)

King's Norton to Gas Street

Cape bottom to Ashstead bottom

 

The rest is pretty much (1), either because it is pleasant or such a short stretch you can shut your eyes.

 

Even the New Main Line - which we used to hate, derelict factories, noisy railway is almost pleasant now.

 

See if that helps....

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Birmingham is the most stupid place to have a canal - as it's placed on top of a plateau, completely blocking through access from 'nicer places'

(this of course is 'irony'.....)

 

So why not attempt to break is down into

 

  • The pleasant places,
  • the perhaps grotty / less pleasant places
  • the AARRGGHH bits
by separating travel into these three groups, you can perhaps take joy and stop overnights in (1)

move on through (2)

and minimise time spent in (3). Fortunately there aren't many of these....

 

My list for (3) are:-

Minworth top lock to three locks up the Aston flight

Cape Locks

Garrison flight

Wolverhampton top to BCLM

 

For (2)

King's Norton to Gas Street

Cape bottom to Ashstead bottom

 

The rest is pretty much (1), either because it is pleasant or such a short stretch you can shut your eyes.

 

Even the New Main Line - which we used to hate, derelict factories, noisy railway is almost pleasant now.

 

See if that helps....

Did you mean Cape locks (Warwick) or Camp Hill locks?
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We did Birmingham last year in our little GRP. Its fine. Safe moorings. And interesting to see what they've done with the canal there. The odd grotty bit is easily passed by during the day, so no need to moor up there.

 

Felt a lot safer there than we did going through Stoke the other year.

Edited by grannykins
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john6767, on 26 Mar 2016 - 4:07 PM, said:

Did you mean Cape locks (Warwick) or Camp Hill locks?

My bad - I meant Camp Hill; two awful experiences there had erased the name from my mind.......

Cape locks are fine!!

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My bad - I meant Camp Hill; two awful experiences there had erased the name from my mind.......

Cape locks are fine!!

Glad to hear it I thought you were condemming a large part of the GU. I agree that Camp Hill locks are not great, particularly the lack of water. If the OP does the Warwickshire ring it is just 1 day that you would have going through the urban area of Birmingham, on a 2 week trip I would hope that would not spoil the experience.
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Many thanks for everyone's suggestions.

The Four Counties Ring also sounds like a contender if spread over 2 weeks.

We are trying to avoid a return trip.

 

I know my wife sounds like a bit of a pain but I love her and want to do the trip with her.

So I'm bending over backwards to accommodate her likes / dislikes.

I could go with a male friend and possibly have more fun but I know from past experiences that I would be miserable without having her with me and would be counting down the days until I could get back to her.

 

My wife has the Australian version of Lyme / Borelia (tick borne parasitic infection) and is rapidly losing the ability to do very much physically.

This is probably our last chance to do something like this together.
She can operate the tiller and throttle while I do all the lock work.

I am a reasonably fit 60 yr old (walk 5 Km most mornings and building a house with my own hands on the weekends) but I am going to be stretched doing all the locks - hence wanting to slow it down a bit.

 

So here is a list of my wife's preferences so far (we are contemplating starting on first week in September)

 

"I don't want to be wet and miserable for two weeks"

"I don't want to go through Birmingham"

"I don't want to go out and back / retrace my steps"

"I want to see more than miles and miles of agricultural land with very few towns like we did on Canal de Midi"

 

For my part I am building up a database of canal side pubs and cafes and points of interest.

 

If anyone can wave a magic wand and answer all my wife's concerns I would be very, very grateful

 

If anyone is interested here is a posting from my blog on one of the more eventful days on our 2012 trip in France.

 

http://aceware.com.au/OurHouse/EventDetail.asp?lngEventId=541

 

Thanks

Tony

 

 

 

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I think I would look at the Four Counties Ring as that has a mix of villages, towns and countryside and spreading over two weeks could give you an opportunity to visit the Anderson Lift as a little extension or just take it leisurely.

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Many thanks for everyone's suggestions.

The Four Counties Ring also sounds like a contender if spread over 2 weeks.

We are trying to avoid a return trip.

 

I know my wife sounds like a bit of a pain but I love her and want to do the trip with her.

So I'm bending over backwards to accommodate her likes / dislikes.

I could go with a male friend and possibly have more fun but I know from past experiences that I would be miserable without having her with me and would be counting down the days until I could get back to her.

 

My wife has the Australian version of Lyme / Borelia (tick borne parasitic infection) and is rapidly losing the ability to do very much physically.

This is probably our last chance to do something like this together.

She can operate the tiller and throttle while I do all the lock work.

I am a reasonably fit 60 yr old (walk 5 Km most mornings and building a house with my own hands on the weekends) but I am going to be stretched doing all the locks - hence wanting to slow it down a bit.

 

So here is a list of my wife's preferences so far (we are contemplating starting on first week in September)

 

"I don't want to be wet and miserable for two weeks"

"I don't want to go through Birmingham"

"I don't want to go out and back / retrace my steps"

"I want to see more than miles and miles of agricultural land with very few towns like we did on Canal de Midi"

 

For my part I am building up a database of canal side pubs and cafes and points of interest.

 

If anyone can wave a magic wand and answer all my wife's concerns I would be very, very grateful

 

If anyone is interested here is a posting from my blog on one of the more eventful days on our 2012 trip in France.

 

http://aceware.com.au/OurHouse/EventDetail.asp?lngEventId=541

 

Thanks

Tony

 

 

 

 

Right. You must have two plans, Plan A and Plan B.

 

Plan A is the good weather plan. Lovely afternoon's boating, a quiet pint in a canalside pub, lovely romantic narrowboat one-pot meal.

 

Plan B is when you need to spend 3 miserable days playing scrabble in a damp huddle, while 30-knot winds batter the scuppers. Then, dripping with rain after mooring up next to a closed pub, you know you have to do a LOT more of this shit, to get the boat back in time.

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Many thanks for everyone's suggestions.

The Four Counties Ring also sounds like a contender if spread over 2 weeks.

We are trying to avoid a return trip.

 

I know my wife sounds like a bit of a pain but I love her and want to do the trip with her.

So I'm bending over backwards to accommodate her likes / dislikes.

I could go with a male friend and possibly have more fun but I know from past experiences that I would be miserable without having her with me and would be counting down the days until I could get back to her.

 

My wife has the Australian version of Lyme / Borelia (tick borne parasitic infection) and is rapidly losing the ability to do very much physically.

This is probably our last chance to do something like this together.

She can operate the tiller and throttle while I do all the lock work.

I am a reasonably fit 60 yr old (walk 5 Km most mornings and building a house with my own hands on the weekends) but I am going to be stretched doing all the locks - hence wanting to slow it down a bit.

 

So here is a list of my wife's preferences so far (we are contemplating starting on first week in September)

 

"I don't want to be wet and miserable for two weeks"

"I don't want to go through Birmingham"

"I don't want to go out and back / retrace my steps"

"I want to see more than miles and miles of agricultural land with very few towns like we did on Canal de Midi"

 

For my part I am building up a database of canal side pubs and cafes and points of interest.

 

If anyone can wave a magic wand and answer all my wife's concerns I would be very, very grateful

 

If anyone is interested here is a posting from my blog on one of the more eventful days on our 2012 trip in France.

 

http://aceware.com.au/OurHouse/EventDetail.asp?lngEventId=541

 

Thanks

Tony

 

 

 

Great canal you went on. We just loved the Canal De Midi. Did you get to meet the harbour master at Carcassone?

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Yes - I would describe canal de midi as one of the best things I have done on my life.

Not sure if I met the same harbour master - ours was female, quite laid back.

I remember that, with my poor boating skills, I reversed in to the wrong mooring point - but she just shrugged her shoulders and left it at that.

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The only problem with doing a ring is that once you are more than half way around and the weather turns, or you suffer a delay, it puts a lot of pressure on you to get back in time.

 

Surprisingly an out and back trip can seem very different on the return, and also gives you the opportunity to visit pubs you missed or revisit the good ones again.

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Now that everything's back in the melting pot....

 

The 4-counties is great and plenty of hire bases on the route or near. But it's quite rural for much of the route - which is not top of your requirements (!). As the locks (mostly) are in groups, there are long stretches with 'nothing happening'. There's no an awful lot to do (other than boating / eating)

 

Given your crewing 'restraints'. How about thinking sideways and considering a trip on the Thames?

 

Negatives

a there and back, but being wide it really does look different going the other way

Positives

Lots of things to do

Towns / cities to visit

Great walks

Restaurants

some hotels

You cover the ground faster (including the green bits with coos and sheep)

MOST IMPORTANTLY

The locks are either worked for you - or if unattended you push buttons.

 

I won't say more - as you'll probably rule it out of hand, but methinks there's a lot more scope for the two of you to have better 'quality time'.

 

You can hire a narrowboat or a river cruiser - your choice.

 

think on't

 

 

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The only problem with doing a ring is that once you are more than half way around and the weather turns, or you suffer a delay, it puts a lot of pressure on you to get back in time.

 

Surprisingly an out and back trip can seem very different on the return, and also gives you the opportunity to visit pubs you missed or revisit the good ones again.

I prefer that, If you see something of interest as you go out you can plan to stop on the way back. Also it never looks of feels the same going the other way.

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If you go to www.canalplan.org.uk then select 'plan a route' from the left menu, then click on 'route editor' scroll to the bottom of the page and select 'cruising ring'. This will give you all the cruising ring options to peruse.

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  • 2 weeks later...

We were in Birmingham a couple of weeks ago. I visit Brum regularly in my truck, but going by water it seems like a completely different place. We had no problems leaving the boat for the day at Gas Street while we went off to visit the Black Country Museum (fantastic) and we didn't have any problems passing through the suburbs. There were occasional groups of youths loitering about the towpath but none gave us any problems.

 

I suppose one could take the view that the suburbs are a bit grotty, but I found that quite fascinating myself. I do love travelling through the countryside, and there's plenty of it on the Warwickshire Ring but there was something magical about passing unseen beneath Spaghetti Junction with traffic rushing by overhead and travelling through a near post-apocalyptic landscape. There are plenty of locks to do though, so it's not for the faint hearted.

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