Droitwich Canal how would you rate it.

[Dorman]

Hi All

 

After many happy and peaceful years on the river Avon we are thinking of moving our 57 ft narrowboat to Droitwich Spa Marina next year to be nearer home and give us more access to the network.

 

We wondered what peoples experiences have been on this canal.

Is it very busy?

Are there disadvantages or big drawbacks?

The Marina seems very friendly as we have seen a lot of boats there off the Avon and other areas we visit. It seems to have good facilities as far as we could see in the way of fuel and diy area.

 

Any comments welcome.

 

Thanks

 

 

 

[nicknorman]

No experience of the marina. Just a few thoughts though, one way from the marina you have the M5 culvert which is very low, and with variable water levels (according to the level of the stream) it is relatively easy to become impassable, depending on the air draft of your boat. The other way it is very pleasant but there are a lot of locks! The climb up to Birmingham might be a bit of a psychological barrier unless you are fit and like locks! Unless you have a particular desire to be in Droitwich I would have thought there were better places to give you reliable and pleasant cruising even in rainy weather. As a plus I don't think it is usually very busy, but of course there are several large hire bases on the W&B.

[ditchcrawler]

I have friends who have boats there and they are very happy but it is not one I would chose if I was looking for easier access to the network. The only way out is the river or that long flight of locks. I would rather drive for an extra half hour than do up and down them every outing.

[jacko264]

We did the droitwich this last July and it was very quite ,

There were not many passing places as it is very over grown.

I my self would not want to be based on that canal

and i agree with all above post's

Graham

[Rob-M]

I agree with the posts above, having to drop down to the Severn or do Tardebigge each time you want to go out for more than a day trip puts me off Droitwich marina.

[ditchcrawler]

At the end of the day that is why places like Wigrams Turn are so popular, a big choice of cruising routes

[nebulae]

Droitwich is very pleasant and the canal has no drawback so far as I am concerned. I have never had a problem with the M5 culvert,but I gather it is possible to run a bit of water to increase the air draft? Dont know if this is correct as I have never had a problem. Whats the problem wiht a few locks? I thought they are part of the whole experience.

[RichM]

Pick your time to go through Droitwich - the swing bridges in Droitwich (Droitwich barge canal) are frequently used by pedestrians who will always want to cross just as you start to swing the bridge! Makes for great fun, especially if you're single-handed!

[The Bearwood Boster]

When we've been there,folk always seemed to arrive just as we got ready to swing a bridge?.Not a big problem.

[harve90]

Droitwich is very pleasant and the canal has no drawback so far as I am concerned. I have never had a problem with the M5 culvert,but I gather it is possible to run a bit of water to increase the air draft? Dont know if this is correct as I have never had a problem. Whats the problem wiht a few locks? I thought they are part of the whole experience.

I agree with you. The pub at the junction does a great carvery to set you up for the climb up Tardebigge.

[ditchcrawler]

I agree with you. The pub at the junction does a great carvery to set you up for the climb up Tardebigge.

Very true, if its still the same as when we last visited it will take some beating

[john6767]

I would echo what some other posters have said, the location is not great for short trips out unless you don't mind doing a significant number of locks each time. A few years ago we left the boat at Droitwich Spa marina for a couple of weeks, and from what it remember they were very helpful there, but there was a lot of noise from the M5.

[nikvah]

We moored at Droitwich Spa Marina for 3 months last year and were very happy there. The location may not suit everyone but it's the nearest to where we lived in West Wales and it suited us. I really like the Droitwich Barge canal down to the Severn and the River gives express access to the sublime Avon or the North West canals via the Staff & Worcs. We met the Tardebigge flight like an old friend - enthusiastically when we set out and with easy familiarity as we returned. Once went up to Brum and back for the weekend (only once).

 

Nick, the owner is very friendly and helpful and it was cheaper than many marinas (last year). The downsides are the background noise of the M5 and the near continuous breeze across the pool. However the toilet blocks are 1st class and include full size baths.

[Tony Brooks]

My experience of the canal and marina is that the marina staff seemed very friendly and on the ball. We only pumped out and topped up with fuel and water.

 

The top locks came as a bit of a surprise in that they have notices telling you to use the side pounds and seemed rather fierce to me.

 

No problem with the low tunnels when we came through although the Froghall tunnel gauges said we can not fit (to give an idea of our boat's air draft. They were higher than the low bridges on the Baisingstoke.

 

One thing to be aware of is that the upstream lock landing for the first lock on the barge canal is not very well signed unless you are aware of it and the lock's location. You can not see the lock form the landing coming downstream. If you overshoot it you will have fun with the pull of the weir twisting you across the lock mouth. To make matters worse both sets of gates of the lock are in some way wedged so none will open fully. This makes it even more difficult to get the boat into the lock if you miss the landing but even if you use the landing eh manoeuvring space to line up with the gap between the two partially open gates is a bit tricky unless you are familiar with it.

 

No problems with the swing bridges though, people seemed happy to wait and help with the broad lock gates as required.

 

Effectively no moorings through the rather nice park and the town short term moorings in the CaRT "marina" less impressive. Its a bit of a walk to town but the town is well worth visiting in my view.

 

The moorings and holding area before dropping down to the Severn seemed a very pleasant area for an overnight or weekend stop.

[Captain Pegg]

I have my home mooring on the CRT mooring in Netherwich basin close to Droitwich town centre. You will find comments by me on the forum echoing the points made above regarding the fact that you are hemmed in by either the Severn or the climb up to the Birmingham level. Although my mooring is 10 minutes from home I am thinking of moving the boat before next spring for those reasons.

 

However in your case we need to consider that you are on the Avon and the issues there are not dissimilar and it could be argued you are further away from the rest of the network. One days cruise from Droitwich Marina will see you to Stourport or on to the Birmingham level and from there you are on to the network. However having to tackle 45 pretty much continuous locks or rely on the Severn not being in flood every time you want to go anywhere new is a pain. The route up to Tardebigge does at least guarantee you a way out even if the rivers aren't navigable.

 

As for the Droitwich canal itself it has all in idiosyncrasies of a restored navigation plus some. You have to remember that it was abandoned for 80 years and while I think the restoration was a great job - and good value for us local taxpayers - the resulting navigation has some interesting features. The locks at Hanbury are superb - all three with working side ponds - but from there to Droitwich the navigation is a new build so the locks are modern and lead to the strange experience that is the M5 tunnel. This is another feature that can limit navigation is it has very low headroom and also carries the flow from a small stream that enters the canal below the lock above the tunnel. There then follows a section on the canalised River Salwarpe which can flood and close navigation although this is perhaps only a once or twice a year occurrence. The section through Vines Park in Droitwich is very pleasant although there are three swingbirdges to operate and they are well used by pedestrians. At the end of the park is Netherwich basin which is the only recognised mooring site away from the junctions at either end. Mooring elsewhere is also difficult. The barge canal from Droitwich to the Severn is very rural and has significant reed growth which can make the channel very narrow. The locks are also very hard work. The last winding hole when heading west is above Ladywood locks about an hours cruise from Droitwich. Once you enter the top lock you won't be able to wind without entering the Severn (unless your boat is no more than 35' long). There are moorings above the last two locks at Hawford which are mostly there for boats that can't enter the Severn when the levels are high.

 

The canal attracts quite a number of hire boats as there are five or six hire bases within a day or two's cruise so although it isn't crowded it does see a decent level of usage. The ring via Worcester and Droitwich is two days cruising so is popular for weekend hires. However I have never seen the moorings in Droitwich totally full outside of the festival weekend in May.

 

Overall the canal has its limitations but I suspect most people that moor at Droitwich Marina consider they are on the Worcs & Birmingham at least as much as the Droitwich Canal.

 

JP

[She25]

Nobody has mentioned there is another route from the marina - go up the three locks from the marina and turn right at the junction, which takes you down to Diglis basin. 17 locks in all (if I remember correctly) but nicely spaced out. There are usually volunteers on the three outside the marina anyway (they're very deep, which is why the side ponds are there).

 

Plenty of turning points if you didn't want to go all the way to Diglis, or up to Tardebigge or on the Severn.

 

Importantly - the pubs are good. Carvery at the Eagle and Sun on the juntion, pub grub at the rudge at Tibberton, Mediterranean at the Gardeners Arms at Vines Park, pie and mash at the Old Cock Inn Droitwich, gastro pub at the Queens Head Stoke Prior.

[Sea Dog]

We moor in the marina and have been there 3 years. Lots of useful stuff above, particularly from Capt Pegg who knows the area well, so I won't repeat but I'll add a bit from my own perspective.

 

My air draft is higher than I'd like so the M5 culvert is an issue for me. I've never had a problem getting through, but I do choose when I use it. What I tend to do when going that way is head down the Droitwich because it's a very short and easy walk to check the gauges and not the end of the world if you can't get through. Returning from the Severn I always come up from Worcester - it'd be a pain to come up the Droitwich and have to back track! The same walk to the culvert, incidentally, continues on to the town. You might not fancy it in iffy weather, but otherwise it's a pleasant stroll almost all of it canal side.

 

Tardebigge is what it is: it's plenty of locks, but none of them too challenging. I usually do the Queen's Head the first afternoon out, the flight and on a bit the next day, then on for half a day to Birmingham the following morning or hang a left onto the N Stratford to the S Stratford, the GU or places beyond. I'm taking things easy, obviously, and that timing is easy to beat as many would attest, but my timings make for a more relaxing start to cruising than one might expect.

 

The trip to Worcester is a nice day's cruise in the summer, but often we stretch it to 2, particularly in the winter, maybe stopping at Dunhampstead or Tibberton. We never get fed up of visiting Worcester. Both of those places are easy 1 day or overnight excursions if you have short visits from friends and cruising hours are at a premium.

 

Whichever route you use to get there, upstream to Stourport is arguably the best of the Severn and to enter the canal system from there is a pretty good start point for many great cruises.

 

Winter cruises can be a challenge, firstly because the Severn is an unreliable route as you'll know from being on the Avon. Also, where CRT used to close Tardebigge in Jan-Feb-Mar with just a long weekend opening in Feb meaning 2 x 6 week closed periods, they now seem to be overlapping works so it's closed the entire period. Not insurmountable, but awkward and a potential showstopper if you have date constraints.

 

The marina and staff are lovely. The facilities are good and continually improving under caring management. You'll hear lots about the proximity of the M5 and the resultant noise, but we simply don't notice it in any detrimental way. When you can hear it is wind dependent and what you do hear is low volume white noise. I'd put myself down as being very noise sensitive and it bothers me not a jot.

 

If you have any particular questions, feel free to PM me.