Black Country Ring stopovers

[ubermama]

We are planning on doing the Black Country Ring from Autherley Junction (in May) in the clockwise direction.
There will be 6 of us, 2 children aged 10 and 12 , my parents (in their 70's), my husband and I and we have a week to do it in.
I am really interested to do the ring as it is so varied but a bit wary of moorings around Birmingham as I have heard it is not very safe.
Would the following places be OK to stop overnight?
night 1 (sat) Cross Keys, Penkridge
night 2 (sun) Great Haywood
night 3 (mon) The Dog and Doublet
night 4 (tues) Gas Street Basin
night 5 (weds) Black Country Museum
night 6 (thurs) New Inn, Coseley
night 7 (fri) near to Autherley Junction

I know that some days will be long but we are prepared to get up early and be travelling most of the day.

Any advice would be appreciated. This is our second trip as a family, I had boating experience about 20 years ago so we are not total beginners.

Thank you

 

[nicknorman]

The one I would be wary of is Coseley. It’s not a place you often see boats moored and Coseley tunnel areas has in the past had a bit of a reputation for troublesome kids. Of course it will probably be fine, but personally I wouldn’t night stop between Tipton and Wolverhampton simply because it’s not normal practice and hence a moored boat attracts attention. Plus, surely BCLM to Coseley is an extremely short day?!

[ubermama]

thank you, we are planning on spending the day at the Black Country Museum so were just going to travel on after the day. Would you suggest staying a second night at the BCM instead?

[Rob-M]

Great Haywood to the Dog and Doublet is a very long day, Great Haywood to Fradley Junction normally takes us 6 hours, the Fradley to Fazeley is about another 3 hours then an hour or so to the Dog and Doublet.

I agree with Nick and wouldn't stop at Coseley, I would go to Wolverhampton. We normally go to Compton, turning the boat above Wightwick Lock.

[john6767]

15 minutes ago, ubermama said:

thank you, we are planning on spending the day at the Black Country Museum so were just going to travel on after the day. Would you suggest staying a second night at the BCM instead?

I think that is a better idea

[nicknorman]

14 minutes ago, ubermama said:

thank you, we are planning on spending the day at the Black Country Museum so were just going to travel on after the day. Would you suggest staying a second night at the BCM instead?

Yes that might be a good idea. Or move along just slightly to Tipton if you want a change of scene. My view is that (without knowing your circumstances) you can visit the BCLM any time by car. If you are paying £1000+ for a week of boating then it would seem to me a good idea not to have the boat parked up for a day while you do something you could do by car.

[Rob-M]

5 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

Yes that might be a good idea. Or move along just slightly to Tipton if you want a change of scene. My view is that (without knowing your circumstances) you can visit the BCLM any time by car. If you are paying £1000+ for a week of boating then it would seem to me a good idea not to have the boat parked up for a day while you do something you could do by car.

Maybe not if you have to include travel costs from Amsterdam, the OP's listed location.

[nicknorman]

Just now, Rob-M said:

Maybe not if you have to include travel costs from Amsterdam, the OP's listed location.

Ok fair enough. But I’d still do a boaty boating trip, and do landlubberish touristy things on another occasion.

[john6767]

5 minutes ago, Rob-M said:

Maybe not if you have to include travel costs from Amsterdam, the OP's listed location.

Still Nick's point is a good one.  If the schedule allowed the OP could go to the BCLM on the day they hand the boat back 

[Rob-M]

I presume you are hiring from Napton Narrowboats at Autherley Junction, when we did that our trip was:

Compton, having gone down to wind at Wightwick Lock. This was due to not getting the boat very early.

Oozel Street Loop visitor moorings in Birmingham

Dog and Doublet

Whittington

Fradley

Penkridge

Compton, closer to Autherley Junction for the trip back on Saturday morning.

[Ex Brummie]

You cannot assume you will find moorings at the BCLM, especially if arriving in the afternoon. There are many moorings just along from Coronation Gardens at Tipton, where it is overlooked sufficiently to discourage the 'nasties. BCLM is only a short walk from there.

[ditchcrawler]

1 hour ago, john6767 said:

Still Nick's point is a good one.  If the schedule allowed the OP could go to the BCLM on the day they hand the boat back 

That is what I did when I hired on the Llangollen canal. The boat had to be back by 10am and we drove straight to Llangollen for the rest of the day

[AndrewIC]

22 hours ago, ubermama said:

thank you, we are planning on spending the day at the Black Country Museum so were just going to travel on after the day. Would you suggest staying a second night at the BCM instead?

I would vote for that as well. I've had minor bother from "troublesome kids" at Coseley, nothing too serious but I wouldn't feel comfortable there overnight. The museum (and the separately run Dudley Tunnel and limestone caverns) can in any case be a full and perhaps tiring day out.

[ubermama]

22 hours ago, Rob-M said:

I presume you are hiring from Napton Narrowboats at Autherley Junction, when we did that our trip was:

Compton, having gone down to wind at Wightwick Lock. This was due to not getting the boat very early.

Oozel Street Loop visitor moorings in Birmingham

Dog and Doublet

Whittington

Fradley

Penkridge

Compton, closer to Autherley Junction for the trip back on Saturday morning.

Yes we are hiring from Napton Narrowboats. 
Our preference was for the clockwise direction, I will look into your stopping places, thanks.

Thank you everyone, it is great to have such experience and knowledge passed on to use newbies.
I will look into changing the stopovers a bit and maybe go to the BCM after we have dropped the boat off on the Saturday morning, but we have to get back to the ferry to go home to Amsterdam on the Saturday so maybe not enough time.

[Captain Pegg]

Generally I agree with the idea that visits to canalside attractions are best avoided when you have paid to hire a boat. However the Black Country Living Museum is something of an exception because the canal is an integral part of it and it's a great place at which to moor. There is also the Dudley Tunnel boat trip which I recommend.

I agree with Rob-M that Compton is the best place to spend the last night prior to returning to Autherley and it's easily in one day's range from the BCLM even allowing for the fact you have to go to Wightwick to turn.

The difficulty with the idea of spending a night in Birmingham and two at the BCLM is that the fourth night of the hire would be in Birmingham and that's three quarters of the cruising in half the time. Not impossible but it will be a very full first few days and could be a stretch. It's also only about four hours from Birmingham to the BCLM.

Nonetheless there is plenty of room for contingency; such as making an early start from Birmingham after spending the fifth night there and spending the afternoon at BCLM followed by one nights mooring and perhaps getting on an early tunnel trip the next morning before heading to Compton (or anywhere below Wolverhampton locks). Alternatively if you were at Curdworth by the fourth night you should be able to reach the BCLM the next day. I would stick with what you want to do but keep an open mind in respect of adapting to what you find is comfortable. You won't fail to get round the ring in a week.

Which ferry are you using?

JP

[Sea Dog]

Capt Pegg's advice above is sound, as it often is.  I'd say don't miss the museum - it's a really good day out and there's something a bit special about visiting from the canal. Plus, technically you are still "boating" (although I'd agree it would have been more economic to visit by car).  The kids will love the characters in costume and the Grand parents will certainly enjoy reminiscing about the old things that were still around in their early days.  Do try the fish and chips there - they're good ones which are few and far between - and the beer in the pub is usually good too!  If you moor in Compton, do walk around the corner past the big pub (the Swan opposite is better for beer and more traditional) to the cake shop.  You can get coffee and cake in there, which is nice, but what's really good is the wonderfully imaginative competition winning cakes on display. 

Have a fabulous holiday!

[ubermama]

19 hours ago, Captain Pegg said:

Generally I agree with the idea that visits to canalside attractions are best avoided when you have paid to hire a boat. However the Black Country Living Museum is something of an exception because the canal is an integral part of it and it's a great place at which to moor. There is also the Dudley Tunnel boat trip which I recommend.

I agree with Rob-M that Compton is the best place to spend the last night prior to returning to Autherley and it's easily in one day's range from the BCLM even allowing for the fact you have to go to Wightwick to turn.

The difficulty with the idea of spending a night in Birmingham and two at the BCLM is that the fourth night of the hire would be in Birmingham and that's three quarters of the cruising in half the time. Not impossible but it will be a very full first few days and could be a stretch. It's also only about four hours from Birmingham to the BCLM.

Nonetheless there is plenty of room for contingency; such as making an early start from Birmingham after spending the fifth night there and spending the afternoon at BCLM followed by one nights mooring and perhaps getting on an early tunnel trip the next morning before heading to Compton (or anywhere below Wolverhampton locks). Alternatively if you were at Curdworth by the fourth night you should be able to reach the BCLM the next day. I would stick with what you want to do but keep an open mind in respect of adapting to what you find is comfortable. You won't fail to get round the ring in a week.

Which ferry are you using?

JP

Thank you, I will look at the schedule again and try and even things out a bit more. It is great to tap into the experience on this forum.
We are travelling from Harwich to Hoek van Holland.