Date: Mon, 3 Jul 2000 13:25:13 +0000
From: David Crowe 
Reply-To: Canals <canals@ukwaterways.net>
To: Canals <canals@ukwaterways.net>
Subject: Trip Report - Stourport Ring -26KBytes

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A Trip Report for the Stourport Ring

This trip turned out to be a re-union occasion. When the trip was
first booked there was going to be just the two of us; the first time
in umpteen years we would have been reduced to less than three
people. Out of the blue, I received an e-mail from someone who had
come on one of our previous trips (the Leicester Circuit) five years
ago. He hails from Australia and was going to be in the country for
a while. We changed the arrangements to suit his arrival in the UK. I
seemed to have used the term "our Australian friend" a lot in this
report on the first draft so I shall use his name, which is Ajeet.
My other friend on this trip is called David. (I know, two David's on
the same boat can be confusing.)

Saturday.

We started our trip from the Anglo Welsh yard at Tardebigge, after
first stopping in Bromsgrove to buy some supplies for the week, and
visiting The Tardebigge restaurant bar for dinner. We passed through
the Shortwood tunnel, which served as a refresher course for the
longer tunnel to follow the next day. We had been warned at the
boatyard not to moor up in a region between King's Norton and Selly
Oak so decided to stop early at Arrowfield Top (or is it Hopwood?).
We fed ourselves in the Hopwood House Inn.

Sunday.

There was a thick mist lying over the canal when we woke, usually a
sign of a warm day ahead. We could barely see the bridge a few
hundred feet away from where we had moored. It turned out to be a
very warm day. We entered the Wast Hill tunnel, made slightly spooky
by the presence of the by now thinning mist. After the tunnel, we
passed King's Norton junction. We saw no sign of any vandals, but it
may have been a bit early in the day. Soon the station at Bourneville
appeared. This is decorated in the colour of the wrapper of a bar of
Diary Milk chocolate. I found it a little too overpowering for a
railway station. Nobody on the boat was particularly interested in
visiting Cadbury World so we pressed on.

I have to admit that I am not a fan of cities. I live within 20
miles of London (so the milestone on what used to be the A11 tells
me) but I never enjoy going into the city even by train or tube, and
very rarely make the effort. However, I always enjoy cruising into a
city on a narrow boat. You can avoid all the road traffic (or
congested trains) and see all the landmarks and interesting
architectural styles.

We cruised gently into Birmingham until we reach Gas Street Basin,
where we passed through the stop lock and tied up. It was a bit too
early for lunch really. The pubs were not open, but there was a café
that was offering a "free" glass of wine with each meal. It was open
so we decided to try it. We sat outside to watch the (water) world go
by. The meal was passable, but nothing exciting, as I recall, which
is more than could be said for the wine. While we were eating our
meal, a jazz band started to play in the grounds of the pub across
the water.

We spent two leisurely hours over lunch, but then decided to
continue cruising. We turned left at the "roundabout" in front of the
Indoor Arena, and briefly, we considered taking the next left into
the Oozells Street loop. Our deliberations on whether to turn into
this loop were stopped when we discovered it was closed; the far end
of the loop was dewatered. We decided not to explore the next two
loops either, though I guess other list members will tell me we
missed out by doing so. For the benefit of those who don't know, the
loops are the original line of the old main line, and the canal was
cut through the loops to shorten the line for through traffic.

Having passed the toll islands on which the toll houses used to
stand, we decided we were in need of some lock work. We had travelled
all the way from the boatyard and not seen a single lock. If we
stayed on the current level we would not have seen a lock for a
further five miles. Therefore, we turned right at Smethwick Junction
to take the Old Main Line, and immediately into a flight of three
locks.  Once up on the Wolverhampton Level, the canal of the New Main
Line disappeared from view. It runs parallel for a while in a deep
cutting. We decided not to venture up the Engine Arm, which is close
to the top of the locks. Soon we were through the summit tunnel,
which is quite short, and approaching the M5 motorway. The canal
snakes from side to side underneath the M5 flyover before running
directly beneath it for a while just before Spon Lane junction. The
right turn here brings the canal to a further flight of three locks
which take it back down to the New Main Line, the left branch takes
the canal to an aqueduct over that line. A few more twists and turns
and the canal loops around Oldbury, leaving the M5 near Oldbury
junction.

We stopped at Tividale Aqueduct to take on some water. The aqueduct
carries the canal over the Netherton Branch canal which disappears
into Netherton Tunnel on one side, and runs up to meet the New Main
Line in the other direction. While waiting for the water tank to
fill, the sound of a slow revving diesel engine was heard. A boat had
just appeared from the tunnel and was passing under the aqueduct. I
am not familiar with the sounds of individual types of engine but
this was no "modern" diesel. The engine on our boat was a rather
noisy three cylinder Lister air-cooled engine, which made
conversation with the helmsman rather tiresome. I guess you need
either a very quiet engine or a very slow revving one. With the
latter, you can always get the odd word in edgeways. : - ) :)

We had not planned to spend much time in Birmingham, perhaps we'll
go back another year and spend time exploring the various nooks and
crannies that make up the BCN. Instead, we pressed on. We arrived at
the top of the Wolverhampton 21 with a couple of hours of daylight
left so we started down. The top lock has anti-vandal mechanisms on
the paddles. However, these are not of the variety we have become
used to on the Leeds and Liverpool, and in Leicester. These do not
require many turns of the key to unscrew the bolts. Rather, a small
turn of the key releases a spring loaded bolt. Once finished with,
the bolt is pushed back against the spring and it locks in place.
This was so much faster than we were used to. In previous years, we
had considered the possibility of using a cordless drill or
screwdriver to turn the key! While at the top lock, a lady informed
us it was perhaps a good idea to work through the whole flight, and
not stop anywhere on the way down. We figured we should just make it
before dark so we kept going. The lockwheeler had his work cut out
for him because either one or both of the bottom gates at each lock
were always open. I suspected deliberately so, since it was always
the one on the non-towpath side, though some may have swung open
themselves. We always rotate jobs every so many locks when working a
flight like this, so that everyone gets to rest on the boat, but not
too frequently so that the rhythm is not broken too often. It was
6.30 p.m. when we started at the top lock, and it was 8.45 p.m. when
we tied up on the Staffs and Worcs canal. Not a record, but not bad
going either. Due to the fact we were now too far from a pub to go
out for a meal, we first quenched our thirst with a can of beer
apiece then had a simple meal of bread, Stilton and Port.

Monday.

We took our time getting started since we were now well ahead of our
schedule. The next few locks come at odd intervals. There was a short
cruise to the first of the day, then a gap then two in close
succession, then a big gap and two together, followed by another
after a short gap. We were just getting used to this odd rhythm when
we found ourselves at the unique flight known as The Bratch. For the
benefit of anybody who is unaware, these locks are a
flight-cum-staircase. They are built like a staircase, but in fact
are three locks complete with top and bottom gates each, with a
very, and I mean very short pound between. The length of the pound is
the width of the towpath bridge, which crosses between two of the
locks. A quick scan around reveals the presence of the side-ponds
that are connected directly to the short intermediate pounds and
without which the system would not work. Like some staircase locks
there are colour-coded paddles. In this case, blue on the top gates
of the two lower locks. When going down, you are expected to open the
blue paddles on the lock below before the bottom paddles of the lock
above are opened, even if the lower lock is already full. (If the
paddles were not opened, emptying the lock above will cause some rise
in the water level in the side ponds and short pound, thus producing
a sufficient difference to make opening the gates by hand
impossible.) We stopped to buy some postcards in the small octagonal
office here.

I am trying now to think where we stopped for lunch, if we did at
all. I know we went shopping for suntan cream since nobody had
remembered to bring any and we were all looking a little red. It may
have been at Compton, since there is a supermarket trolley icon on
the Pearsons guide, but I really can't recall. What I do remember is
Botterham Locks, which are a staircase pair. Now here is another
memory problem, the Pearson's guide suggests that the bottom lock
should be empty and the top one full before going through; my memory
tells me that this was not strictly necessary as there was a spill
wear cut into the side of the top of the lower lock (IYSWIM). The
water from the top lock could be emptied straight into the next
pound, thus saving emptying the lower lock and then filling it with
the water from the one above. If this is so I can quite see why it
has been changed. The lower chamber is hidden from sight by the
bridge, so I suspect many boaters may have failed to notice. The
consequences of which would have been a flooded towpath. Can anybody
confirm this?

Our schedule was to be at Kidderminster on Tuesday, so we could take
a day off and go on the Severn Valley Railway. This meant we were now
able to stop early, since we were well ahead of this schedule. (I
wonder if we had been better to bring the trip forward a day?)
Anyway, we arrived at Greenforge where we knew there were open
moorings.

We tied up at the visitors moorings and went up to the pub. The pub
was shut as it was only 4.50 p.m., but it was still shut at 5.10 p.m.
so was probably not going to be open until six. So we thought, to
heck with it, let's go on to Stewponey. So we did. I found this next
stretch of canal quite pleasant, with the woods surrounding us. Also
along this stretch (if I remember correctly) is a lock with a cave
cut into the rocks. Further along there is another cave, smaller
than the first and known apparently as the Devil's Den, also cut into
the rocks. In fact, we were to discover many caves cut into the rock
in this region, but no more were near the canal. Just after passing
Stourton Junction we arrived at Stewponey Lock.

We tied up and visited the pub here. This is just the other side of
a very busy road. So busy that the road is a dual carriageway just
where we wanted to cross. None of us found the outside of the pub
very appealing, but it seemed there was nowhere else in walking
distance so in we went. We had a meal and a drink here. However,
after the meal I felt the need to get some fresh air, having become
quite flushed. So I left the others in the pub and walked back to the
boat and sat outside for a while, chatting to other boaters who had
stopped for the night.

Tuesday.

We were in no rush again to set off, though I have no record of the
time at which we did. We chugged along taking in the views until we
arrived at Kinver.

We duly arrived at some moorings just before the lock; we pulled
into the side and were in the process of tying up when an irate
"gentleman" informed us that these were private moorings. (Which
they were, in fact, we had failed to notice, an honest mistake. The
open moorings were after the lock.) David said something to the
effect that we hadn't seen any signs. (Which we hadn't, they were
not that obvious.) The irate "gentleman" became more offensive. I
said to him there was no problem, we would move, we had no intention
of upsetting anyone or stealing their moorings. There simply wasn't
any placating this person. It didn't matter how apologetic we were,
he was going to be offensive and irate anyway. I will apologise only
once, if that isn't enough then tough. This is the first time I have
ever encountered such an unreasonable person on the canal. OK, I
guess this must be a frequent problem and he was getting a bit fed up
with it. However, he should have consider two things, one, we had
apologised; two, perhaps the signs are inadequate if we were not the
first to make this mistake.

It was now 11.30 a.m. so you can see we didn't exactly start at the
break of day to get to here.

Kinver has been described as "The Switzerland of the Midlands"
according to the Pearsons guide, this being a quote from the
operating company of the Kinver Light Railway, now defunct. We were
interested in going up Kinver Edge. Strolling through the town we
spotted lots of man-made (or should I say person- made these days?)
indentations in the sandstone outcrops, varying from minor recesses
to one which was being used to park a car.

It was a warmish day again, certainly a bit warm for climbing up
steep paths. Nevertheless, climb them we did. We couldn't go into the
rock houses that are owned by the National Trust I believe, since it
was the wrong day. We did make it to the viewpoint near the top,
where there is a plinth with a plaque showing where to look for
various hills, towns etc.

On our way up, we met a family coming down. We were told that there
were more cave dwellings to be seen, but we never found any.
Eventually we decided we had had enough scenery, and we wanted
something to eat. Our route back down into the town differed from
that taken on the way up but we knew where we were when we passed a
car dealer that had a Subaru Impreza WRX parked in the forecourt. We
had passed such a garage on the way up; there surely weren't two such
garages in the town. I cannot remember the name of the pub in which
we ate.

We browsed around an antiques shop of sorts in the town. Ajeet
collects antique scientific instruments, but there was nothing of
that kind here. So, back to the boat and a steady progress down to
Kidderminster. Somewhere on this short journey it started to rain a
little. We tied up near the church just above Kidderminster Lock.

Wednesday.

This was the day we had planned to travel on the Severn Valley
Railway. First, we had to find the railway. This would have been much
easier if we had been driving since there were several brown signs
directing the way. Following the ring road by foot means that we had
to use pedestrian underpasses to cross it. We must have taken a wrong
turning somewhere. I was convinced we had to turn right at one of the
roundabouts, David was convinced it was straight on. He was right,
but we went my way. It seems that some towns do not consider the poor
pedestrian when signing routes. Actually, there was a shorter route
if walking than that directed by the signs, but with no street map,
how is a body to know?

Eventually, we found the station. I have travelled on the SVR
before, but I don't think Ajeet had seen a preserved steam railway
before. I believe he found it fascinating. A new building had been
erected since I was last here, (partially?) funded from a lottery
grant. Now the rolling stock can be sheltered from the ravages of the
weather. According to one of the volunteers, one of the worst
offenders being the sun! Beating down on the same side of the rolling
stock all the time (there are no turntables or a triangle with which
to turn the stock) causes one side to fade faster than the other.

We shared a carriage with a party of school children, bad choice!
Actually, they were not too bad, just a bit noisy.

The railway passes over a viaduct just outside Kidderminster under
which the canal passes.  It then skirts a wildlife park as it swings
north towards Bridgnorth. This is a very pleasant route, passing
close to a length of the Severn we were not able to travel by boat.

We chose not to alight at any of the stations on the route, but
travelled straight through to Bridgnorth. Here we saw a sign saying
that access to the loco sheds by the public was not permitted unless
in the company of a guide. When I was last here, the public had free
access, but I guess the HSE have stopped that. We asked in the ticket
office if there was a guide available that day. The ticket clerk said
no, and that we need to book in advance. Someone else suggested that
(I forget his name) may do it. He did, and we had a guided tour of
the station and a bit of the history of the line. We were shown
around a carriage that was being restored. Most of the rolling stock
is privately owned, the actual SVR owns very little, I understand.
The chap who owned the carriage had been spending the last ten years
doing the rebuild. Sometimes he slept in the coach or in the camping
coaches overnight.

We were told how the SVR get a lot of contract work to rebuild
locomotives for their owners. An A4 was scattered over the site, the
boiler here, the frame there and the cab somewhere else. I can't
recall which A4 it was, but I recognised the name at the time. Some
workshops we were not allowed in, even escorted, but we were allowed
to peer through the door. We were permitted access to the loco shed,
and the chance to climb inside the cab of a locomotive. This was full
of levers and wheels, only some of which I worked out the use of;
throttle, reversing gear etc.

Finally, we were taken up into the signal box, where our guide bade
us farewell and left us in the hands of the signalman. The signalman
gave an overview explanation of the working of the system, most of
the principals of which I had read about before. But it was all new
to Ajeet.

We thanked the signalman and set off to find our way into the town.
There is another piece of engineering to be seen in Bridgnorth, the
cliff railway. We walked downhill from the station to find the bottom
of this and then rode up again to arrive at the high town. It was
now lunchtime so we found a pub and ate in there. After lunch we
looked around the town and found a shop selling old books. I find
these very interesting to browse around, but I saw nothing that
particularly caught my eye in this one. Soon it was time to think
about getting back to the station to catch a train back to
Kidderminster. We had time to buy a few items in the station shop
before our train left.

Back in Kidderminster, we returned to the boat to make our way down
to Stourport. We now had quite a busy schedule to keep to, or so we
thought. At about 8 p.m. we arrived in the Upper Basin at Stourport
where we took on some water at the tap, and then moved the boat away
a little and tied up for the night. It rained quite hard, so we
elected to stay on the boat rather than wonder off to the pubs.

Thursday.

I seem to have become derelict in my duty of recording starting and
stopping times. This is a pity since I have no idea now long we
actually cruised. We moved through to the Clock Basin and found the
narrow locks. There are two staircase pairs leading from the Clock
Basin down to the river. These definitely have the spill weir to
allow the water in the upper lock to be emptied straight into the
pound below, rather than have to use the lower paddles on the bottom
lock, though I believe the bottom chamber was empty in each case.

My memory of this part of the trip has now faded a little, it has
taken me too long to finish this trip report. I remember arriving at
Holt lock where the lockkeeper advised us to hold onto the chains. I
was standing at the front of the boat, so I prepared to reach out for
the one approaching. I gave up hope of holding on to it when the boat
gently slipped passed it! Not wishing to be dragged into the water,
I let go. It was the last one before the bottom gates, but the
lockkeeper let us down gently. Someone on the back end was holding on
to a chain there so we were not going to drift far.

Next came Bevere Lock.  The opening of the bottom gates revealed a
dredger at work. The dredger backed away and moved to his left as we
approached; though there seemed to be plenty of room for a narrow
boat to pass on either side where he was.

We arrived at Worcester were we were planning to go and buy some
groceries. Also, Ajeet was keen to buy a new battery for his mobile
'phone. We tied up near the Steamer Quay as it seemed it would be a
shorter walk into the shopping area. We tried several mobile 'phone
shops, but none had a battery in stock. They could all order one. Not
much use to us though.

On returning to the boat, it fell to me to take the tiller. It was
not far before we arrived at the locks for the start (or end?) of the
Worcester & Birmingham canal. We passed Lowesmoor basin where we had
moored up for the night on a previous canal trip. I remember it was
me that had to steer the boat into the entrance to the basin that
time, and it was very awkward to negotiate the turn. Still, we were
not stopping there this time so on we went.

There are a few sporadically spaced locks on the way out of
Worcester and then the Offerton flight of six locks. We were working
our way up this flight with Ajeet lock wheeling. Having just risen
in one of the locks we could see there was a boat in the next lock.
It was a little too far away for me to see clearly whether it was
going up or down. In fact, it was doing neither. It had just gone up
but was not moving. After a little while I decided to press into
service the PMR radios we had brought with us this trip. I called up
Ajeet who reported that a "flasher" had exposed himself to the
people on board the boat in front of the one in front of us. This
boat was, of course, Midnight Diamond. I did not make the connection
at the time.

After all the commotion was over, and boats were on the move again,
the person steering the boat in front of us allowed us to pass. We
followed Midnight Diamond for a while after this. During the recent
thread on slowing for moored boats, the subject of tickover on
different boats was mentioned. When we approached some moored boats,
we slowed to tickover: but we started gaining on Midnight Diamond.
In order not to get too close we had to resort to neutral quite a
bit. I apologise to Peter and Gill if they thought we were crowding
them a little, but it was not intentional.

By now the canal had become bordered by lots of reeds, so that in
places only a narrow channel was left for boats.

After a while Midnight Diamond pulled in to the bank and the steerer
gave us a cheery wave and wished us a good holiday. We continued for
a little longer, getting another six locks under our belt. We
stopped at Stoke Works, took on some water and retired to the Boat
and Railway for a meal.

Friday.

We were away by 7.30 a.m. to make a good start on the long haul up
Stoke and Tardebigge locks. As I mentioned earlier, we had down this
flight before. On that occasion, we had come down the flight. I
recall we did it in good time. We hoped to do it in good time going
up.

Near the top of this flight two incidents occurred. The first was
the cat that amazed me by jumping the width of the lock. This was
from a standing start at the lock edge. I had quite forgotten how
capable a young cat can be. The second was the chap from a boat
coming down who slipped on the wet walkway on the top gate of one of
the locks. He was trying to retrieve a dog that had fallen in.
Luckily, he forsook the windlass he was carrying for a purchase on
the handrail. No serious harm came to either the chap or the dog,
though both were quite wet.

We arrived at lock 57, which is the last but one lock in the flight,
at 12.00 noon. The Engine House marked on the guide is now a pub
restaurant, so we thought it would be a good idea to stop here for a
well-earned drink and a meal. We had a little trouble finding the
entrance from the canal side. We thought at one point that they were
having some building works done because there was a canvas covering
over part of the building. This turned out to be part of a marquee.
We asked if they were open, to which we got the reply that there was
no food, but we could have a drink. The reason why there was no food
was because the chef was the landlord (or maybe he was the owner) and
he was busy organising an event that was due to happened that
weekend. It was a one-night appearance of "The Average White Band".
(Anybody remember them?) We chatted with the barman over our drinks
about the establishment. Apparently, it is hired out for weddings,
parties and so on. Being a bit remote from any houses, I can see
that it could be popular as such a venue. We asked for directions to
the nearest pub, which turned out to be The Tardebigge, where we had
been before. We may have been able to save ourselves a walk by
moving the boat up to the next lock, but we didn't have the guide
with us at the time. So we set off down the lanes looking for the
pub.

Sitting in the pub, waiting for our meal, the subject of "The
Average White Band" came up again. It turns out that although David
and I had heard of them, we could not recall a single hit of theirs.

After our meal we returned to the boat, taking it up through the
remaining lock, through the tunnel and back into the boatyard. We
spent one more night on the boat before leaving for home.

--
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BCNU
Dave Crowe

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