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Day one
 We, at Excellence Afloat at Valley Cruises,
recommend cruising around the Warwickshire Ring in an
anti clockwise direction. This way the majority of the
locks (and thus the hard work) is accomplished during
the first half of your holiday, allowing you to take a
more leisurely approach to the second leg of your
voyage. The ‘hard work’ begins just over an hour after
leaving our picturesque Springwood Haven Marina and
heading left along the Coventry canal, completed in
1790. The town of Atherstone (a good place to stop for
your provisions and enjoy one of the various restaurants
or pubs) welcomes you with its 11 locks which should
take two hours to complete. The Coventry Canal continues
through several small towns and villages offering plenty
of places to moor for your first night. (Above,
Atherstone top lock,
courtesy of
Up
The Cut.)
Day two
Next morning you will arrive at Fazeley Junction,
functional and steeped in history, where you turn left
onto the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal, completed in
1789, and in its heyday one of the busiest and most
profitable canals built. Eight locks later you will come
to Curdworth, the first, and, at just 57 yards, the
shortest, tunnel on the Warwickshire Ring. That day’s
cruising should conclude somewhere between Curdworth and
the outskirts of Minworth where several shops, pubs and
a steakhouse will offer a range of evening meal
solutions! It is highly recommended that you do not moor
beyond Wigginshill Road Bridge overnight.
Day three
The terrain begins to take on an increasingly
citified feel until you finally reach Salford. This
marks the junction between the Grand Union to Bordesley
Junction and the Birmingham and Fazeley to Aston. Look
upwards and you will see Spaghetti junction. Two worlds
meet when the gentle chug of your engine and your 3-4
mile an hour progress competes with the roar of hundreds
of vehicles travelling at ten times that speed above
you. At Aston you can either turn right for Birmingham
city centre or left to join back with the Grand Union at
Bordesley.
To reach the city centre you will need to negotiate the
13 locks at Farmers Bridge. Rich with the essence of its
industrial past, it is situated under the former Great
Western Railway station of Snow Hill. It’s a
subterranean world of mystique with the sound of
splashing water and the smell of damp making a perfect
Victorian scene. It remains unchanged for over a
century.
You emerge from this underworld at Cambrian Wharf and
the junction with the BCN - 'Birmingham Canal
Navigation'.
 Here you turn left and enter the avant
garde world of Gas Street Basin. Formerly the terminus
of the BCN and the Worcester Birmingham Canal, rival
canals in the early years, it was separated by the once
famous Worcester Bar and boats had to be unloaded on one
side of the bar and reloaded on the other so that goods
could proceed on their journey. Today it is offers a
wealth of attractions including a huge selection of
waterside eateries at Brindley Place, the famous Sea
Life Centre with its 360° submarine tunnel, shopping and
leisure activities at the mailbox and the Ikon Art
Gallery. Spend the afternoon exploring and moor
overnight at Gas Street Basin, the heart of Birmingham’s
canal network and secured by locked gates and CCTV.
Alternatively, if you would rather spend the day at
Cadbury World (make sure that you book), moor by Five
Ways railway station, use this as your overnight base
and journey the one stop to Bournville by train.
(Photo Courtesy Marketing Birmingham)
If you prefer to navigate by either route via Bordesley
Junction you will pass through Camp Hill Locks and
continue along the Grand Union through Solihull until
you reach the safe and secure moorings of
Catherine-de-Barnes and the wide range of food offered
at The Boat pub.
Day four
From the city centre Taking the extended version of
the ring and stopping to enjoy the sights of central
Birmingham means that today you have to make up some
time. Follow the Worcester and Birmingham canal, which
runs parallel with the old Midland Railway and passes
through Edgbaston Tunnel, Bournville and on to Kings
Norton Junction. (For two week cruisers there is a
fascinating Motor Museum here or, if you enjoy tunnels,
you could continue along the Worcester Birmingham Canal
and go through West Hill a 2726 yard tunnel, Shortwood -
613 yards and Tardebigge - 580 yards, turning at
Tardebigge to return to Kings Norton Junction.) Turn
left and enter the Stratford Canal. You will pass under
a guillotine lock and meet several swing bridges before
you reach the Lapworth flight of locks. At the bottom of
this flight turn left again at Kingswood Junction and
onto a short canal that connects the Stratford with the
Grand Union. Turn right onto the Grand Union Canal and
you will find yourself back on the main part of the
Warwickshire Ring once again. You will then need to
complete the days four, five and six below in just two
days in order to be back on schedule.
Day four
 From Catherine-de-Barnes Your journey along the
Grand Union takes you to Knowle Locks (right,
courtesy of Stephen and Lucy –
www.luphen.org.uk) and on to
Kingswood Junction. From there travel through Shrewley
Tunnel - 433 yards and, before you know it, you will be
at the top of the Hatton flight - 21 wide locks that, if
fortune smiles upon you, means that you can share the
work with another crew. An energetic days cruising can
be rewarded by an evening spent moored at the Saliford
Arm or at the Warwick Cape of Good Hope pub, where a
good meal can be enjoyed.
Day five
The majority of your (roughly) 100 locks are now
completed and you will be offered the opportunity of
having a relatively lazy last few days. Today will see
you passing through the urban areas of Warwick and
Leamington and then back into a more rural landscape,
dotted with pretty villages. Just a final hour and a half
of cruising will find you at Braunston turn where it is
well worth taking the short diversion to Braunston
Marina, a wealth of canal history and inspiration. A
short walk will take you to the lovely Braunston
village.
Day six
 There are plenty of places to turn round at
Braunston (right,
courtesy of Stephen and Lucy –
www.luphen.org.uk) and get back on track along the picturesque
Oxford Canal. In no time at all you will find yourself
passing through the intriguing paired locks at Hillmorton and journeying through the historic town of
Rugby. Your final tunnel arrives in the shape of
Newbold’s 250 yards followed by the prettiest scenery
the Oxford has to offer. The Rose and Castle at Ansty
will provide a great last night feast, as will the
Greyhound at Hawkesbury Junction (its wise to book).
Turn right here and spend the night just past Marston
Junction. If you are ahead of schedule, continue past
our marina and moor at the Anchor Inn for a cheap and
plentiful meal. There is a winding hole some half an
hour further along the canal.
Day seven
Mooring at Marston, the Anchor or (as many of our
guests choose to do) outside our marina in the shadow of
Spring Wood, on the evening of day six, means that your
final morning should offer time for breakfast and a
stress free short cruise before one of our staff brings
you into our marina to unload. Make sure to leave enough
time for a chat with one of us so that we can share in
your experiences and discover which aspects of your
holiday you enjoyed most. We hope that, as we wave you
off, you are feeling relaxed, refreshed and content and
are already planning your next holiday cruising the many
routes around the Heart of the Midlands aboard a luxury
canal boat from Excellence Afloat at Valley Cruises.
NB These cruising times and
suggestions are a guide only, and it is your
responsibility to return your boat on time. |
