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Warwick Ring - Warwick Castle....


robtheplod

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7 hours ago, robtheplod said:

thanks Laurie, noted!

Do Lapworth or Hatton Locks ever have any volunteers to help at the locks?  Trying to look at timings.... thanks!!!

 

They both can have volunteers on them, Haton tend to just hang around the top end of the flight though, and as you would need the get through Hatton on day one that will probably have gone by the time you get there.

for what it is worth I would say to try and over night on the centre of Birmingham, if you stop on the North Stratford then it would be a long haile in a day to get back out to where you would want to stop.  If you are not wrecked by day one they and make Birminham for the night of day two, it will be a long day but doable.

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As mentioned, the problem isn't mooring before Birmingham. Its mooring after. If you're planning a mid day stop in Brum then you've got a long haul down to Catherine-De-Barnes after. You'd probably get there after dark. 

The best Indian restaurant in Broad Street is Pushkar but there's better elsewhere in Brum.  The worst are probably Celebrity or Barajee. But there are Indian restaurants by the cut all over the country.  While you're in the big smoke, why not try something different? Korean, Vietnamese, Polish, Brazilian, or one of the many other places within 10-15 minutes walk from the canal.

 

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3 minutes ago, Dave_P said:

As mentioned, the problem isn't mooring before Birmingham. Its mooring after. If you're planning a mid day stop in Brum then you've got a long haul down to Catherine-De-Barnes after. You'd probably get there after dark. 

The best Indian restaurant in Broad Street is Pushkar but there's better elsewhere in Brum.  The worst are probably Celebrity or Barajee. But there are Indian restaurants by the cut all over the country.  While you're in the big smoke, why not try something different? Korean, Vietnamese, Polish, Brazilian, or one of the many other places within 10-15 minutes walk from the canal.

 

I read it as doing the Warwickshire ting clockwise, so after the centre of Birmingham they are heading for Curdworth, so starting Farmers Bridge later in the day.  For me press on for a long day with no locks after Lapworth the day before.

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Just now, john6767 said:

I read it as doing the Warwickshire ting clockwise, so after the centre of Birmingham they are heading for Curdworth, so starting Farmers Bridge later in the day.  For me press on for a long day with no locks after Lapworth the day before.

Yes of course. Curdworth, not C-De-B. 

Same issue though. 

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We hired from kate boats and the boat was ready before 12. They even loaded all our internet shopping for us.

We got up Hatton on the first day and continued to the first tunnel and had a great meal at the Durham ox at shrewley. I was worried planning as it was October and it got dark by half six. But shared the locks with another hire crew and got up in time. Leaving early helped a lot.

 

An excellent hire company and the boats are very nice and clean We looking to hire again from them this year or next having tries another company up north at Easter.

 

The centre of Birmingham is a good overnight mooring spot. We were mid week and it was very quiet with plenty of bars and restaurants to choose from.

 

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As others have said, moor in Birmingham over night, because from the centre to someone you'd be happy stopping is a long way.  You need to get down the Farmer's Bridge Locks (which can actually be really quick), then Aston locks, then Minworth, and out towards Curdworth before stopping for the night.  Actually when we did it, we went from the centre of Birmingham to Fazely Junction in a day -- which was a lot of locks!

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We regularly go to Birmingham from our mooring near Fradley and always moor at or near Curdworth which is easily reachable to or from the city centre in a day. Any closer to the city centre than that and you are into potentially dodgy places for overnight mooring. Having said that, the Star City moorings are closer, are good, safe, and surprisingly quiet considering the location. And it's easy to reverse back to the junction if you want to go the other route to/from the city.

People say there are also decent visitor moorings at Cuckoo Bridge but we've never been able to moor there due to the continuous moorers taking up the berths.

Don't just pass through Brum centre. It's a great place to stop for a night even if you haven't much time to explore the vicinity.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi All, thanks for the helpful replies...

We've just completed the ring and had a really good time. 116 Locks from Saturday to Thursday - boy what an introduction...!

Day 1

Picked boat up at 1pm at Warwick (Kate Boats) and went up the Hatton Locks. Moored the Top of Hatton Locks, thanks to a lovely chap I think was called Keith in the narrowboat Serendipity (grey boat). He taught us how to do locks and pretty much gave us the hands on training to take us both up.

Day 2 

To the Kingswood junctions and then onto the Stratford on Avon canal up Lapworth locks... crew now getting very efficient at locks (talk of mutiny averted by pub visits!). Moored at Shirley Draw bridge.

Day 3

We made our way into Birmingham via Bournville and the Worcester & Birmingham Canal. Stopped at Gas street to eat and look around/get water then on up Farmers Bridge Locks (very interesting scenery going under buildings etc!). We were due to go up the Aston Locks, but these were closed so had to go round Digbeth branch back onto the Grand Union. Had a moment under the motorway when I though we wouldn't be able to turn right onto the Birmingham & Fazely canal - both ends with ropes pulling! it was now getting a little late and not keen on hanging around so we pushed through to Minworth where we moored up - what an oasis compared to the dodgy areas we'd passed today!

Day 4

Continued through the Curdworth locks onto the Coventry Canal and moored up in Atherstone.

Day 5

Continued down , turning off at Hawkesbury junction and grabbing some food - lovely area! Continued down the Oxford Canal to Clifton upon Dunsmore where we moored up.

Day 6

Made our way back down the Stockton Locks (thanks Jo and Ron for helping us, sorry don't think this boat was named?? - beautiful Tug though with a perkins!). Ended up getting back to the boatyard in Warwick around 7pm. We were early so looked forward to unloading and going home the following day........ but Kate Boats Warwick don't open on Friday so we were stuck until they popped round late that day...

 

All in all we had a great time, but it was tiring. We did it too quickly looking back, but as a novice we had no idea on realistic timings or how far we can go in a week/day. The large late charges by the hirer always in our mind.  Highlights for me were the lovely scenery especially between Warwick and Birmingham. I was interested in Birmingham itself, but didn't realise how intimidating people could be along the canal side - nobody did anything actually threatening, but the area felt unsafe and gangs of people put us on our guard - people appearing out of the undergrowth freaked me out a little! The graffiti was all over the place and didn't make you want to hang around. Gas street was lovely, just a shame the nice bits in Birmingham are concentrated in that small area and the rest left to the 'wilderness'.. Rugby was a nice surprise - lots of new development to make it nicer and pictures under bridges rather than graffiti. Leamington Spa was a disappointment, with the nice town not quite reaching the canal side (received verbal abuse from several drunks under bridges there).

We met some really nice people along the way, but one interesting thing my wife picked up on as she was doing the locks was lots of the people were obviously retired and living their wondering days as they wanted, but they seemed to be in a rush and impatient with us. We've never been shouted at so much on our holiday even when we weren't actually doing anything wrong. We came across a fair few serious boaters who blanked us completely - suspect the hire boat may have had something to do with this? -  is this all normal experience?  Don't get me wrong we loved it, but just an observation from a newbie point of view.

We were impressed with the boat and Kate Boats generally. It would have improved the experience if they had spent more time on discussing our route and advising of waypoints to reach to ensure we were on schedule, this would allow us to plan it all better and spread it out to fill the time we had. Anyone using Kate Boats keep in mind their Warwick office is closed Monday and Friday so don't arrive back early unless you've arranged it (its all in the T&C's you sign as they helpfully reminded me whilst I was waiting).

Not sure we'll do this again for while, but I hope we do eventually!

 

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I don't know what it is about boating but I have never met as many people who seem to think it is acceptable to shout/scream at strangers. We were sworn at for asking someone to leave a gate open as they were leaving a lock so we could go straight in. I confess to finding faffers intensely irritating but I wouldn't dream at shouting at someone. 

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33 minutes ago, Little Else said:

I don't know what it is about boating but I have never met as many people who seem to think it is acceptable to shout/scream at strangers. We were sworn at for asking someone to leave a gate open as they were leaving a lock so we could go straight in. I confess to finding faffers intensely irritating but I wouldn't dream at shouting at someone. 

Having moored for the night, we were having a pint outside the "Big Lock" pub the other night. A boat passed through the lock (delaying nobody, least of all us) but they worked the lock very inefficiently. I got quite tense and annoyed watching, almost wanted to go and help sort them out.

I realise that this is a lunatic reaction but it's just me - I'm the same in other things.

Of course I would never shout at any one, it's only my blood pressure which suffers!

 

 

 

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On 5/13/2017 at 13:33, robtheplod said:

I was interested in Birmingham itself, but didn't realise how intimidating people could be along the canal side - nobody did anything actually threatening, but the area felt unsafe and gangs of people put us on our guard - people appearing out of the undergrowth freaked me out a little! The graffiti was all over the place and didn't make you want to hang around. Gas street was lovely, just a shame the nice bits in Birmingham are concentrated in that small area and the rest left to the 'wilderness'.

Thanks for a good write up and I agree with your points but I have highlighted the above passage.

Urban canals are a haven for local people. In Birmingham and the Black Country canals mostly pass through deprived areas. You were intimidated by people minding their own business which is what the vast majority of folk you encounter are doing and are happy for you to do the same. Most will also respond to a greeting but many don't even acknowledge a boat is present. I won't deny that the odd missile being aimed in your direction can happen but I find the thing most young folk are interested in is how much your boat cost. I always enjoy mooring in central Birmingham but the current extent of gentrification is enough and it mustn't be allowed to forever change the character of canals that reflect the industrial heritage of the area. Do you really want to see more places like that monstrous development at Dickens Heath (the overblown apartments a couple of miles before you moored up at Shirley)?

I also find meeting hirers at locks much more fun than private boat owners in general.

JP

Edited by Captain Pegg
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On 5/13/2017 at 13:33, robtheplod said:

Had a moment under the motorway when I though we wouldn't be able to turn right onto the Birmingham & Fazely canal - both ends with ropes pulling!

 

Always fun that turn, especially with a long boat

Sounds like you had a great time

Richard

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On 13/05/2017 at 13:33, robtheplod said:

All in all we had a great time, but it was tiring. We did it too quickly looking back, but as a novice we had no idea on realistic timings or how far we can go in a week/day. 

The Warwickshire Ring can be quite deceptive for timings. Most hire companies on the ring are based between Rugby and Warwick, and most seem to go clockwise, so most of the locks are in the first half of the week. You make slow progress in the early days so push on and cruise longer. You keep the same pace and length of day in the later days with fewer locks, but soon work out that you could have take your time more than you had thought. 

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4 minutes ago, John G said:

The Warwickshire Ring can be quite deceptive for timings. Most hire companies on the ring are based between Rugby and Warwick, and most seem to go clockwise, so most of the locks are in the first half of the week. You make slow progress in the early days so push on and cruise longer. You keep the same pace and length of day in the later days with fewer locks, but soon work out that you could have take your time more than you had thought. 

This is one of the reasons I like the Pearson's guides -- each page tells you how long it will take, and the timings are pretty accurate, I find.

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Anyone planning to actually visit the castle would be well advised to arrange a mortgage first. :rolleyes:  The days of a fiver a head are long gone; it's £27 each now.   You'll need to plan the whole day around the castle at that price, rather than just popping in.  Booking in advance gets a significant discount.

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