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Advice on Norbury to Stourport for a newbie


Onefortheditch

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Hello everyone

Please could you answer the following for me. We are hiring a boat from Norbury tomorrow as the one my parents own and we share isn't big enough for all of us for a week. I am an experienced boater but suffer with stress these days and going a route I don't know hence the questions:

Bratch lock. Is it true there is someone there now to do this lock for you? What's the situation. 

Assuming we get to brewood on Saturday is there anywhere in the route you would recommend we avoid mooring from Sunday on

coming to Stourport... I would like to enter and turn and come back to be a bit away from the busy section due to us having dogs. Is it an easy turning point for a 60 footer?

its either go to stourport or stay in Kinver. I want a quiet holiday with no stress I have enough of that the rest of he year lol

 

Thanks in advance for any info and the time you give typing 

 

Edited by Onefortheditch
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Stourport is an easy turn I would have thought.

We did the Bratch earlier this year, and yes there was a CRT man there. Whether he's there all year I have no idea. 

Boating on the canal was a big method of relieving me of stress when working. I don't know the cause of your stress so not in a position to comment further. I hope you have a great break and enjoy every minute of it. As you probably know, don't try and push too much into your intinery.

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I'm fairly sure you can turn easily enough at Stourport, above the lock, without having to go down into the basin (where there is of course plenty of room to turn).

You can also turn at Kidderminster, or at the old Pratt's Wharf which is half way between the two.

I know that there's a CRT person at Bratch during the summer but sorry I don't know about this time of year either. All the same it's easy enough, there's a board of instructions saying what to do (basically just treat them as normal locks, not as a staircase)

It's a fairly ambitious trip for a week at this time of year, but you can always re=plan if you need to (there are plenty of other places you can turn around). Enjoy!

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You won't turn a 60' above the lock, unless you mean the lock down to the river. You will need to go through York Street lock and turn in the basin which should be easy enough. Watch out for the cross wind that can be blowing.  There is then moorings above the lock, I haven't moored further out than that at Stourport but there is a pub a bit further out but I am sure last time I went past they were advertising live music.

When doing that stretch I tend to moor at Compton (nice chip shop), Greensforge, Stourton Junction, Kinver and Stourport. Personally I wouldn't stay overnight I Kidderminster.

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20 minutes ago, Onefortheditch said:

Thank you all. That's really useful info. 

Im a bit worried about it being a stretch for a week so perhaps kinver and back might be less of a push. 

According to Canal Plan (https://canalplan.org.uk/index.html) it is 6 days but would depend on how much boating you want to do each day.

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I agree with the comment above about avoiding mooring in Kidderminster though this is mainly based on local warning me off (including the local CRT man).

In Kinver, the visitor moorings are below Kinver lock so. You can moor above Hyde lock and walk into the village if you want tranquility.

In Stourport I would turn in the basin, not only is there space but you will be able to use the CRT facilities for water, waste etc. The moorings tend to be a little noisy as the canal is alongside a road and there is the pub. Lidl is  located canalside a few hundred meters up the canal from the basin with convenient moorings outside.

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11 minutes ago, Onefortheditch said:

Thank you everyone.

ive been distracted by the thought of Fradley junction and back so we can visit shugborough at Great Haywood. Opinions on this route versus kinver/stourport please?

 

Can't comment on Shugborough Hall but the trip down to Fradley is one I do a lot and enjoy that stretch of canal. I would say that in boating terms the two trips are similar, I think I prefer the route to Fradley over the route to Stourport. This time of year both will be full of leaves so quite similar. I guess it will come down to your choice on visiting Shugborough or not.

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It all depends what you want from a canal cruise, both routes are good.

On the one hand you may want to see particular towns/villages/ buildings like Shugborough. Alternatively it may be the canal that interests you. Personally I find the Staffs and Worcs southern section section to be very attractive and interesting. Its mostly rural and I like the sections cut through the sandstone hillsides and some of the interesting twist and turns.

 

 

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8 minutes ago, Rob-M said:

Can't comment on Shugborough Hall but the trip down to Fradley is one I do a lot and enjoy that stretch of canal. I would say that in boating terms the two trips are similar, I think I prefer the route to Fradley over the route to Stourport. This time of year both will be full of leaves so quite similar. I guess it will come down to your choice on visiting Shugborough or not.

Does Fradley junction have a decent place to turn? And a nice pub at all? 

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1 minute ago, jonesthenuke said:

It all depends what you want from a canal cruise, both routes are good.

On the one hand you may want to see particular towns/villages/ buildings like Shugborough. Alternatively it may be the canal that interests you. Personally I find the Staffs and Worcs southern section section to be very attractive and interesting. Its mostly rural and I like the sections cut through the sandstone hillsides and some of the interesting twist and turns.

 

 

Remote and quiet but with good pubs at stopovers is ideal. Red wine and gin lol 

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40 minutes ago, Onefortheditch said:

Does Fradley junction have a decent place to turn? And a nice pub at all? 

Yes there is a junction that is quite wide and easy to turn. The Swan pub on the junction is a well known canal pub and serves a good meal. We usually turn and then reverse through junction lock to moor below for the night returning back through the lock the next day. There are other mooring options, that is just what we prefer to do.

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Stick with the original plan. The southern Staffs & Worcs is beautiful and much nicer than the northern leg. It looks an achievable week but if not you can turn before Stourport. Overnight stops at Compton and Greensforge after Brewood and then Stourport look about right. Agree with advice not to overnight in Kidderminster; not least because almost everywhere else you could go moor is nicer.

Pubs available at Compton, Swindon, Greensforge, Wolverley and Stourport.

Bratch should be staffed and you probably won't have to touch a paddle. Even if you did there are instructions on how to operate. It isn't difficult.

JP

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello everyone.

Wanted to thank you for your advice. 

Had the best week. Beautiful leafy chilly days and log burner at night. Flat out by 9pm and a brilliant cure for insomnia. Didn’t decide on route until we got to Autherley and then went with the original plan and headed to Kinver.

Bratch was fine.. really helpful chaps both down and back up. Met some folk at Botterham who insisted bottom lock full and empty top into bottom and let it go over weir. I wasn’t in mood to argue about their “forty years of experience” but it made me uncomfortable as I tend to prefer to stick to the official advice.  Did it on my own on way back up way I wanted and it was fine. 

Beatiful clear canal, hardly any boaters, and learned quickly about bends and windy canals and a 62foot boat.

I actually found there canal much more interesting than he Shropshire Union and it felt very traditional with some lovely remote moorings but access to shops too.

Cant wait until the next time. 

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Glad you enjoyed your trip. There are a good few bends that can easily catch you out especially on the very narrow bits.

The advice for Botterham was wrong and the bottom lock should be empty and filled from the top one although sometimes I don't fully empty the lower lock before working the top one.

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