1992 - The Stourport Ring.

Crew : Gareth & Margaret, John & Chris, Pete, Dave, Stan, Colin

Boat : Gloucester

From : Dartline Cruisers, Tardebigge Wharf.

Route : Tardebigge > Birmingham > Black Country Museum (BCLM) > Netherton > Brierley Hill > Kinver > Kidderminster (SVR) > Stourport > Worcester > Tibberton > Stoke Works > Alvechurch [w] > Tardebigge

Coverage : 105 Locks and 81 Miles.

Notes : This was our first ever canal holiday. We took 2 polypins (9 gallons) of beer with us, not realising that there would be ample opportunity for pub stops along the way. Unfortunately, one of the polypins had a small leak, and over the course of the week, it leaked about a gallon of ale into the mattress that it was sitting on. Having discovered the leak quite late in the week, we did our best to try to dry the mattress out, but it was still damp when we got back. On our return to the boatyard we sent Dave (BTS1) in to report the spillage. He told them we'd spilled 'some beer' on one of the beds. They seemed quite understanding, saying it happens quite regularly. He just forgot to mention that it was about a gallon that we'd spilled. Also included in this trip was our first visit to The Black Country Museum (BCLM) and the now infamous "free" shower at Bridgnorth Station on Severn Valley Railway (SVR). This actually finished up costing each of us the train fare from Kidderminster to Bridgnorth plus a donation to the SVR. The memorable point of the week was the weather. It was blazing hot all week !

Saturday 16th May

Afternoon : After loading up the boat, we were shown around it and given some rudimentary instructions on steering. We eventually left the boatyard at about 4pm and spent most of the afternoon extracting ourselves from trees and poling ourselves off the shallows as only one of us had ever steered a narrowboat before. One by one, we took it in turn to run aground or run into overhanging trees until we eventually began to get the hang of it. John, thinking he had got the hang of it, thundered through the boatyard at Alvechurch at warp factor 8, only to be met by a chorus of SLOW DOWN and lynch mob politely waving fists at us. Lesson One had been well and truly learned - slow down past moored boats.

Evening : Birmingham. We continued on past King's Norton Junction, and eventually moored up at Cambrian Wharf by The NIA in the centre of Birmingham. We went to The Prince of Wales for some beer, Regards to Broad Street for a curry and then back to The Prince of Wales for more beer.

Gloucester moored next to the NIA in Birmingham.

Gloucester and Tindall Bridge, Birmingham.

The famous 'roundabout' at Old Turn Junction, Birmingham.

Sunday 17th May

Lunch / Afternoon : The Black Country Museum. On Sunday Morning, we set off for The Black Country Museum via the New Main Line and up Factory Locks. Being new to boating, we had not realised that there were moorings behind the museum. We moored somewhere on the old main line near Tipton Junction and walked round to the front entrance of The Museum, which seemed quite a long way in the heat of the day. Despite having paid to go in, we spent most of the time in The Bottle and Glass, where where Pete took the famous photo of BTS1 actually parting with money. We did eventually have a quick look round the museum, rode on the tram and the trolleybus and got some chips from the coal-fired fish and chip shop.

Dave was eventually shamed into buying a round for the crew...

Inside The Bottle & Glass, the crew enjoyed the round that Dave bought...

...before staggering blinking and burbling out into the daylight

We then went for a ride on the tram...

... and then for on the Bradford Corporation Trolleybus, or 'trackless' as they were known.

The same bus DKY 735 in it's working days in Bradford.

Evening : Windmill End. After leaving The Black Country Museum, we headed for Netherton Tunnel via a slightly circuitous route. We followed the Wolverhampton Level over The Netherton Tunnel Branch before dropping down Brades Locks back to The New Main Line and into Netherton Tunnel. We passed through the tunnel and we moored up for the night near The Little Dry Dock at Windmill End, where we ate. It had Ansells Bitter & Lumphammer, Desperate Dan Cow Pie (a massive pie with two 'horns' made of pastry) and a narrowboat for the bar ! We left The Little Dry Dock and had a quick pint in The Wheatsheaf before walking into Netherton to go to The Old Swan, also known as Ma Pardoe's.

The Little Dry Dock at Windmill End. The Wheatsheaf is just visible behind.

Now are both sadly gone.

Monday 18th May

Lunch : Merry Hill & Brierley Hill. We left Windmill End and followed The Dudley No.2 Canal past Park Head Junction [..where it becomes the Dudley No.1 Canal..] and on to Delph. We descended the Delph flight and moored the boat on the off side just beyond the bottom lock and the bridge. We then walked all the way back to The Merry Hill Shopping Centre just to ride on the monorail. We discovered that Marvin (the paranoid android from the radio series of The Hitch Hiker's Guide to The Galaxy) was doing the voice over for "Mind the Doors Please" - well, if it wasn't Marvin, it was someone with a brummie accent who sounded equally depressed. After getting stuck at a dead end station on the monorail and then having to climb over a barrier to get out, and getting shouted-at by some security guards in the process, we left Merry Hill and made our way to The Bull and Bladder - aka The Vine where we had numerous pints of Batham's - in fact somewhat too numerous for Gareth !

Merry Hill Shopping Centre.

Chris, Colin & Stan riding on The Monorail

Afternoon : Gareth's afternoon of disgrace. We left Brierley Hill en route to Kinver. In one of the pounds on The Stourbridge flight, Gareth seemed to try to get the boat out of the water. He came thundering out of a lock, crossed the pound far too quickly, totally failing to negotiate the bend in the pound and hitting the opposite bank at full speed. The bows lifted out of the water and dislodged several bricks. Chris and Margaret (..who was heavily pregnant at the time..) were thrown around the inside of the boat and we very nearly lost the evening's curry as it slid off the stove. Gareth was relieved of command after that episode. On arrival at Wordsley, we moored up and went into The Samson & Lion, where we were also able to fill up with water. The pub was selling Enville Ale, a very nice but rather expensive honey beer (5% ABV) - in fact it was one of the first honey beers we'd ever seen. We all trooped into the pub, where Nursie bought the first round and Pete bought the second, and they both commented on the price. As punishment for his earlier transgression, Gareth was made to stay outside with the boat until he had filled the water tank - though John did eventually take pity on him and took a pint outside to him.

Evening : Kniver. No one recalls very much about Kinver, probably due to the surfeit of the Enville Ale at lunchtime. There was a Wem Brewery Pub in the village, though we did not go into it. The pub we did go into had a large side room, which looked a little bit like a working men's club, but the beer was fine. With hindsight, it was probably The Plough & Harrow.

Tuesday 19th May

Lunch : Kidderminster. Having arrived in Kidderminster, we moored opposite the church - just above Lock 16, and went straight to The King & Castle at the railway station. After a few pints in there, we took The Severn Valley Railway to Bridgnorth. Gareth had advised us that we could get a free shower at Bridgnorth Station, so upon arrival in Bridgnorth we all sat drinking in the Railwayman's Arms and trooped off one-by-one for the 'free' shower. As it turned out, 'free' actually meant buying a return ticket from Kidderminster to Bridgnorth AND a making a voluntary donation to The SVR - obviously some definition of the word 'free' of which I wasn't previously aware. There were two showers available, but it took Margaret the same time to have her one shower as it took the rest of us to all have a shower each. Later, we walked into Bridgnorth for a quick look around the town. Stan & Dave walked up the hill while the rest of us rode up on the funicular railway. After a brief look round the town Stan & Dave bumbled into The Harp only to find the rest of the crew already in there. They commented that after struggling up that hill in the heat, they might as well not have bothered having the shower as they were now wringing wet again. Taking pity on them, some of the other crew members offered them their return tickets for the funicular railway so they could at least ride it back down.

Enjoying a few pints in The King & Castle at Kidderminster.

...before being hauled to Bridgnorth by

6960 Raveningham Hall.

Aaah.. at last, some proper locos...

55015 Tulyar...

...and D9016 Gordon Highlander.

Q - What do you call a gathering of Deltics ?

Is it a 'roar' , a 'clag' or a 'drone' ?

Evening : Stourport. After our visit to Bridgenorth, we returned to Kidderminster on the SVR, and departed for Stourport. No one remembers much about Stourport other than that John, Chris, Stan & Colin ate in a hotel while the rest of us had fish & chips on the street. No one can recall the names of any of the pubs we went in either.

Stourport Basin.

Wednesday 20th May

Morning : Worcester. We locked down from Stourport Basin onto The River Severn and headed downstream towards Worcester. The river seemed very big & very wide after the narrow canals, and there were some quite large craft about. One such craft was a large passenger pleasure cruiser, which being much larger than us had to enter the locks first. Whilst we shared the lock, Pete entertained the crowd - and played his melodeon as well.. which resulted in money being thrown at us. By the time we'd reached Worcester, Pete had taken over steering. The turn into Worcester basin can be quite tricky with the flow of the river, and especially so if the river is in flood. Luckily (..or is that skilfully..) Pete made the turn into Worcester basin, and got it spot on right first time. As we got to the bottom gate of the lock up to the basin, John & Stan scrambled up the lock ladder, not realising that there was actually a pontoon that we could have stopped at round the corner. On arrival in the basin however, we found that there were very few moorings available. We managed to find a spot on the off-side right next door to the porcelain factory. We would later realise why this mooring was the only one still available....

Approaching Worcester on The River Severn.

Afternoon & Evening : Still in Worcester. As the weather was still very hot, we stayed in Worcester for the rest of the day. The group split up to do various touristy things but arranged to meet up later in the Jolly Roger Brewery Tap. Pete, Stan & Dave went off to find The Little Pub Co.'s Sauce Factory before heading into town. There was a deal of confusion over the meeting place. It turned out that the pub called "The Brewery Tap" was not in fact the Jolly Roger Brewery brewery tap, but that a different pub called The Cardinal's Hat was the brewery tap. The group eventually all met up in The Cardinal's Hat, though somewhat later than anticipated.

Night : Worcester. Having taken what was the only free mooring available, we had to moor on the off side of the canal by the porcelain factory. The only way to access this spot was to cross the gates of the dry dock. Margaret, who was heavily pregnant at the time was also afraid of heights, and it took us quite some doing to get her across the gates - especially on the way back as it was dark as well. Having got everyone back to the boat, we settled down for the night - only to realise why this space was still available. It was right next to the factory where there was the constant din of what sounded like breaking crockery. It became known as The Broken Plate Factory !

Thursday 21st May

Lunch : Tibberton. We left Worcester rather bleary-eyed after not getting much sleep due to the constant din from the Broken Plate Factory. We arrived in Tibberton before the pubs opened, so we walked round the village. It was here that John coined the phrase "Wall's Ice cream & Calor gas shop" as the village shop had a single sign incongruously advertising both things. We eventually had several pints of Banks' for lunch in The Bridge Inn by the canal.

Evening : Stoke Works. Unable to find anywhere to moor, we initially tied the boat up to the railings of The Boat & Railway and climbed over - much to consternation of the bar staff. We were told we had to move the boat away after that. We had a pint then moved the boat further up the canal. For food, we walked along the towpath to The Navigation Inn at Stoke Wharf, after which we called in at The Bowling Green. Some have suggested that we may have just made The Butcher's Arms for last orders, but not all agree on this point. On the way back, Gareth tried to get Chris's fluorescent tubes in her torch to light up under the power lines. He failed.

Friday 22nd May

Lunch : The Tardebigge Flight. As we had the prospect of 36 Locks ahead of us, and at the time were still relatively inexperienced, we decided to set off early. We climbed the 6 Stoke locks and the 30 of The Tardebigge flight itself, and moored somewhere above the top lock. We then walked across some fields to a rather imposing pub / hotel, now called The Tardebigge, where we had several pints to refresh our weary selves.

Gloucester leaving Lock 50 on the Tardebigge flight.

Evening : Alvechurch. After leaving The Tardebigge, we continued on past the boatyard and on past Alvechurch. We winded the boat at the junction of the now disused Crown Meadow Arm then returned to Alvechurch where we moored up. We went for a Chinese meal then on to The Swan. Here, we bought Dave all the pints we thought he'd managed to avoid buying during the week - but we got them for him all at once. At last orders, he was presented with a tray with 5 pints to have to drink, and he managed it... but only just. He did burble and piddle rather a lot on the way back to the boat. On the way back, someone suggested that we could probably save a bit of time by taking a short cut through a housing estate. We got rather lost and it ended up being somewhat of a long cut rather than a short cut.

Saturday 23rd May

Morning : Tardebigge. We left Alvechurch for the short run back to the boatyard. On arrival, we sent Dave into the office to explain that we'd spilled some beer on one of the beds. They said that it was a regular occurrence and not to worry about it. What he didn't say was that it was about a gallon that we'd spilled.

We had survived our first canal trip - little did we know that it was going to become an annual event for at least the next 30 years !

Following Year : 1993

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