Marine Cruises narrow boat holiday hire on the Black Country Ring

Narrow Boat Holiday Hire on the Black Country Ring

The Black Country Ring makes a great narrow boat hire holiday route if you like a mix of rural and city landscapes.

The Black Country Ring can be cruised from our Kings Bromley Marina base in a week cruising for seven or eight hours each day, or in two weeks if you prefer to take your time and want to explore the fascinating network of canals around Birmingham and the Black Country. You can travel in either direction around the ring, we describe the clockwise journey.

From our Kings Bromley base you must head east on the Trent & Mersey for just a few miles to join the Black Country Ring at Fradley Junction with its picturesque canalside houses and the famous Swan pub.

Turning left opposite the Swan onto the Coventry Canal, then passing through pleasant rural scenery and the beautiful green woods of Hopwas on a high embankment looking over the River Tame, you soon reach Fazeley Junction from where the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal will take you up towards the increasingly urban centre of Birmingham.

The changes to the centre of England's second city are phenomenal. Most of the drab areas have been regenerated and revitalised, wharves and bridges have been restored, walkways developed, new canalside businesses, cafes and bars thrive, and smart apartment blocks line the once industrial canals.

You have a choice of routes through Birmingham, depending on how much time you have, and how adventurous you are. The quickest route is to take the 'New Main Line" which heads straight for Wolverhampton, where the famous Wolverhampton 21 locks which will drop you down to the rural Staffs & Worcs Canal. You head north across Cannock Chase to Great Haywood junction where you rejoin the Trent & Mersey for your journey back down to Kings Bromley Marina through the pleasant Trent Valley.