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.

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.

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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.

 

Black Country Ring facts…

Canals  Trent & Mersey Canal, Coventry Canal, Birmingham & Fazeley Canal, Birmingham Canal Navigations, Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal,
Length 75 miles
Time to cruise about 45 hours
Locks 101
Junctions Trent & Mersey/Coventry at Fradley, Birmingham & Fazeley at Fazeley, BCN at Salford Junction, Staffs & Worcs at Aldersley, Trent & Mersey at Great Haywood.