Worcester & Birmingham Canal - Birmingham to Bromsgrove (★★★☆☆)

Today we are back walking along canals (whilst the miserable winter weather continues) - and today the plan is to walk from Birmingham to Bromsgrove, along the Worcester & Birmingham Canal, before continuing on to Worcester on the following day.

The Worcester & Birmingham Canal runs for 29 miles, and although it climbs 428 feet (130 meters) over the course of it's span, it follows a fairly flat route out from Birmingham. 

Today we will be mostly walking this flatter section, before passing the first nine locks of the Tardebigge lock flight at the very end of the day - one of the tallest lock flights in the UK (with thirty locks taking boats up/down a rise/fall of 220 feet, or 67 meters). 

This means that this flight has one more lock than the Caen Hill 29-lock flight on the Kennet & Avon Canal - although that lock flight takes in a slightly bigger rise of 237 feet, and is arguably the more impressive flight (due to it's run of 16 locks in quick succession on it's main flight).

But this remains an impressive canal - and although construction started in 1792, it was only at the end of 1815 that the canal had been fully opened.

These days the canal is typically used as one of two popular boating routes - with the first being a loop including this canal, the Birmingham Canal Network, the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal and the River Severn.

And the second is a loop that includes much of this canal, the Stratford-Upon-Avon Canal, the River Avon and the River Severn.

But today our first task of the day is to find the canal, which starts at Gas Street Basin (a little triangle on the map) - with this originally being the location of a barrier that prevented water from flowing into the Worcester & Birmingham Canal from the main Birmingham Canal network.

This barrier initially meant that cargo had to be passed from boat to boat across the barrier - but eventually sense prevailed and a lock was installed to ensure that boats could simply navigate from one canal to the other. 

And later the level of the Worcester & Birmingham canal was raised so that the lock gates could be removed entirely.

Navigating through Birmingham though can be fairly tricky, particularly with so much development going on - but eventually the canal is found, and we can begin our journey down it on our way to (eventually) reach Worcester.

Aside from the area immediately around Gas Street Basin, it is not the prettiest canal - but it is a well used route , and a very pleasant walk as we head along the canal.

Heading under a road

Before long we are heading past Edgbaston, and then on past the University of Birmingham - which probably explains the level of foot (or cycle) traffic along this stretch of the canal.

As we pass the University we pass a station that provides additional access to the canal, and the site of Metchley Roman Fort.

It's not worth making a detour to see, as there is little left but a few grassy embankments - but the fort dates back to 48 AD, but without seemingly having been updated to a stone fort - and having been abandoned in 200 AD.

But still it is a little bit of history to pass by on a walk that otherwise has a fairly modern vibe, as we look out across Birmingham on our way over Ariel Aqueduct - with this being a modern aqueduct, built in 2011 to carry the canal over a new section of the A38.

View from the Ariel Aqueduct

Next up we head past Bournbrook and Bourneville - with the later originally having been built as a model village by the Cadbury family - and here our route heads past the Cadbury factories, but without much being visible from the canal itself.

The history of these factories were entwined with the history of the canal, however - and when the Cadbury family needed to move to bigger premises, they moved to Bourneville - relying on the canal for milk deliveries, and the railway for cocoa deliveries. And they were specifically looking for a site that would provide good rail and canal links for this reason.

If you have the time, you can pop over to the Cadbury World museum (and the smaller Selly Manor Museum) - but the whole area is in a way a giant museum, and by 1900 the estate included 313 houses over 330 acres of land.

Whilst drinking was frowned upon, plenty of parks and recreation areas were installed - and this seems to have contributed to the pleasant vibe that persists to this day.

From here we head on towards King's Norton - and it is here that we meet up with the Stratford-Upon-Avon Canal, which can instead be followed if you head over the bridge at the junction.

The junction for the Stratford-Upon-Avon Canal

It is my plan to return and walk that canal as it heads through the suburbs of Birmingham, before breaking out into the countryside and heading on towards Stratford-Upon-Avon (and meeting up with the Grand Union Canal along the way).

But sticking on the Worcester & Birmingham canal, we head down into Hawkesley - where our onward route along the canal comes to an end as it heads through the Wasthill Tunnel - a 1.5 mile tunnel that whilst wide enough for two boats, has no towpath.

Our path along the canal temporarily comes to an end

Instead we head up, and through the housing estate - and having made our way round a school (that blocks the old route of the barge horses), join up with Bargehorse Walk - which tracks above the route of the canal.

Finding this route is not very easy using an Ordinance Survey map - but it is fairly straight-forward to navigate using something like Google Maps, which helpfully labels the Bargehorse Walk on the map.

Eventually this paths releases us onto a road - and here we turn right, and then cut down to West Hills Lane - which will take us on down to rejoin the towpath (as it exits the far end of the tunnel).

Looking back towards the far end of the tunnel

Here there is a general change in the character of the canal - leaving behind the more urban section of the canal, and from here we will be following a rural canal route all the way down to the outskirts of Worcester.

This is a welcome change in terms of scenery - but in exchange we now have to put up with a muddier path, with the cycle route (that had brought with it the gold standard in terms of towpath quality) having diverted off.

In general the path remains reasonably good, but there are a few sections where it gets pretty muddy - but bar the worst cases you are helped by a layer of stones underfoot (with short sections where the layer of stones has been overtaken by mud over time).

But still, by this point I'm happy to be out of the urban section of the canal - and having passed the small village of Hopwood, we are able to properly enjoy the scenery around us.

Looking out towards Upper Bittell Reservoir

From here it is a short run before we head through the small town of Alvechurch - and on past the a Marina, before heading back out into the countryside again.

A crane at the Marina

Boats at the Marina

Back into countryside

Before long though, this stretch along the canal comes to an end, and we have to venture out into the countryside itself - for after leaving Alvechurch we soon reach Shortwood Tunnel, and here we have a fairly long climb up onto the fields above.

Walking over the top of the tunnel

From here we head across to rejoin the canal, and whilst the next section of the towpath is (I think) officially closed, it looks to have been unofficially reopened - and I could get through this section with no issues, aside from having to scramble over a fallen tree.

Having done that, there is a fairly short stretch that follows along the canal, before we are diverted off onto a very minor road that runs parallel to the canal (now on the far side of the canal).

From there we follow a footpath, and then have the excitement of crossing the A448. 

For this crossing there is no bridge or underpass - and so this is a crossing of a dual carriageway, but it proves to be fairly straight-forward - with long gaps in the traffic making it easy and safe to get across.

And from here we drop back down to the canal, ready to start our route along the Tardebigge lock flight - which proves to be the highlight of the day.

Returning to the canal

Over two miles of locks begins

As already mentioned, this is one of the tallest lock flights in the UK - but today we are only going to pass the first nine locks of the canal (which are also the first nine locks we have encountered today). And at the ninth lock we will we turn off and head up into Bromsgrove - where I will stop over for the night.

And here I'm lucky enough to get some sunshine at last, as it proves to be a very pleasant end to the day.

Continuing through the lock flight

Reaching Tardebigge Reservoir on the left

The join between reservoir and canal

Tomorrow's onward route

Here we cross over a bridge, and my chosen route up into town proves to be a good one - heading up Grimley Lane, with any traffic encountered being easy to deal with.

It is an option to turn off down the Monarch Way route, but with it being so wet, I figured it was best to stick to roads for the final stretch, rather than risk turning up for my overnight stop covered in mud.

And so we arrive in Bromsgrove, ready to get some rest - before heading out tomorrow with the goal of reaching Worcester and the River Severn.

And for those looking to only do a day trip, I stayed just down from the station - and so you could equally now head off to the station, and home by train.

Total Distance: 17.5 miles (including to Bromsgrove)
Total Ascent: 758 feet (including to Bromsgrove)

Enjoyment Rating : ⭐⭐⭐ ★ ★ / 5

Click for the writeup of the following day of walking along the Worcester & Birmingham Canal, from Bromsgrove to Worcester.

Disclaimer: This writeup provides a narrative of what to expect rather than a route guide to follow. The route is covered by the 139 OS Landranger map (links redirect to Amazon). Generally the route is easy to follow as you just follow the canal, but navigation across the tunnel routes can be more complex