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

On the previous day I had been walking the Worcester & Birmingham Canal from Birmingham to Bromsgrove, and today I was continuing that journey - completing the remaining length of the canal.

The canal itself, runs for 29 miles in total, and connects up the midlands to the River Severn. 

On the previous day I had ended the walk by walking past 9 of the locks on the Tardebigge lock flight - and today I would start at that ninth lock, and then pass the other 21 locks on this flight - plus the other 28 locks that feature along this canal.

And so it is that I head out from Bromsgrove, along Walnut Lane and then Grimley Lane, to meet up with the canal at that ninth lock. 

And for those looking to do this walk over a single day, I was staying just down from the station - and so any distances for this walk will be very close to the distance if done from Bromsgrove station to Worcester station.

The bridge that takes me back to the towpath

Having met back up with the canal, it is very clear that we have lost the sunshine that had lit up the end of the previous day. Instead today is a colder and cloudier day, and so we will have a much moodier character to any photos (particularly in the early light of the day).

But from here our first task is pretty straight-forward, as we take on the remaining 21 locks that make up the Tardebigge lock flight.

Looking back towards the bridge and Tardebigge Reservoir at lock 10

Slightly further down the lock flight

Once again looking back

The bridge and lock combination is fairly common on this canal

One of the lock houses along this flight

And we reach our last lock

The Tardebigge lock flight is one of the bigger flights in the UK, with a rise of 220 feet (or 67 meters), over a distance of about two and a half miles - but having completely it, we are almost immediately greeted by an additional set of locks, on the Stoke Prior flight.

Map of the two lock flights - Source: Canal & River Trust

I'm not entirely sure how a lock flight is defined, but it feels to me as if this could have just as easily been considered to be a 36-lock flight (which would probably have a bigger rise than Caen Hill on the Kennet & Avon Canl) - but in any case, these two sets of locks result in a hefty change in height over their three mile span.

Number 47 on the above diagram, and part of the Stoke Prior lock flight

The run of three close together locks on the same flight

But with both sets of lock flights complete - we are allowed a brief break from our endless stream of locks as we head past Stoke Works - but this break only lasts so long, as on the other side of town we encounter another set of locks, as we continue to lose height along this stretch of the canal.

For us walkers it means that we are getting a lot of pretty locks to look at, but I do feel slightly bad for the boaters having to battle through this stretch of canal.

Looking back towards Stoke Works

With this new flight of locks complete, we are now finally heading across flatter country - and at Stoke Works the railway that is accompanying us has split into two - with one branch heading off to Worcester, and with the other coming with us on it's journey on down towards Bristol.

Here the railway is pretty much all the company we are going to get - for we are now heading across a very quiet and empty section of countryside (although I do meet a very friendly golden retriever - and an owner) - but we do soon get a point of interest as we meet up with the Droitwich Canal.

Under the brick bridge for the Droitwich Canal

Technically the Droitwich Canal is two separate canals (and I should really call it the Droitwich Canal. With the Droitwich Barge Canal connecting Droitwich and the River Severn, and the Droitwich Junction Canal connecting Droitwich and the Worcester & Birmingham Canal. 

This stretch of canal only reopened in 2011 (and as with many canals, this one was abandoned in it's more recent history) - and here we have one of the smaller loops that can be used by canal boats, as they head up the Severn, along the Droitwich Canal(s), and back down with us to Worcester.

For boaters this probably isn't a bad loop, as it avoids the worst of the lock flights up the Worcester & Birmingham Canal - and is ideal for a weekend outing.

But Droitwich itself was historically a salt town - which is an odd thing to say about a town that sits quite a long way inland - but we haven't been dropping height for nothing, and this area was covered by a shallow prehistoric sea during the Triassic period (about 200 million years ago).

As the climate changed, that sea evaporated - leaving behind thick layers of salt that eventually got buried under thick clay - and any groundwater rises up to the surface through these layers, comes up as concentrated brine.

And when I say concentrated brine, seawater contains 35 grams of salt per litre, whilst Droitwich brine has 250 grams, and the Dead Sea in Jordan (the saltiest place on earth) has 342 grams.

As a result this town has been a centre for salt production for thousands of years - with the town taking the name of Salinae in Roman times. 

And this brine also let to Drotwich becoming a spa town (hence Droitwich Spa) - with swimming and floating in the salty waters becoming a popular pastime in the 1800s. 

But our interest today is mostly in the canal - and the Droitwhich Barge Canal (Severn to Droitwich) was the first of the two canals to open, in 1771.

But the arrival of the railways (with the Birmingham & Gloucester railway opening in 1841, and the Oxford, Worcester & Wolverhampton Railway in 1851), plus the discovery of a new brine source in Stoke Prior (in 1828), started to reduce Droitwich's dominance in the salt trade - and the importance of the canal route.

In response the Droitwich Junction Canal opened in 1854, connecting Droitwich to where we are stood on the Worcester & Birmingham canal today.

But that newer canal (and one of the last to be built in England) would not have a particularly long life (in canal terms) - with the last commercial barge being used 62 years later - and with the two canals being completely abandoned by 1939.

With that canal being reopened, the 21 mile loop round Worcester and Droitwich is now quite a tempting option for a walk or boating trip - but for now we will continue on down the Worcester & Birmingham towards Worcester.

By the time we reach Dunhampstead, we have another (short) tunnel to navigate around - and then we continue down past the smaller villages surrounding Worcester until we reach Tibberton - where a cycle route joins us, and the quality of the towpath substantially improves.

Some hungry swans passed heading through the villages

From here we head under some fairly large road bridges, and then encounter another run of locks as we continue to drop down to the level of the River Severn.

It's nice to see some locks again

And there's still a good few locks left to tick off

And apologies for my glove being just in shot

We are now looping round the edge of Worcester, with the city lying on our left, and with countryside generally remaining on our right - and this continues until we reach Astwood - when we become surrounded by the city on both sides.

More locks ticked off on our way through Worcester

But after a long loop around the city, we do eventually get round to reach the Diglis Basin - which marks the start of the join between the River Severn and the Worcester & Birmingham Canal.

Diglis Basin

Lock number 58 of the trip (or lock number 1 from this direction)

And so at our final lock, our journey down from Birmingham, along this canal, comes to an end. 

Whilst this is no Macclesfield Canal - which for now is my measuring standard for what a great canal should be - it has been a very enjoyable two days along this canal.

And again, I am further encouraged to spend more time walking more of the country's canals (alongside some more hill walking in the summer months of the year - for we have not entirely abandoned hill walking here).

But for now still I have to get back by train - and my plan here was to walk along the Severn, before cutting up to Foregate Street train station, but a quick look at the towpath somewhat dims my enthusiasm for this idea.

I think I might go the other way

So instead I head back up the canal, cross over, and head on through town - passing the cathedral along the way, to take a look at what is a very grand (and much bigger than you'd think) building.

In terms of scale that brown thing in the centre is a door

But having made it to the station, it is time for me to get on the train and head home.

Total Distance: 17.9 miles (effectively station to station)

Total Ascent: 489 feet

Enjoyment Rating : ⭐⭐⭐ ★ ★ / 5

Disclaimer: This writeup provides a narrative of what to expect rather than a route guide to follow. The route is covered by the 139 and 150 OS Landranger maps (links redirect to Amazon). The navigation was more straight-forward than the previous day as there were only very brief tunnels, so it was a very easy route to follow