It’s May 2025, and we are taking a short boating adventure from Alvechurch Marina into the city of Birmingham and back. As regular boaters, my husband David and I have avoided this route in the past due to fears of unsightly inner-city areas, but we’ve heard that a huge amount of work has been done in recent years to regenerate and renew the whole area, particularly Gas Street Basin in the heart of the city.
Day one: Alvechurch to Birmingham
You can easily cruise to Birmingham and back from Alvechurch in a weekend as it only takes 10 hours and there are no locks to tackle. However, we have decided to go mid-week as we figure it may be less crowded in the city centre than at the weekends. One of my reasons for doing this trip is to visit Cadbury World, so I’ve already booked tickets, and we plan to visit on our way back from Birmingham on Thursday.
Getting to know the boat
Upon arrival at Alvechurch Marina we are shown to our floating home for the next few days, the Golden Crested Wren. She’s a 49ft well-equipped narrowboat with everything we need for our trip, including a dedicated bedroom, bathroom with shower cubicle, and a fantastic galley area with eye-level oven and grill, microwave, toaster, fridge and all the utensils and cooking equipment we could possibly want.
After unpacking and being shown how everything works by the friendly Alvechurch marina team, we cast off and head north.
A mid-week break with ABC Boat Hire is usually from Monday afternoon through to Friday morning, but we were working on Monday, so we have decided to pick up the boat on Tuesday morning and try to get all the way into Birmingham on the first day. For those who do set off on Monday, the marina usually suggests they stop for the first night after just one hour’s cruising at the Hopwood House pub where there are quiet moorings and the pub is canal-side. We don’t need to do that, so we cruise past the pub and before long, we reach the entrance to the mile-and-a-half long Wast Hills Tunnel.
Built in 1797, back then the tunnel was used for working boats to take goods all over the country. Although it’s wide enough for two boats to pass each other, there is no towpath, and in the days when canal boats were towed by horses the boat crews had to ‘leg it’ through the tunnel. ‘Leg it’ didn’t refer to running away; it meant they had to lie on their backs and use their feet to walk the boat along the tunnel walls. It used to take 3 hours!
Nowadays in powered boats it only takes about 35-40 minutes at a steady pace. I’m on the tiller and am delighted to make it in 40 minutes without touching the side once.
Heading off
Emerging from the tunnel into warm sunshine, we soon arrive at a junction; turn right and you join the Stratford Canal which goes all the way to Shakespeare’s birthplace. We go straight on, passing under Kings Norton Bridge and continuing cruising towards Birmingham. Soon we are joined on the left-hand side by the railway line, and in fact this accompanies the canal almost all the way into Birmingham.
From the 19th century onwards, railways started to replace the canals for the transportation of goods. The canals started to deteriorate and decline, and if it hadn’t been for the growth of canal cruising for holidays and leisure use, they might have been lost for ever. We are so grateful that these almost hidden pathways through nature still survive throughout the UK. Even in the suburbs, we can see swans, herons, ducks, kingfishers and a variety of waterside plants and flowers. It’s like a secret other world!
After passing the visitor moorings for Cadbury World (we will be back), the canal heads into Selly Oak, where redevelopment of the area surrounding the waterfront has made it into a lovely pedestrianised plaza where people sit and eat lunch or chat to friends while watching the boats go by.
Shortly after that, we pass over the Ariel Aqueduct, where we can see cars and lorries going underneath us. I wonder if they notice there’s a boat floating over their heads!
We are now next to Birmingham University. Apart from the university buildings, it’s green and leafy, and there are plenty of ducks around, plus a few swans. Serious-looking students are walking along the towpath, perhaps worrying about their next assignment. Not us, we’re long past that stage of life…
Reaching Edgbaston, the Edgbaston Tunnel is only 103 metres long and has a towpath with handrail so pedestrians (or boat-towing horses) can walk through it.
Once we emerge from the tunnel, we are almost in Birmingham City Centre and the railway is running close beside us again. I can see the high-rise buildings of Birmingham now, and as we approach the final turn before Gas Street Basin, we spot a handy water point on the left-hand side.
Most narrowboats have large water tanks to supply the showers, toilets, washing up liquid and drinking water, but it’s often a good idea to top up if you happen to see a water point. They are usually a thick black post with a notice nearby, and one of the keys that you are given when you hire your boat will open the cover. You are also supplied with a good long hosepipe, so you just open the cover to the tanks on your boat and put one end of the hose in, then attach the other end to the tap and away you go! Water is free at most water points.
Mooring in Birmingham
Turning left just after the water point, we can see some mooring spaces on the left and decide to tie up there. It’s not next to any pubs or restaurants and so should be quiet overnight, but it’s only a few minutes’ walk from all the attractions surrounding Gas Street Basin, including Sea World, Legoland, Symphony Hall and The Mailbox.
Wow – it’s only Tuesday afternoon, but the canalside social scene is buzzing! There are people relaxing and getting together with friends and colleagues at the numerous bars and restaurants that surround the basin.
It’s also a lovely afternoon, so we lock up the boat and go exploring. David would like to see ‘Black Sabbath Bridge’, which is a bridge and bench dedicated to the Heavy Metal Band who took the Rock Music scene by storm in the 1970’s with hits like ‘Paranoid’, ‘Iron Man’ and ‘War Pigs’. The band members all hailed from Birmingham and played their first gigs there, hence their fame in the area.
At the time we visited the bridge, Black Sabbath fans were eagerly awaiting their sell-out farewell concert at the Aston Villa Football Ground, entitled ‘Back to the Beginning’. Little did we all know that Ozzy Osbourne, the lead singer, would pass away just 17 days after the concert, aged 76. Rest (or should that be Rock?) in Peace, Ozzy.
Time for dinner, and we call in at ‘All Bar One’ wine bar and restaurant which overlooks the canal.
Suitably fed and watered, we return to our boat for a nightcap before bed. And it is lovely and quiet!
Day two: Exploring the city
Next morning, we enjoy a cuppa sitting at the bow of the boat and watch a flock of Canada Geese who appear to be having a loud debate about what they are going to do today. They must be quackers…
We’ve got tickets booked at the Hippodrome Theatre see a new musical ‘And Juliet’, in which Anne Hathaway persuades her husband William Shakespeare to change the plot of his famous play ‘Romeo and Juliet’ so that Juliet doesn’t have to die at the end. There are two major theatres in Birmingham – the Alexandra and the Hippodrome, both of which are just a 10-minute walk from the canal basin.
We go to the matinee performance and then make our way to the Restaurant at The Woods for our evening meal. It’s not in a wood, it’s in the Mailbox, but it is quirkily decorated in a forested theme with a large film of a waterfall on one wall.
There are so many bars and restaurants in this area, you might want to do some research before you decide where you want to eat (unless you are catering for yourselves).
Day three: Cadbury World and the return journey
Thursday morning, and we are leaving Birmingham early for our eagerly anticipated date with the chocolates at Cadbury World. Gently cruising back towards Alvechurch, it takes less than 2 hours to arrive at the Bournville Visitor Moorings, which is where you can moor up to walk to the museum and factory. The railings are helpfully painted in ‘Cadbury’ purple so you can’t miss them!
Bourneville Village and chocolate goodies
The village of Bournville was created in the late 19th century by the pioneering Cadbury brothers, who decided to build a new factory away from the city centre in a more rural setting. In addition to the factory, in 1893 they bought 120 acres of land and set about building a ‘model village’ of 314 cottages and houses as a healthy community for their workers. Average life expectancy at the time was only around 45 years, and many people lived in crowded, unsanitary and pretty unpleasant conditions. The Cadbury brothers created their village to, in their words “alleviate the evils of modern more cramped living”. Workers were given Saturday afternoons off (an innovation at the time), on-site medical and dental services, and a ‘Workers Fund’ for anyone suffering from prolonged illness, as well as a host of other benefits.
Unsurprisingly, the village was a huge success and Cadburys went from strength to strength, launching their Dairy Milk chocolate bar in 1905. The product was a hit with consumers and nowadays, 350 million Cadburys Dairy Milk bars are sold every year. Crikey!
Arriving at Cadburys, we have a fun-filled afternoon, including videos, chocolate making demonstrations, a self-guided tour of the history of chocolate making, a chance to decorate our own chocolate, and a 4D Chocolate Adventure with motion seats taking us on a virtual rollercoaster and a dive into liquid chocolate. Naturally, the visit finishes at the gift shop where we stock up on our choccy favourites before strolling back to the Golden Crested Wren.
Heading back to the marina
Back through the Wast Hills Tunnel, David is on the tiller this time and gets through in 35 minutes, what a show-off! We then cruise the last hour back to Alvechurch Marina, noticing that there are 3 pub options for our final night afloat – the Hopwood House (one hour from the marina), the Crown Inn (10 minutes away) and the Weighbridge Pub (right by the marina)! Whichever you choose, it's not far to go in the morning to drop your boat off.
This was a fantastic short break and a perfect mix of countryside, city and attractions galore. If you are thinking of doing this cruise, I highly recommend it!
