4 nights
TOTAL LOCKS: 30
CRUISING TIME PER DAY: 6 HOURS (21 HOURS IN TOTAL)
Maps & Guides for this route: P1, N2, N4, L16 | Click here buy maps
Cruise the pretty and historic Staffordshire Worcestershire Canal, with a chance to visit the impressive Victorian Manor House at Wightwick.
Relax and unwind as you set off heading South from Gailey Wharf – the first 10 miles of this cruise are lock-free, so you won’t be needing your windlass for a while! A good stopping place on your first night is the Anchor Inn at Cross Green, just 2 hours’ cruising from Gailey and with visitor moorings as you approach the pub.
After Cross Green, the canal takes on an other-worldly feel, thanks to a very narrow cutting known locally as ‘Pendeford Rockin’. The canal was hewn out of the surrounding Triassic sandstone in the 18th century and is one-way for a short distance, so you might want to send a ‘runner’ to check for oncoming traffic before you proceed. There are passing places though, so no need to panic if you do meet another boat.
You soon arrive at Autherley Junction, where a large white bridge denotes the entrance to the Shropshire Union Canal on the right. Your route is straight on though, under a series of pipe bridges and soon passing Aldersley Junction on the left, on the outskirts of Wolverhampton.
Continuing South, your first lock is Compton Lock which is the very first lock that James Brindley built on this canal in the 1760’s. There’s a couple of handy pubs just after the lock, including the imaginatively named Oddfellows Hall.
Wightwick Manor
Just one hour and 2 locks further on is the delightful Wightwick Manor, which is well-worth visiting for its quirky architecture and wealth of artwork and other collectibles from the Pre-Raphaelite art movement. It’s open every day and also has gardens and a tea-room. There are visitor moorings just south of Bridge 54.
You are now descending gradually through the countryside till you reach ‘The Bratch’, a 3-lock staircase in a glorious setting with the original octagonal tollhouse at the top. There is a lockkeeper on duty to help you through. At the bottom, if you look to the left, you might be able to see the fairytale round turrets of the original Bratch Pumping Station, a beautiful Victorian building containing 2 expansion steam engines named Alexandra and Victoria.
You are soon in the heart of Wombourne, an Anglo-Saxon village where the Round Oak pub is canalside at Bridge 45.
Leaving Wombourne, you are on the way to your final destination of Hinksford, a charming rural village in a peaceful setting. You can turn your boat at the winding hole just after Hinksford Lock, before commencing your return journey to Gailey Wharf.
