Active Life
February/March 2004

Get Aboard for the
Great Escape

Always remember to close what you open, said the helpful man at the boat-yard, but I'm sure he was referring to the locks and not the ubiquitous wine and beer being loaded onto the luxurious narrowboat Serenade that was to be our home for the next four days.
    Locks are part of the very essence of canals in the UK, enabling canal boats to climb or descend hills by controlling the level of water via lock gates. Originally, canal engineers would survey the best route for a canal that involved the fewest locks, because they slowed the progress of commercial traffic. In this leisure age, however, they are all part of the enjoyment to be had from travelling on the canal system.
    Enjoyment? Hmm. I wasn't so sure. An enormous 67ft six-berth craft, aptly dubbed "our longboat", a raw crew of six, and locks! It seemed a recipe for disaster. Not a bit of it.
    You don't leave the boatyard until you are familiar with the workings of your boat, how to moor up and use the lock gates - and just in case you are given a copy of the handy British Waterways' Boater's Handbook which gives a compre- hensive rundown on basic boat han- dling and safety. A member of staff accompanied us through the first couple of locks and we were soon operating them like old hands.
    Even so, we decided against heading up through Tardebigge - the longest narrow lock flight in Europe with 29 locks - and instead took the more "lock-friendly" trip to Worcester furnished with a map marked with suggested stopover points (invariably a pub) and a route that we could comfortably cover in four days. Another of those helpful touches from Black Prince Holidays that obviously contributed to its 2002 Gold Award for the hire craft operator of the year.
    Canals are a wonderful part of our heritage. The Worcester and Birmingham Canal linked the factories of Birmingham to the River Severn. It took 21 years to build and even until 1961, Cadburys used it to carry goods to and from its choco- late factory in Boumville. The word "navvies" comes from the term "navigators" - the workers who had to dig these canals to a level of four to six feet. With the advent of the industrial revolution, canals were overtaken by rail and road transport.
   The legacy of this bygone era is a waterway system that uncovers a secret world running through the heart of England. There are plenty of sightseeing opportunities and the chance to see a wide variety of wildlife and rare plants - otters, kingfishers, herons and voles can all be seen and heard along the canals.
   And the great thing is that you enjoy all this at a leisurely 4mph, simply watching the world go slow- ly by - and this is surely the charm of a narrowboat holiday.
  Doing our best to remember the basic rule - steer the opposite way to the direction you want to travel - we headed on a reasonably straight course towards our first port of call (The Bridge Inn at Tibberton, which has moorings for up to 14 narrow- boats and where we enjoyed such a friendly welcome and good food that it was a unani-

mous vote of the crew to pop in again on the return journey). As the canal unfolded before us - and we had safely negotiated the blackness of the 230-yard Dunhamp- stead Tunnel - we found that with a bit of teamwork, operating the locks and mooring in one manoeuvre became second nature.
   However, it's worth pointing out that you do need to be moderately fit to leap on and off the boat and work the locks as some of the rack and pinion paddle gears can be a struggle to wind.
   Also bear in mind that the sides of the canal can be shallow requiring the use of the handy long pole to become unstuck - we weren't the only ones! And don't worry about the occasional encounter with the bank, the boats are built to with- stand all sorts of "indiscretions".
   Your essential map - Black Prince has never lost a boat yet! - shows the locks and pubs en route, but you can moor almost anywhere along the towpath if you want to hop off and explore.
   After breakfast the following morning - has bacon and egg ever tasted better? - it was off to Worcester. We moored alongside the Commandery, a charming timber-framed building dating back to the 1500s that was the headquarters for the Royalists prior to the Battle of Worcester. It is now a Civil War Centre with a fascinating museum.
 

   Worcester has much to offer the visitor, not least the Cathedral which is one of the finest. Started in 1084 and largely completed some 300 years later, it contains King John's tomb and medieval cloisters.
   And of course there's the shops, and the must-see Royal Worcester Porcelain Works. One of Worcester's most famous exports, along with Lea & Perrins Worcester Sauce, is Royal Worcester Porcelain. Royal Worcester was established in 1751 by a group of local businessmen led by Dr John Wall. The business flour- ished during the Industrial Revolution and the Victorian Era and in 2001 the factory celebrated its 250th anniversary. The factory is also home to the Royal Worcester Visitors' Centre and The Museum of Worcester Porcelain.
   After lunch it was time to replenish water supplies before braving Digits Locks, the gateway to the River Severn. The hire price includes 20 gallons of fuel, more than enough for the longest voyage, but the 100 gallon water tank needs to be refilled daily from waterpoints along the canal.
   Diglis basins were opened in the 19th century to facilitate the trans- shipment of cargo between the river and the canal, and the locks raise the water level by 18ft - so they're big, and very deep!
   Despite our apprehension, we "sailed" through and were soon head- ing up river, the glorious Worcester Cathedral dominating the skyline. With the late September sun setting fast, we moored in the shadow of the imposing river lock at Bevere and discovered another gem of a pub, the Camp House Inn, named after an early army encampment. Nearby Bevere Island is said to have been used as a refuge in times of war and plague. Thank goodness we brought a torch - it was a good five minutes walk along a pitch-black path.
   Dawn brought one of those special moments, the rising sun glow- ing softly through the early morning haze, a man walking his dog silhouetted against the mist-shrouded far bank... magical.
   Sadly, the adventure was nearing its end and it was time to turn around and start the journey back.
   The weather had been kind throughout as we enjoyed the tail end of last year's wonderful summer, and being off-season the canal was quiet.
   I'd always fancied a holiday afloat, and I wasn't disappointed. There is nothing quite like it, a holiday of contrasts, taken at a snail's pace. The boat's are remarkably comfortably and every bend in the canal brings forth some new delight. You can never see it all, no matter how many times you return. But why worry? Narrow boat holi- days are for relaxation and for doing what you like, when you like. It really is the great escape.