Explore the—
Malvern Hills and Severn Vale 2004

With such a variety of waterways to choose from—rivers and canals, rural and urban—this area is popular with those who like to get afloat for their holiday. An excellent selection of routes, and boats, is available from Black Prince Narrow Boats at Stoke Prior on the Worcester and Birmingham Canal.
   You might think this is a canal for boating masochists! It drops down from Tardibigge just outside Bromsgrove to its junction with the Severn in Worcester through a total of 56 locks in just 22 miles. However, from Stoke Prior you can cruise to Worcester and back, as we did on a short midweek break last autumn, with a more modest average of just one lock every mile. These locks are of the traditional design for the narrow canals of the Midlands—70ft (23m) long but only 7 feet (2.3m)  wide.  And  they accommodate narrow boats—not barges.

Narrow Boats
Today's narrow boats reflect the design of the original working boats, but are a world away in their fixtures and fittings. Our boat from Black Prince was 60ft of ingenious design, optimising every inch of space. With only four fixed berths—the company tries to avoid converting seating into night-time beds—there was ample room for myself, my wife and my 89 year old mother. Additional crew to and from Worcester made light work of die 22 locks, and even mother was proudly able to swing a narrow gate!

Go hack in time
Despite the locks there is something totally relaxing about moving into a 200 year old world with a compulsory speed limit (rarely achieved) of Four miles per hour. One quickly comes to appreciate the slow pace of life, the rural landscape which seems to accompany the canal well into the heart of towns, and the relatively tame wildlife.
   Our three days took us to :he centre of Worcester, a day's sortie onto the wide waters of :he Severn up to Holt Lock to the confluence of the Teme at Powick, and back to base. 

There are options for many circular tours from the Black Prince base.
Start with the hard work, head off north up the 42 locks to
Tardebigge. You. are then on the Birmingham plateau with miles of
lockfree cruising. For the rural circuit take the restored Stratford
Canal. Follow the Avon to Pershore and Tewkesbury and then via the
Severn up to Worcester, through Digits Basin and back to base.
   For the industrial view, stick with the Worcester and Birmingham  Canal to the centre of our second city. Make your way via Dudley
and Stourbridge back to the rural tranquillity of the Staffordshire
and Worcestershire Canal. Go down through Kidderminster to
Stourport, the classic inland canal town. A gentle halfday's
cruising brings you to Worcester and so back up the canal
to your base.