We’ve reopened at Tardebigge!
Worcester & Birmingham Canal Narrow Boat Holidays
We’re delighted to announce we are now able to offer canal boat hire from Tardebigge again. We are taking books for holidays starting from 4 May 2025.
Our base at Tardebigge on the Worcester & Birmingham Canal near Bromsgrove offers the chance to explore some of the most beautiful parts of the West Midlands – including the Forest of Arden, Shakespeare country, Tolkein country and the River Severn Valley.
It also offers the option to travel right into the heart of Birmingham lock-free in just five hours. With more canals than Venice, there’s no better way to explore Britain’s vibrant second city.
Emma Lovell, Anglo Welsh’s reservations manager, explains: “Located in an idyllic rural Worcestershire setting, Tardebigge is the perfect place to start a leisurely cruise around some of the gorgeous countryside to be found in the Heart of England.
“Perhaps the most popular route for beginners from Tardebigge is to take a short break and travel into Birmingham and back. There are no locks between here and the centre of Birmingham and it takes just five hours to potter along the Worcester & Birmingham Canal. There are moorings in Gas Street Basin, close to Brindleyplace and a host of exciting City centre attractions.
“Along the way, you’ll pass Cadbury World in the historic village of Bournville, where you can find out how chocolate is made and explore the World’s biggest Cadbury Shop!
“If you are new to narrowboating and would like to stay in the countryside, you cruise onto the Stratford Canal at Kings Norton Junction and travel to the pretty canal village of Lapworth and back. This takes around 14 hours in total, again with no locks.
“Another popular short break route is to travel into Birmingham to visit the Birmingham Black Country Museum, often used as a film set for the BBC’s Peaky Blinders. Here you can step back in time where the world’s first industrial landscape emerged and meet costumed characters, explore period shops and houses, enjoy a fair ground ride, take a 1912 school lesson, eat traditional fish & chips and visit the Bottle & Glass Inn.
“From Tardebigge, more experienced boaters on longer breaks can enjoy there-and-back cruises to Stratford upon Avon, Warwick or Worcester. Shakespeare’s Stratford is probably our most popular destination for people on a week’s canal barge holiday from here. The journey takes boaters along the beautiful Stratford Canal with its distinctive barrel-roofed cottages, peaceful countryside and fantastic choice of canalside pubs – including the Fleur de Lys at Lowsonford, which is famous for its homemade pies.
“There’s great choice of circuits to navigate from Tardebigge, including the popular Stourport Ring. This can be done in a week and involves travelling 74 miles, through 118 locks, passing through Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Stourport and the lovely Cathedral City of Worcester.
“As part of this journey, you’ll get to tackle the mighty Tardebigge flight of 30 locks – the longest in the country. The locks are spread out over two and a quarter miles and allow boats to ascend or descend 67 metres in height.
“On this route, you also have the option of taking a short cut along the Droitwich canals and experience narrow locks, staircase locks, wide beam locks and swing bridges all in a single seven-mile stretch.”
There’s more information about our boats available to hire from Tardebigge here and Tardebigge routes here.
