Page updated 10 July 2004 

The Stourbridge and Dudley Canals

Stourbridge Canal

Stourton Junction

Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal

Wordsley Junction

Stourbridge Town Arm

Stourbridge Flight N97#2p118 N2k#2p118

An anti-vandal key is needed to operate the top two or three locks of the flight.

There are inconsistencies in the positioning of Locks 2-4 by Brierly Hill Road Bridge between the 1997 and 2000 editions. In particular, is Lock 4 above or below the bridge? [Clarification requested! - Ed.]

Leys Junction

Fens Branch

Farmer's Bridge N97#2p122 N2k#2p122

The Old Bush public house has closed.

Black Delph Junction

Dudley No. 1 Canal

Dudley No.1 Canal

Black Delph Junction

Stourbridge Canal

Delph Locks N97#2p119 N2k#2p119

An anti-vandal key is required on the top two or three locks of the flight.

Merryhill N97#2p120 N2k#2p120

The consensus of those submitting updates is that Merryhill can be noisy at the weekends due to nearby pubs. However, one contributor has said:

Given the choice I would sooner spend a (noisy) night at Merryhill than anywhere in a few miles in either direction.

Reports that boats are regularly untied would appear to be exaggerated. However, for those especially concerned, it has been suggested that you:

a) Run ropes through rings and tie all knots aboard the boat (this avoids those who would untie a rope from the ground but wouldn't dare step on a boat).

b) Carry a supply of the plastic zipper type ties. Run one of these round your rope at the bollard/ring end and possibly another at the boat end. The 'bandits' now also need a Stanley knife if they are to untie you!

A regular Saturday night user (during 2000 season) reports that Merryhill can be a useful and safe mooring.

"If you haven't got young kids to worry about, the noise isn't too bad after midnight and shopping is, of course, plentiful nearby."

Concerning whether the best place to moor is at the mooring rings on the towpath or the "carefully styled" and "fancy" bollards which "plenty of boats use ... with no problems encountered", it was said:

"the mooring bollards on the far side are poor, as there are too few of them, liable to being cast off overnight by yobs, and spaced too far apart for efficient use of space. The worst part, though, is that they are always used as seats by weekend anglers. This is a real problem when one arrives, as you either have to negotiate, risking a heartburning confrontation and seeming pompous, or move on to a less-safe area."

In June 2002 a well known waterways photographer said:

If you do moor at Merry Hill... I'd say the best place would be on the far side somewhere near Cable Plaza and Point North. I must be honest I find stories of mooring ropes being untied there a little hard to swallow. I was once accosted and grilled by the (constantly patrolling) security guards just for taking pictures!

Blowers Green Lock N97#2p119 N2k#2p119

There is now a Water Point and a Refuse Disposal Point at the lock, which requires a key.

Park Head Junction

Dudley No2 Canal

Park Head Locks N97#2p119 N2k#2p119

An anti-vandal key is needed to operate the top lock.

Dudley Tunnel

BCN Dudley Tunnel Branch

Dudley No.2 Canal

Park Head Junction

Dudley No1 Canal

Lodge Farm Reservoir N03#2p125

The page link to p124 should read p130.

Saltwell's Bridge N97#2p124 N2k#2p124 N03#2p130

The length east of the bridge marked, in error, as the Dudley No1 Canal is part of the No2 Canal.

Saltwell's Bridge N97#2p124 N03#2p130

A page link to p119 is missing in the 1997 edition and should link to p125 in the 2003 edition.

Bumblehole and Boshboil Arms N97#2p124 N2k#2p124 N03#2p130

There are excellent visitor moorings on both sides of the main line between the two arms.

Windmill End N97#2p124 N2k#2p124

There's a Water Point near the Dry Dock pub between Bumblehole Branch and Windmill End Junction.

The Dry Dock N97#2p125 N2k#2p125

In 2000, it was reported that this pub "lets dogs in as well as children and is now tied to Ushers. The pub, beer and food, are still very good and very cheap".

Windmill End Junction

Head of Navigation

Fens Branch and Wide Waters

Leys Junction

Stourbridge Canal

Brockmoor Junction

Stourbridge Extension Canal

Main Line N97#2p120 N2k#2p120 N03#2p126

The Fens Branch beyond Brockmoor Junction is totally silted up, and the towpath alongside it does not exist. There is a path parallel to it as far as the B4179 bridge. Beyond that it is as impassable on foot as by boat.

Head of Navigation

Stourbridge Extension Canal

Brockmoor Junction

Fens Branch

Bromley N97#2p120 N2k#2p120 N03#2p126

The moorings, described in the main text (Line 3) as "excellent" in 1997 and 2000 editions, and "possible" in the 2003 edition are rarely used, seemed excellent to a regular correspondent in May 2004. He suggested that they are rarely used because no one knows they are there and reports that they have a security fence with access via BW key and that it was even reasonably quiet.

Head of Navigation

Stourbridge Town Arm

Wordsley Junction

Stourbridge Canal

The Moorings Tavern N97#2p122 N2k#2p122

This pub, at the head of navigation only does basic baps at lunchtime.

End of Arm N97#2p118 N2k#2p118

There are no visitor moorings here and the winding point is tight.  The best place to moor is above the water tap on the way in.

Head of Navigation