From September 6th to 18th 2018, I walked the Staffs and Worcs Canal, the Dudley Canals, the Stourbridge Canal and also a BCN canal from Birmingham to Aldersley Junction (which is where it joins the Staffs and Worcs Canal).
The Staffs and Worcs Canal (saw) is 46 miles long. I decided to walk it in 7 stages doing each stage on a separate day. I walked it from Haywood Junction (HJ) which is near Stafford to Stourport on Severn (SOS). It's slightly uphill until about half way through day 3 when the submit pound is reached. This is at Gailey (G). The Canal is then level until Compton (C) which I reached towards the end of day 4. And then it's slightly downhill to Stourport on Severn (SOS).
There are a lot of canals in the Birmingham area. I spent 3 days walking part of the Birmingham Canal Navigation (bcn). I went from Gas Street Basin (GSB) to Aldersley Junction (AJ). A few weeks ago, I walked the Worcester and Birmingham Canal and that canal starts in Gas Street Basin. And Aldersley Junction is on the Staffs and Worcs Canal. So this bit of the BCN connects those two. With the BCN, there is a choice of route as there are two parallel canals between Smethwick Junction (SJ) and Factory Junction (FJ). The original route, the "Old Main Line" (bcnoml), designed by Brindley is more bendy as it keeps to the contours and so is lock-free whereas a later route designed by Telford, the "New Main Line" (bcnnml) is straighter and as a consequence has 9 locks. I chose to do the Old Main Line. I also walked the Titford Canal (t) which leaves the Old Main Line at Oldbury Junction (OJ).
I also spent three days looking at the Dudley No. 1 Canal (d1), the Dudley No. 2 Canal (d2) and the Stourbridge Canal (s). The Dudley No. 1 Canal meets up with the Old Main Line at Tipton Junction (TJ) after passing through the Dudley Tunnel (DT); the Dudley No. 2 Canal meets up with the New Main Line at Dudley Port Junction (DPJ) after passing through the Netherton Tunnel (NT) and under the Tividale Aqueduct (TA); and the Stourbridge Canal leaves the Staffs and Worcs at Stourton Junction (SJ) morphing into the Dudley No. 1 Canal at Black Delph Junction (BDJ).
HJ| | saw| | G| | saw| bcn W bcn FJ bcnnml DPJ bcnnml AJ bcnnml SJ bcn AJ|------------------------------------------------------------------------------GSB | \ | | / | ------------------------------------------------ saw| |TJ bcnoml |TA bcnoml BHJ bcnoml OJ\ bcnoml | | | \ | |d1 |d2 \t | | | \ | |DT |NT \ | | | TP C| |d1 |d2 | | | | -------------WEJ saw| |PHJ d2 \ | | \ | |d1 \d2 | | \ SJ|------------------BDJ \ | s HB saw| | SOS|
Here are links to more details about each day's walking. Each of these web pages has a map and some photos:
Thu Sep 06: Staffs and Worcs: from Haywood Junction to Radford Bridge
Fri Sep 07: Staffs and Worcs: from Radford Bridge to Penkridge
Sat Sep 08: Staffs and Worcs: from Penkridge to Cross Green
Sun Sep 09: Staffs and Worcs: from Cross Green to Wightwick
Mon Sep 10: Staffs and Worcs: from Wightwick to Hinksford
Tue Sep 11: Staffs and Worcs: from Hinksford to Cookley
Wed Sep 12: Staffs and Worcs: from Cookley to Stourport on Severn
Thu Sep 13: BCN: from Gas Street Basin to Titford Pools
Fri Sep 14: BCN: from Oldbury Junction to Coseley
Sat Sep 15: BCN: from Coseley to Aldersley Junction
Sun Sep 16: Dudley and Stourbridge: from Hawne Basin to Garratt's Lane
Mon Sep 17: Dudley and Stourbridge: from Garratt's Lane to Silver End
Tue Sep 18: Dudley and Stourbridge: from Silver End to Stourport Junction
I'm grateful to www.walkingenglishman.com for providing a GPX file for the Staffs and Worcs Canal. I used this to help decide where to split each day's walking.
Here are some links to web pages about the Staffs and Worcs Canal:
Canal and River Trust's web page about the Staffs and Worcs Canal
Wikipedia web page about the Staffs and Worcs Canal
The Walking Englishman's web page about walking the Staffs and Worcs Canal
List of pubs not far from the Staffs and Worcs Canal
Jim Shead's Waterways Information about the Staffs and Worcs Canal
First Mates Guide to the Birmingham Canals
I recommend the following book:
"Pearson's Canal Companion: Stourport Ring, Black Country Canals,Birmingham Canal Navigations", J.M.Pearson and Son Ltd, 978-0-9562777-2-5
Link to the index page that has links to some of my other holidays
It includes details of walks along the Worcester and Birmingham Canal and the Huddersfield Canals.