Stourport Ring

The Stourport Ring is a connected series of canals forming a circuit, or canal ring, around Worcestershire, The Black Country and Birmingham in The Midlands, England. The ring is formed from the River Severn, the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, the Stourbridge Canal, the Dudley Canals, the Birmingham Canal Navigations (Netherton Tunnel Branch Canal and Birmingham New Main Line) and the Worcester and Birmingham Canal.

The ring is 74 miles and includes 105 locks including 3 electrically operated river locks, 2 pairs of staircase locks and 2 broad locks. The route includes flights of locks at Tardebigge (×30), Stourbridge (×16) and the Black Delph at Brierley Hill (×8). The route also includes two of the longest navigable tunnels on the UK network, these being the Netherton and Wast Hills Tunnels.

The ring has an alternative longer route via Wolverhampton of 83 miles and 122 locks and does not include the Stourbridge or Dudley canals. This route uses the connection between the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, and the BCN Main Line at Aldersley Junction.

The ring is popular for cruising and has a number of narrowboat hire centres on the route including Alvechurch, Viking Afloat (Worcester), Anglo-Welsh (Tardebigge), Brook Line (Dunhampstead) and Black Prince (Stoke Prior).

Popular visitor attractions on or close to the Stourport Ring include Cadbury World, The Black Country Living Museum, the Severn Valley Railway, Kinver Edge, the Birmingham Jewellery Quarter, Brindleyplace plus the Merry Hill, Bullring and Mailbox shopping centres.

Popular overnight mooring places on the ring include Worcester city centre, Stourport Basin, Wolverley, Kinver, Merry Hill, Windmill End, The Black Country Museum (via short detour), Gas Street Basin, Hopwood, Stoke Works and Dunhampstead.

List of all locks on the ring with their map references Based on travelling clockwise and starting at Worcester. Excludes the northern extension.

Lock Number Waterway Lock Name Coordinates OS Grid Ref 1River SevernBevere Lock 2Holt Lock 3Lincomb Lock 4/5Staffordshire and Worcestershire CanalStourport basin lower staircase 6/7Stourport basin upper staircase 8Stourport York Street Lock 3 9Falling Sands Lock 4 10Caldwell Lock 5 11Kidderminster Lock 6 12Wolverley Court Lock 7 13Wolverley Lock 8 14Debdale Lock 9 15Whittington Lock 10 16Kinver Lock 11 17Hyde Lock 12 18Stewponey Lock 13 19Stourbridge CanalStourton Bottom Lock 20Stourton Lock 21Stourton Lock 22Stourton Top Lock 23Stourbridge Bottom Lock 16 24Stourbridge Lock 15 25Stourbridge Lock 14 26Stourbridge Lock 13 27Stourbridge Lock 12 28Stourbridge Lock 11 29Stourbridge Lock 10 30Stourbridge Lock 9 31Stourbridge Lock 8 32Stourbridge Lock 7 33Stourbridge Lock 6 34Stourbridge Lock 5 35Stourbridge Lock 4 36Stourbridge Lock 3 37Stourbridge Lock 2 38Stourbridge Top Lock 1 39Dudley Canal Line No. 1Delph Bottom Lock 8 40Delph Lock 7 41Delph Lock 6 42Delph Lock 5 43Delph Lock 4 44Delph Lock 3 45Delph Lock 2 46Delph Top Lock 1 47Blowers Green Lock*Dudley Canal Line No. 2(no locks)Netherton Tunnel Branch Canal(no locks)Birmingham New Main Line(no locks) 48Worcester and Birmingham CanalTardebigge Top Lock No 58* 49Tardebigge Lock No 57 50Tardebigge Lock No 56 51Tardebigge Lock No 55 52Tardebigge Lock No 54 53Tardebigge Lock No 53 54Tardebigge Lock No 52 55Tardebigge Lock No 51 56Tardebigge Lock No 50 57Tardebigge Lock No 49 58Tardebigge Lock No 48 59Tardebigge Lock No 47 60Tardebigge Lock No 46 61Tardebigge Lock No 45 62Tardebigge Lock No 44 63Tardebigge Lock No 43 64Tardebigge Lock No 42 65Tardebigge Lock No 41 66Tardebigge Lock No 40 67Tardebigge Lock No 39 68Tardebigge Lock No 38 69Tardebigge Lock No 37 70Tardebigge Lock No 36 71Tardebigge Lock No 35 72Tardebigge Lock No 34 73Tardebigge Lock No 33 74Tardebigge Lock No 32 75Tardebigge Lock No 31 76Tardebigge Lock No 30 77Tardebigge Bottom Lock No 29 78Stoke Top Lock No 28 79Stoke Lock No 27 80Stoke Lock No 26 81Stoke Lock No 25 82Stoke Lock No 24 83Stoke Prior Bottom Lock No 23 84Astwood Top Lock No 22 85Astwood Lock No 21 86Astwood Lock No 20 87Astwood Lock No 19 88Astwood Lock No 18 89Astwood Bottom Lock No 17 90Offerton Top Lock No 16 91Offerton Lock No 15 92Offerton Lock No 14 93Offerton Lock No 13 94Offerton Lock No 12 95Offerton Bottom Lock No 11 96Tolladine Lock No 10 97Blackpole Lock No 9 98Bilford Top Lock 99Bilford Bottom Lock 100Gregory's Mill Top Lock 101Gregory's Mill Bottom Lock 102Blockhouse Lock No 4 103Sidbury Lock No 3 104Diglis Basin Lock No 2 105Diglis Basin Lock No 1

From Blowers Green to Tardebigge top lock, the ring is at the Birmingham Level for 27 miles.

Navigability

During spring freshet the Severn can be closed to navigation, making the ring not fully navigable. There is also potential for some sections of the ring being temporarily unnavigable consequent to lack of water during a drought.

Stourport Ring

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