Reed Hotel Boats



		Your floating hotel on the Canals and Rivers of the UK

Our guide to the waterways of the UK in detail.

Pictures of the Staff & Worcs Canal.

Stourport to Stourton.

The Staffordshire & Worcestershire canal was built to connect the Trent and Mersey canal with the River Severn as part of the Grand Cross idea to connect the four main rivers of the UK, the rivers Severn, Trent, Mersey and Thames. It travels from Stourport for forty-six miles passing the outskirts of Wolverhampton to join the Trent & Mersey canal at Great Haywood near to Stafford.

The canal starts in the basins at Stourport, a Georgian town which was created by and to serve the canal. It then threads its way out of Stourport and through Kidderminster to reach the country at Wolverley after five miles and four locks. It climbs through another six locks to reach the junction at Stourton after twelve miles where the Stourbridge canal climbs off to the East to go up to Birmingham. After crossing over the river Stour on a aqueduct at the top of Kiderminister lock right below the church, the canal has followed the sandstone cliff's on the East bank of the river. In places like Austcliffe the sandstone leans over the canal. In other places the canal has been cut through short spurs of the cliffs to give us tunnels at Cookley, 65 yards, and Dunsley, 25 yards. Some of the locks like that at Debdale are also cut into the rock as is a stable there.


Austcliffe	Cookley tunnel	Debdale lock

Dunsley Tunnel	Falling Sands lock	Kidderminster

Stourport	Peaceful moorings.	Quiet canal.

Whittington lock	Wolverley Court lock	Whittington lock, the by-pass channel passing under the lock keepers cottage.