Shining a spotlight on Birmingham’s canals
Cheryl Howes of Kate Boats with the latest news from Drifters – a consortium of independent self-drive hire boat companies set up to promote enjoyment of canal holidays.
BIRMINGHAM’S 2022 Commonwealth Games will be the biggest sports event to be held in the UK for a decade and is expected to bring hundreds of thousands of people to our vibrant second city and its canals.
The Commonwealth Games will take place from July 28 to August 8, 2022 and eight of the 13 Games venues are either on or very close to a canal. For example, the Birmingham Arena is next to the Birmingham Canal Old Line, and Alexander Stadium is next to the Thame Valley Canal at Perry Barr.
More than one million tickets have already been sold and a host of star athletes have signed up. With canal towpaths providing sustainable transport links between venues, many thousands of extra visitors to Birmingham’s canals are expected.
Preparing for the games has included £6 million of infrastructure investment for local waterways. Towpaths have been upgraded, access points improved and wayfinding signs installed.
With more than 100 miles of canals, Birmingham has more canals than Venice and is always one of our customers’ most popular destinations. From our base at Stockton, boaters often travel through the city when cruising the Warwickshire Ring.
The Canal & River Trust opened up a moorings booking system at Coventry Basin for last year’s City of Culture, so we are expecting boaters will be able to book ahead for the Commonwealth Games too.