by Sally Hammond

We tell our friends in London we're off to Birmingham for the weekend. There is a polite silence, then, "Why?". Frankly, we're wondering that too.

But the cabbie who picks us up from the train quickly adds his spin: "Birmingham has reinvented itself," he tells us.

It certainly needed to. An industrial mish-mash, exploited during Britain's industrial boom time, bombed by the Germans in WWII (the Jaguar factory had switched to manufacturing Spitfires, so you can see why), neglected for decades, Birmingham had never been on the tourist trail. Until recently.

Someone had suggested a 'narrowboat' trip, and it sounded interesting. Guessing it was made to go on a narrow canal, that turned out to be pretty correct.

The cab drops us near The Mailbox, a towering structure seen for miles around Birmingham which, despite its name, turns out to be a new and upmarket shopping centre. Just beside it, a slot of water flanked by restaurants and clubs, is filled by three smart navy blue boats, moored side by side. One is to be our 'hotel boat', another our dining venue that evening. Of course neither would stay put, as the whole point is to go off and explore a canal or two.

Before dinner we take a walk around the area, over a swooping bridge and down to the paved waterfront. We pass waterside cafes and bars, restaurants and a tall glass fronted hotel. Beside us, there are more narrowboats. Some seem to be homes, one serves coffee, others offer tours. There's a cosmopolitan bustle to the place. It's Friday evening and a hen's night is getting underway at a nightclub above the walkway, and we're constantly stepping aside to allow joggers and cyclists to pass.

Narrowboats travel low in the water. That evening, on the three-hour Away2dine Champagne dinner cruise of the city's canals, we find ourselves with a duck's-eye view of the surrounding people and buildings. It's fun, really, especially as we have plates of foie gras pate, salmon and English spring lamb cutlets before us. And tall glasses of bubbly, of course. 

Our hosts, Gill Smith and Cliff Jones ("Yes, I know," says Gill with a giggle, "Smith and Jones!") join us for dinner and fill us in on the background of the business. Gill met Cliff, the boat master, some years ago when she took a cruise on one of them. She now owns all three boats.

Narrowboats were developed in the 18th-century as transport for the products of the newly industrialised centre of England. At that time its key geographical position made Birmingham an ideal centre. The 'hub of England' some called it. When manufacturing waned in the 1970s the focus had to change. Just a couple of hours by train from London it has now reinvented itself as an important centre for conventions and exhibitions.

The 29 mile-long (47 km) Worcester and Birmingham Canal, opened in 1815, links the two cities, and passes through Bourneville, the home of Cadbury chocolate. Its 58 locks, including the 30 Tardebigge Locks, one of the largest lock flights in Europe, allows the canal to climb 428 feet (130 m) overall.

It was soon clear that this was never going to be a quick trip. Each lock can take easily ten minutes to navigate - that's if there isn't a queue of other boats waiting - and the average cruising speed of a narrowboat ('please don't call them barges') is 3mph. We quickly saw why the return journey, with occasional stop-offs and moorings at night, takes two or three days.

The late 1700s brought canal mania to the UK. James Brindley was England's first major canal builder. "He built looping canals," says Cliff, a canal-ophile. Locals are proud that Birmingham has more canals than Venice. Thomas Telford later revised Brindley's work, replacing some parts with straighter canals.

The narrowboats are long and slim. They can't be any longer or they won't fit in the locks, and we see this for ourselves when wedged in one with only inches to spare at either end.

A few kilometres along the canal we stop briefly at a place which purpose builds and fits out these boats to be used as private boats or hire craft. Gleaming in their dark glossy paint, many are decorated with bright folk art paintings of flowers and castles. They look like moored gypsy caravans.

The narrowness influences the internal structure too. Our three-star 'hotel boat', purpose built as a hire craft but identical to original working boats, makes smart use of the limited space. There are three well-appointed cabins (two doubles and a twin) and two bathrooms. Each cabin has its own access to the shore. The on-board cook prepares meals in a minute galley, and there's a sitting area where we dine or simply enjoy the serene passing landscape.

Or we can stand at the back with Cliff as he steers and talk about canals, feed the ducks and wave to passing craft, of which there are plenty. Having a captain on board certainly beats trying to learn all the how-tos of canal boat management. Later, in a tunnel, when a hire-boat, obviously crewed by a new-chum, clips the navigation light on our boat, we are glad we weren't in charge.

When we come to locks we can help if we want to, or not. It's all very relaxed. "We call this a hotel boat," says Gill, "Because we want people to relax."

So there is no thought of taking up a teatowel after dinner, even though Judy, the cook, is washing up just a couple of metres away. Her meals are those of a good home cook - braised steak, bread and butter pudding, even roast beef and Yorkshire pudding for Sunday lunch - and we enjoy French or Italian wines, and occasionally a South African one with them.

We learn new words too. Birmingham residents are called Brummies, and when we pass someone on the tow-path or aboard another boat, we learn not to say good morning. It's "Orr-right?"

It's a good word, and we feel it pretty well sums up the whole experience.

FACTFILE

Birmingham is just over two hours by train from London.

Away2dine restaurant boat seats 20, with the best seat on an elevated platform at the front of the boat. Champagne cruise £59.95 stg (A$128) pp for a three- hour cruise; Sunday roast lunch, £34.95 stg pp (A$75) for a three-hour cruise retro music, young couples, tourists,

Away4awhile Hotel Canal Boat offers three- and four-day, and full week (inclusive of full board) cruises along the Birmingham canal network. From £295 stg per person (around A$631)

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