Tardebigge
The thirty locks in the Tardebigge Flight make it the largest flight of locks in Britain, and raise the Worcester & Birmingham Canal up 220 feet through some delightful rolling countryside just southeast of Bromsgrove.
At Bridge 54, about three quarters of a mile before Tardebigge top lock is Tardebigge reservoir, a popular local spot for fishing. At Tardebigge Top Lock there is a plaque to commemorate the 1946 founding of the Inland Waterways Association - today still the most important waterways conservation pressure group. LTC (Tom) Rolt and Robert Aickman hatched their initial plans here on Cressy, Rolt's narrowboat.
Tardebigge itself, just south at the same point, is a charming village centred around its imposing 18th Century church. Beyond Tardebigge Top Lock, boaters will find in short order Tardebigge Tunnel (580yards) and Shortwood Tunnel (612yards).
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