Moorings on the Soho Loop

The Soho Loop is a 2.4-kilometre survivor of James Brindley's original contour-following Birmingham Canal of 1769, left as a loop when Thomas Telford drove his straight New Main Line through the cuttings in the 1820s. It leaves the Main Line at Winson Green and rejoins it at Soho, curving past the site of the Soho Foundry where Boulton and Watt built the steam engines that powered the Industrial Revolution.

Like the other BCN loops — Icknield Port, Oozells Street, Cape Arm — it is quiet, slightly forgotten water, running past Winson Green, allotments and the edge of the city's industrial fringe. It is shallower and less maintained than the Main Line, and boaters should expect the odd shopping trolley.

There are no marinas on the loop. Its value to boat owners is as accessible, uncrowded mooring space within twenty minutes' cruise of Birmingham city centre, and as part of the BCN's dense exploring network — the loops are a favourite with boaters doing the annual BCN Challenge. Long-stay serviced berths in this area are concentrated at Sherborne Wharf and the Birmingham city-centre basins. Winson Green Outer Circle and Soho stations are close, with Birmingham New Street a short hop away.