Any visit to England should include a couple of days in Birmingham, once workshop of the world. As well as the canals there are a host of museums although not especially ship related. Brum has always made a lot of bits for crucial things which are hard to display. Parts of the channel link to Normandy after D day for example as well as 14000 Spitfires. A visit to Stratford by train from Brum is a day out too. There's always lots of entertainemnt in Brum for every taste.