Access: Start – walk to canal from overnight in Rugby. Finish – was going to be bus into Coventry + bus to car in Leamington Spa, but was lucky that someone offered to meet me and give me a lift back!

102 – 124 km Rugby (Clifton Road) – Hawkesbury Junction (Coventry)

What a difference a day makes! Back where I left the canal yesterday and the early morning sun was shining, the sky was blue, and yesterday’s drab autumn had changed back to mild late summer. Everything seemed brightly coloured, including the artwork on the first old railway bridge abutment (the Rugby to Stamford Railway¹) a minute or two from the start of today’s walk.

I was still fiddling around with my phone and rucksack before setting off when NB “Opposite Lock” from yesterday came by. We chatted for several minutes as we went along before he slowed down for oncoming boats and we parted company.

Rugby has expanded over the canal, but even though there are industrial estates on both sides it’s still a calm and quiet walk. Dog walkers and joggers were making good use of the towpath. Before I’d left Rugby the far bank had become completely rural. The last bridge leaving the town, like the first coming in, celebrated the game named after the school and the town.

Destination Coventry

Railway bridge 67 abutment_

Celbrating Rugby

Rural Rugby

Cathiron Lane Bridge 50

The Barley Mow

Swans at the Barley Mow

At this point I need to explain a little Oxford Canal history. The canal was built between 1769 and 1790, initially by James Brindley and after his death by his assistant and brother-in-law Samuel Simcock. The work started at the northern end and had reached Napton by 1774. Money troubles meant the final section to Oxford was not only delayed but built as cheaply as possible. Facing competition first from the Grand Junction Canal (1805) and then the railways the northern section was straightened in the 1820s, cutting almost 15 miles from the journey. This meant the canal no longer followed the contours of the land, and aqueducts, high bridges, cuttings and embankments are features of this section. Remnants of the old canal can still be seen in places as spurs leading to more modern marinas or as dead-end side arms. It also explains some of the missing numbers in the bridge numbering sequence and why this part of the canal has so many longer straight sections. There are three aqueducts in quick succession before the canal leaves Rugby; one takes the canal over the deep gorge of the River Avon, here just an overgrown channel.

Two miles and two more aqueducts later is The Barley Mow, just after Bridge 50. Immediately after I came to the most unusual feature of the whole canal walk, the Newbold Tunnel. This tunnel is 230m long and was built in 1829 as part of the straightening project. There are still remnants of the original tunnel nearby but I didn’t search for them. Unusually, the tunnel has a towpath on each side; most canal tunnels don’t have a towpath.

An explanatory notice at the tunnel entrance tells of an innovative lighting system installed in 2005 which casts a rainbow of light inside the tunnel. Sadly it wasn’t working as I worked my way carefully through, grateful for the handrail between me and the water.

Newbold Tunnel

Newbold Tunnel

Bridge 45 disused loop

Coventry Way

Nettlehill Bridge 24

Hollyhill Bridge 19

Stone Bridge 9

The rest of the day was a pleasant stroll in the sunshine and shade, counting down the bridges, chatting to the occasional people I met. A yellow-jacketed mountain biker with fishing tackle who was planning to cycle round the UK coastline after he retired in a year or so (and yes, he knew it’s been done before – he’d read the book). A pony-tailed boatman whom I startled when I appeared from under a bridge on a bend who was prodding at trees with a boathook. It turned out he’d found three trees loaded with small ripe yellow damsons – the sort called mirabelles in France – and was foraging. He offered me one from his basket. Originally from Oxford, he’d sold his house and moved to the Midlands, buying his narrow boat with the spare money. He kindly offered me a lift as far as the Coventry Cruising Club Marina, but I  explained I was committed to finishing on foot.

The later part of the walk became more dominated by modern developments and transport. Fly-tipping along the road by the canal through All Oaks Wood near Brinklow. The main railway line from Rugby to Nuneaton and Stafford which followed the canal closely for several miles, with Virgin and local trains rushing by every few minutes. The motorways; first under the M6, then the M69, and finally almost at the end of the day where the M6 runs alongside the canal for a mile, heard loudly, but hidden by a barrier of trees and scrub-land. Throughout, though, the canalside manages to keep a feeling of peace and life passing at a leisurely pace.

The very last part was strange. I kept thinking I could only be five minutes from the Junction, but I must have passed those five minutes three times! The canal goes through probably the ugliest part of its entire length, straight past a major electricity sub-station; a forest of transformers, cables and pylons, and then emerges into a green park area just by the last lock, Sutton Stop Lock, Hawkesbury Junction and the Greyhound pub! The walk was done.

Sutton Stop Lock

Hawkesbury Junction

The Greyhound, Hawkesbury_Junction

Here’s my Viewranger track of leg 5:

Access: Start – arranged lift from Leamington Spa to Marston Doles. Finish – leave canal, walk to Travelodge Rugby Central (opposite the railway station).

74 – 88 km Marston Doles – Braunston Junction

On a damp grey morning I was back at Marston Doles. Through the day the weather alternated between heavy drizzle and light drizzle, with a few brief periods when the drizzle stopped and the sun tried but failed to come out. I sat under the bridge at the lock and put on my waterproofs. This turned out to be a good decision; the overgrown towpath and overhanging bushes and trees made me wetter than the rain did that day.

The canalside flowers of May had gone, but the autumn fruits were abundant. It seemed a particularly good year for crab apples.

Destination Rugby

Plenty of these ...

... and these ...

... and these

Overgrown towpath

Having climbed to an elevation of 116m at Marston Doles the canal drops 16m through 9 locks to Napton Bottom Lock and the junction with the Grand Union Canal. It stays at this level as far as Rugby (Hillmorton), where three double locks fall another 6 metres. The only other lock on the canal is Sutton Stop Lock at Hawkesbury Junction, the end of the walk.

It’s only six kilometres to the Grand Union but there are two pubs on the way. The junction itself is unremarkable, with a middle-of-nowhere feel about it. A typical brick arch bridge spans the Grand Union, which comes down from Birmingham to join the Oxford Canal at the same level without a stop lock.

Marston Doles Top Lock

Marston Doles Bottom Lock

Greens Lock

Napton Locks 13

Napton Locks 12

Napton Locks 11

Napton Locks 10

Napton Locks 9

Napton Bottom Lock

The Folly Inn, Napton

Water Point

Crab Apples

The Bridge Inn, Napton

Winding Point

Napton Bridge 110

Grand Union Canal, Napton junction

Napton Junction

The southern section of the Oxford Canal is notorious for its twists and turns. For the rest of the walk the route is much straighter. With only one more set of locks to come I was looking out for other features. If you look at the OS maps for the area you will see the countryside is criss-crossed by a network of disused and dismantled railway lines. Two of these cross the canal not far from Braunston Junction, the first on an east-west line and the second north-south. The solidly-built bridge abutments are still clearly visible.

The first of these marks the site of the Nethercote railway bridge. This carried the Weedon & Leamington Railway¹ over the canal. The second is the remnants of the Wolfhampcote Railway Bridge (sometimes spelled Wolfhamcote) which carried the Great Central Railway’s London extension². I’ll leave the history of these lines to the railway historians, but the footnotes have some links to get you started.

Just after Wolfhampcote the path makes its second foray into Northamptonshire and arrives at Braunston Junction. This is where the Oxford and Grand Union canals separate again, the Oxford heading north for Rugby and Coventry, and the Grand Union heading south to London. Unlike Napton Junction, Braunston was bustling with activity with a chandlery and boat services station catering to a continuous flow of working and leisure boats. I stopped to eat my lunch.

Nethercote Railway Bridge abutment

Chambers Bridge 100

Wolfhampcote Railway Bridge abutment

Braunston Junction

Braunston Junction signpost

Braunston Junction

88 – 102 km Braunston Junction – Rugby (Clifton Road)

North of Braunston the canal nips briefly into Warwickshire, back into Northamptonshire, and finally back into Warwickshire. Several long straight sections mean good progress with little to do but wave to passing boats and try to remember to take a picture of every tenth bridge. I chatted briefly to the boatmen of NB “Tug No.1” and NB “Opposite Lock” who were both going my way, but as they politely slowed down for oncoming boats I soon left them behind.

Further on a swan and her grown cygnets were grazing from bushes on the far bank, too far away for me to see what was attracting them. Blackberries? Hawthorn berries? Rose hips? The dismantled Great Central Railway ran beside the canal for a couple of kilometres just south of the prison at Onley. The only visible trace was a long, straight, narrow field.

Just here I hit a diversion across three fields, first on one side of the canal and then the other before finally being able to cross back over. There was a security fence with danger signs, “Deep Excavation”. From the opposite bank I could see why the path was diverted. It wasn’t anything to do with the prison as I’d first thought, but a vast new marina being built – Dunchurch Pools.

London Road Bridge 90

Oops!

Swan grazing

Diversion near Onley

Dunchurch Pools marina

Then it was under the M45 and on to the outskirts of Rugby. Just after passing the Old Royal Oak pub and going under the main railway line at Hillmorton I passed the most easterly point of the whole Oxford Canal walk. The unusual Hillmorton Locks are a set of three pairs of locks in parallel, doubling the capacity of this short flight. The curious words engraved in the lock beam arms are from a series of brief poems called “Locklines” by Roy Fisher and others.

Another two miles with the company of the railway on my left got me to the Clifton Road bridge (no. 66) and the end of the day’s walk.

Wises Bridge 80

Caution!

M45 bridge

Wasps nest

Old Royal Oak, Hillmorton

Hillmorton Top Locks

Hillmorton Top Locks

Hillmorton Middle Lock 4

Hillmorton Middle Lock 5

Hillmorton Bottom Locks

Hillmorton signpost

Kent Road Bridge 69

Here’s my Viewranger track of leg 4.

Access: Start – drive to Banbury and park. Finish – arranged lift from Marston Doles back to Banbury.

44 – 55km Banbury – Claydon summit

On what turned out to be the warmest day of the year so far I was back at Castle Quay in Banbury to continue walking the Oxford Canal from Oxford to Coventry. My original plan to complete the walk in 2016 fell through, but I’m not in a hurry.

Banbury is expanding. New housing and new commercial estates are springing up north and south of the town centre, but despite this the canal is peaceful as it makes its way north. Where I’d expected a repeat of the factories and yards I’d passed a year ago when I was approaching from the south there was only greenery. I had occasional glimpses of industry through the trees, but apart from a short noisy stretch alongside the A423 all was tranquil and quiet. With the canal on my left the towpath was in shade, and the thick, mature hedge kept the sun off until well into the day.

On the outskirts of town a new development on the opposite bank loomed incongruously over the canal; a series of grey, windowless buildings whose architecture said “Here is power. Keep away.” It was only at the end of the day as I was being driven back to my parked car that I saw it was an amazon distribution centre. Shortly after I passed under the M40 for the third and last time.

From here to Cropredy is pleasant going. The canal is never far from the River Cherwell but with the thick hedge on the right you don’t see any scenery on that side. I only noticed the Cherwell once when it was just a few steps away. Pushing through a small gap to take a picture I came across a swan with her cygnets calmly floating on the river.

Castle Quay

Tranquility

New industry

Hardwick Bridge

M40 bridge

Little Bourton Lock

Little Bourton Lock

Swan & cygnets

Slat Mill Lock

Distance marker

Che Guevara

Yellow irises

Canal signpost

Cropredy Lock

I met an elderly gentleman at Cropredy Lock. He was launching a small dinghy with an outboard motor. He told me he and his wife had travelled all over the country in their narrow boat, and after she died and he got too old to handle a large boat he now used the dinghy for short journeys up and down the canal. I took the opportunity to ask if he knew what the black-and-white ‘DS’ markers I’d seen from time to time were. He told me the markers actually read ‘DIS’, and they were distance markers.

Their significance goes back to the days when time meant money working the canal. If a boat was heading, say, south towards Oxford the boatman might send the ‘wheeler’ on ahead to make sure the next lock was full and ready for the boat. If the lock was empty and ready for northbound traffic this meant ‘turning’ the lock. But if another boat was coming the other way, turning the lock meant a delay for the northbound boat, and fights could and did break out. The distance markers were installed either side of every lock; any boat ‘inside the distance’ had priority over another approaching from the other direction and the lock could not be turned against it. That at least was the theory. It has the ring of truth, and I believed him. (See also this discussion on a canal enthusiasts’ discussion board.)

Distance marker

Cropredy is significant in the Oxford Canal’s geography; it’s here that the canal and the River Cherwell diverge (well, technically converge) as the river flows in from its source to the north east. For another mile the canal keeps company with the Highfurlong Brook, a tributary of the Cherwell, which flows out of the Boddington Reservoir to the NNE and of which more later; but soon the canal and the brook are separated by a low ridge and part company. However the other companion, the railway, is still not very far away to the left.

Just north of Cropredy is a vast marina with 249 berths. Opened in 2013 it was too new to be marked on my OS map. In October 2016 the owners won planning permission for an extra 100 berths.

There were many more boats moving on the canal than I had seen last year; most locks seemed to have a boat going through. My pleasant stroll continued until I reached the highlight of the day – the flight of five locks at Claydon which raise the canal to its summit. There was even some mild congestion here.

Broadmoor Bridge & Lock

Elkingtons Lock

Varneys Lock

You are here

Welcome to Claydon

Claydon Bottom Lock

Claydon Lock no. 20

Claydon Lock no. 19

Claydon Lock no. 18

Claydon Top Lock

At the summit

55 – 74km Claydon summit – Marston Doles

At a dizzy elevation of about 110m above sea level the canal and I had ‘climbed’ about 50m since leaving Oxford. Now starts the ‘Eleven Mile Pound’: from here to Marston Doles the canal is dead level. There are no locks. My highest point would be the bridge where the towpath crosses from one side of the canal to the other.

This stretch is notable for the great loop the canal follows to get round the slight elevation of Wormleighton Hill. About 1.4km from the top lock there’s a point where a crow flying due north would meet the canal again in 3.7km (2.3 ml). To get there by the canal path a walker must travel 11km (6.9 ml) – three times the distance – in the process going in literally every direction of the compass. Resisting the temptation to cheat I pressed on.

Just here too the map shows a ‘dismantled railway’ tight against the canal and towpath. Across the old industrial Midlands there’s a whole network of old railway lines long since disused and dismantled. This particular one is the relic of the prosaically-named East and West Junction Railway which ran between Stratford-on-Avon and Green’s Norton near Towcester. It opened in 1873 and had a faltering history, merging with other companies and finally closing in 1964 (see here and here for more information).

Just at this point a numbered canal bridge, no. 142, does not span the canal but takes the towpath over an overgrown channel. The bridge is identified as ‘Feeder Bridge 142’. There’s no sign of the railway, but the bridge (see photo) is surely too solidly built just to carry a towpath. It must have carried the railway over the feeder channel too.

A bit more detective work on the map shows that this channel – feeding into the highest stretch of the canal and needed to keep the level topped up – flows originally from the same Boddington Reservoir that is the source of the Highfurlong Brook which accompanies the canal for a short time north of Cropredy.

After another few hundred metres the canal crosses the county boundary, leaving Oxford for Warwickshire. It stays in this county all the way to Coventry apart from a brief foray into Northamptonshire around the 90km mark.

Motivational boat

Feeder Bridge

Into Warwickshire

E&W Junction Railway

Tunnel Bridge plaque

Crossover bridge

Fenny Compton Marina

Wharf Inn

A solidly built bridge abutment shows where the E&W Junction Railway crossed the canal. At the same point the modern railway swings in and runs alongside the canal through a 2km cutting called “The Tunnel”. The Fenny Compton Tunnel opened in 1776 and was a little over 1km long. Some covering sections were removed between 1838 and 1840, and the rest had been removed by 1870. Now the towpath runs part way up the cutting several meters above the water.

Just after the Tunnel Bridge carrying the A423 over the canal the towpath crosses to the other side of the canal. There’s another significant crossing point somewhere along this section; the canal crosses England’s east-west watershed. Until now all the ditches and streams in the adjoining fields, and all the trickles running over the canal sluices have eventually drained into the River Cherwell and from there into the Thames and out to the North Sea. From here on they drain into the River Itchen, then the Leam, the Warwickshire Avon, the Severn and out into the Bristol Channel. Nicholas Crane would appreciate this, I’m sure.

Not far beyond the end of the cutting is Fenny Compton Marina (a shop sells refreshments). This is where the canal and the railway finally part company after being together since Oxford. A bit further again is the Wharf Inn, the only canalside pub on this day’s walk. I was tempted, but I’d been dawdling. It was already past 2 o’clock and my feet were beginning to hurt. I passed on.

The rest of the walk was frankly rather dull. A mildly interesting feature might have been what looked on the map to be a very sharp bend where the canal almost bent back on itself, but the reality was unimpressive. To pass the time I determined to take a picture as I headed north, west, east and south before reaching the point at the end of the loop where I had been 3.7km due south a few hours ago.

Every point of the compass

With my blistered feet becoming increasingly painful the last 4 – 5 km were a dull trudge. At the end of a final straight stretch I turned a slight bend and found  – a lock! Marston Doles Top Lock. The first down lock of the whole walk so far.

Sharp bend

Speedwell

Every 10th bridge

Going down!

Here’s my Viewranger track of leg 3.

This neat little book by freelance Oxford historian Liz Woolley picks out a couple of dozen of Oxford’s Victorian and Edwardian industrial and commercial buildings, many of which still survive today. If you didn’t know where four of the city’s breweries used to be, where the original railway station was (not where the present one is), or why there’s a crane on the Head of the River pub’s riverside terrace, this is the book for you.

The buildings are grouped into three easy walks complete with their own map.

The assistant in the charity shop recommended this collection of Oxford-based short stories by Oxford-based writers (collectively Oxpens – geddit?). It was a good suggestion. It reminded me why the short story, done well, is a very pleasing genre. Inevitably some of the stories work better than others but they were all interesting and covered a wide range of settings from medieval to modern. The writers themselves range from accomplished amateur to professional.

This is the second Oxpens short story collection to be published: I shall look out for the first set.