Hawkesbury and Marston Junctions - via Coventry to the Ashby Canal

Having turned onto the Oxford Canal at Braunston we soon came to the three locks at Hillmorton. Unlike the Grand Union these are all narrow locks, taking only one narrowboat at a time. Though there are three locks to go down, each one has two locks side by side so it is unusual to have to wait for a turn.

The North Oxford was straightened in the 1820s taking out some of the circuitous sections by means of cuttings and embankments. We came across several towpath bridges like this one which cross the old course of the canal. To the left is now a dead end.

One of the 'new' cuttings at Brinklow beyond Rugby collapsed into the canal during the winter and is now slowly being reopened. It was quite a bad slip as the picture shows.

And here is more slippage.

Soon after Brinklow we came to the pedestrian swing bridge at Stretton Stop. It was a good job that Helen swung the bridge back across the canal after we passed to allow the cat to cross!

After crossing underneath the M6 and following alongside for a mile or two we came to Hawkesbury Junction shown here. This marks the north end of the Oxford Canal where it meets the Coventry Canal. There is a small stop lock here with a fall of just a foot or so. Beyond the lock, boats have to turn sharp right and then come to a T junction where we turned left to go 5 miles into Coventry. Right leads north along the Coventry Canal towards Nuneaton and Tamworth. It is a tricky junction but turning left is easier than going right which entails a 180 degree sharp turn.

On the way into Coventry we passed 'Cash's Hundred Houses' shown here. In fact there are only 48. They were built for weavers and the top storey with the big windows was where the weaving was done with a drive shaft running along the whole terrace to power the machinery.

Here is Leo moored in the basin at the terminus close to the centre of the city. We spent just one night here but visited the city in the afternoon on Friday (25th) and on Saturday morning.

We were keen to visit St Mary's Guildhall which has been restored and reopened since we last visited. It is a wonderful medieval building and well worth the visit.

This is the Great Hall and Helen at the far end is admiring the Coventry Tapestry, an amazing piece of work, though rather dark to make out its content. The roof of the Great Hall has beautifully painted sculptures of angels mostly playing musical instruments ....

... as this picture shows.

Back to the Canal Basin where Helen is getting friendly with a larger than life James Brindley who built this canal (and plenty others) which opened in 1769.

On Saturday morning we went back into the city, passing this terrace of 18th century houses which somehow escaped the bombing of the city in 1940.

We were able  to visit the cathedral, built after the original one was destroyed in the bombing. We liked the sentiments in this welcome banner - enlarge it to read properly.

The East window is wonderfully colourful.

And in this view down the nave you can see the huge tapestry behind the altar made by Graham Sutherland.

A clock in the modern shopping precinct has a display by Lady Godiva on the hour every hour. Here you can see Godiva suitably unclothed on her horse ...

... and here, as Godiva departs, you can see Peeping Tom looking at what is going on.

Here we are looking back as we left the Canal Basin on Saturday lunch time.

We retraced our outward course for 5 miles back to Hawkesbury Junction  and then carried straight on following the Coventry Canal to Marston Junction where the Ashby Canal turns off right. In this picture Leo is going under bridge 15 on the Coventry. If you look beyond you can see there is a bridge over the Ashby on the right. This is a very tight turn and difficult to do without bumping. That is why there are no more photos of the junction with Helen on the front and Ian steering cautiously at the back. But we did it without a bump.

 The Ashby Canal stretches broadly north through Hinckley to the Bosworth Battlefield and terminates at Snarestone. But that is a story for the next posting.

To Braunston

 We have finally set off on our summer of boating.  I have promised to do a blog post at least every time we pass a canal junction so that you can keep track of us. This blog posting passes two junctions as you will see:

One of the delights of travelling on the canals early in the season is seeing the new broods of baby birds appearing. Above you can see a group of 9 cygnets and below a group of 10 ducklings. 9 babies for a swan is about the most we have ever seen.

Saturday began with an excursion by car to buy a new starter battery, having found on Friday that the engine refused to start. So we only set off after midday as far as Weedon where we decided to moor and enjoy relaxing in the sunshine with a cuppa.

Ash's parents gave us these solar lanterns for Christmas and we've been able to display them on the roof, fixed in the plant tubs. They even turn on going through tunnels! Thanks Rob and Carol.

Here we are on Sunday coming to the first of the seven Buckby Locks. We went up six of them with a nice family on a hire boat and then moored in a favourite spot below the top lock.

Here is the view across the canal through one of our portholes to the field of sheep opposite. As you can see our first few days have seen excellent sunny weather.

And so on Monday to our first canal junction - Norton Junction. To the right beyond the house and in front of the willow tree is the Leicester Branch of the Grand Union Canal. As well as going through Leicester this continues as the River Soar to join the River Trent near Nottingham. We didn't go that way and instead went to the left, staying on the main line of the Grand Union to go through  Braunston Tunnel.

Once through the Braunston tunnel (about one and a third miles long) we soon came to the top lock of the Braunston flight of six). We shared with a single chap and dog on 'Alacrity'. The picture shows us in the bottom lock.

Braunston is usually one of the busiest places on the waterways but on Monday it was deserted.

At the other end of Braunston we came to the second canal junction, Braunston Turn, shown above. Here the Grand Union Canal goes left heading for Birmingham and Oxford and the North Oxford Canal goes right towards Coventry. Our way lay right. In fact it is more confusing than I have described in that the Oxford Canal predates the Grand Union. Before the latter was built, left and right were the Oxford Canal and where Leo is seen was an old course of the Oxford before it was straightened. When the Grand Union 'shared' a few miles of the Oxford Canal there were long disputes as to the fees to be paid to the Oxford.

 A little way beyond Braunston Turn we moored with a fine view of Braunston Church, a major landmark on the waterways.

Our way from here lies north up the North Oxford Canal to Hawkesbury Junction near Coventry. So there should be another posting on this blog in a few days time. see you then.

Boating season Summer 2024

 Thursday 16th May

We've moved onto Leo today and plan to set off on the waterways on Saturday 18th.  We've decided this year to use our blog once more but only to post entries on an occasional basis, principally when we pass a junction on the canals. This will make it easier for friends and relatives to keep track of our movements during the summer.  People who happen to be passing nearby are welcome to contact us and hopefully we might meet up. We will be starting by going north from Weedon in Northamptonshire. We plan to travel up the west side of England initially to Stoke and Manchester. Who knows where we will get to!

Have a good summer.

Ian and Helen on Leo