December 2022
Near Stretton Stop, Brinklow has a 13th-century church and the remains of a medieval castle built to defend the Fosse Way which crosses the canal here.
The short Newbold Tunnel (250yd/229m) marks the canal’s entrance into Rugby, a town which is world famous for its connection with rugby. The Webb Ellis Rugby Football Museum tells the story of how one schoolboy changed the course of sporting history. Just south of Rugby, the distinctive Hillmorton Locks are in pairs, originally doubled up to allow more traffic through this busy stretch of canal, and the gates of Locks 4 and 5 had special canal poetry carved into them as part of celebrations when British Waterways became the Canal & River Trust in 2012.
A few miles south lies the idyllic canal village of Braunston, at the junction between the Oxford and Grand Union Canals, once one of the busiest commercial trading points linking with London. Canal engineer James Brindley built the Oxford Canal in his typical winding fashion, flowing around contours rather than bulldozing a straight course.
When the much straighter Grand Union Canal was built, it stole much of the Oxford Canal’s commercial traffic – but the Oxford Canal fought back by charging extortionate tolls to use its water in the London to Birmingham link between Braunston and Napton. Today it has become a much-loved hotspot for canal leisure seekers and Braunston Marina hosts the annual Braunston Historic Boat Rally.
All Saints’ Church is known as the ‘Cathedral of the canals’, having over seen the christenings, marriages and burials of generations of boaters. And there’s plenty more to explore with Horseley iron bridges, historic workshops, and a settlement steeped in history dating back to the Domesday Book.
At Braunston Turn the Grand Union Canal makes its way east and then south towards London, while the ring continues south-west meandering through quiet open country back to Napton Junction.
Mixing the urban with rural delights, the Warwickshire Ring is a journey of junctions in the very heart of the canal network. A chameleon route which journeys from one of the busiest village hubs of Britain’s canals all the way to the canal capital.