Hawkesbury Junction

 

Disused canal arm

M6 passes high above the canal

Hawkesbury Junction stop lock

Last night was somewhat disturbed with rain and thunder.  At 2am we were woken up by the screeching bark of a fox  which seemed to be right outside the boat.  Today has been another hot and humid day. First job in the morning was to spray WD40 on a couple of stiff hinges and have a general check of the engine.  All was well so we set off at 9:40.

Our route took us through pleanat thoiugh unremarkable countryside.  All along the canal there is evidence of the changes that the canal hs undergone since it was contructed in the 1770's.  The picture shows the old bridge over a now disused arm to the nearby village of  Brinklow.  Other similar bridges are all that remains of extravagent meanders in the original canal which was straightened in the 1820's. The engineer if I remember correctly was Marc Brunel, Isambard Kindom's father.

Further on we pass ed beneath a more modern construction, the high bridge that takes the M6 over both the canal and the adjacent West Coast main railway line.

We finshed our journey for today at 12:50 at Hawkesbury Junction, which marks the end of the North Oxford Canal.  Here the canal descends a 1 foot stop lock to the Coventry Canal.  The lock helps maintain water levels and prevents water flowing from one canal to the other as the canals were built by separate ond often rival companies.  Of course water was a valuable asset.

3 hours 10 minutes, 7.99 miles,