The Northampton Canal Arm - Bridges, Locks and other Canal Features.

The Northampton Canal Arm was opened in 1815 and created a link between The Grand Central Canal at Gayton Junction and via the navigable River Nene on to Peterborough and The Wash.

The Northampton Canal Arm starts (or ends) at Cotton End Wharf at Lock 17 on the southern edge of Northampton where it connects with the River Nene and then proceeds on it's fairly short 4 3/4 mile course to link up with the Grand Union Canal at Gayton Junction. You can get onto the Northampton Canal Arm from the bridge which carries the A43 south out of Northampton - turn right on the towpath and walk the short distance up to the first of the canal's lock - Cotton End Lock no.17. Then of course being a canal the route is totally straightforward - just go back past the A43 roadbridge and stay on the towpath all the way down to Gayton Junction. Around Cotton Lock 17 the canal is somewhat scruffy with some litter and so on lying about but once you get past the first railway bridge things improve a lot. As is sadly the case these days the first few bridges have been painted on with ugly graffitti but again this stupidity disappears quite soon once you are a little way along. There are some lovely old bridges to be seen and sadly two modern concrete things (the lack of any attempt at design on modern bridges especially where they have to go anywhere near our lovely canals is disgusting - the attitude seems to be let's just poor a mass of concrete over the poor canal and that will do.).

Some of the missing lift bridges (or drawbridges) on the Northampton Arm are being repaired/re-instated and these look pretty good - they are fixed in their open position however.

Cotton End Lock 17	Cotton End Lock 17	Pipe Bridge at Cotton End	Bridge 17	Railway Bridge 16
Unknown ?	Railway Bridge 15	Pipe Bridge	Lock 16	Lock 16 and PipeBridge
Briar Hill Bridge 14	Briar Hill Bridge 14	Bridge 13 and PipeBridge	Bridge 13	Hardingstone Lock 15

The towpath is in an excellent condition throughout the entire Northampton Canal Arm - easy to both walk and cycle on and good enough for a comfortable wander along using for instance a pushchair. There is a thriving community of ducks (fat ducks of course) plus moorhens, coot etc. living their lives happily all along the canal's route - also lots of reeds, trees and other foliage to be enjoyed - making a walk really enjoyable. Perhaps the only real drawback is the constant traffic noise from the A34 road which accompanies the canal for quite some distance.

Hardingstone Lock 15	A45 Roadbridge 9b	Canal Bridge	Missing Drawbridge ?	Banbury Lane Bridge 9
Banbury Lane Bridge 9	Wootton Lock Gates 14	Wootton Lock 14	Aqueduct	Aqueduct
Drawbridge 7	Rothersthorpe Bottom Lock 13	Rothersthorpe Bottom Lock 13	M1 sliproad Bridge	M1 roadbridge
Rothersthorpe Lock 12	M1 sliproad Bridge	Rothersthorpe Lock 11	Rothersthorpe Lock 11	Drawbridge 6

The maximum size for canal boats travelling on the Northampton Arm is:
Length 72feet, Beam 7 feet, Height 7 feet 6 inches and a maximum draught of 3 feet. The canal features a flight of 17 single locks - you can see most of them from the top of the flight at Rothersthorpe Top Lock (no.1). In the summer and particularly on weekends this area is extremely popular with visitors on holiday in England - you can see the locks in a much more peaceful way during weekdays of course.

Rothersthorpe Lock 10	Rothersthorpe Lock 9	Rothersthorpe Lock 9	Rothersthorpe Lock 8	Rothersthorpe Lock 8
Rothersthorpe Lock 7	Rothersthorpe Lock 7	Rothersthorpe Lock 6	Rothersthorpe Lock 6	Drawbridge 5
Rothersthorpe Lock 5	Rothersthorpe Lock 5	Rothersthorpe Lock 4	Rothersthorpe Lock 4	Rothersthorpe Lock 3

Rothersthorpe Lock 3	Bridge 4 and PipeBridge	Bridge 4	Rothersthorpe Lock 2	Rothersthorpe Lock 2
Rothersthorpe Top Lock 1	Rothersthorpe Top Lock 1	Sand Landing Bridge 3	Sand Landing Bridge 3	Arm End Bridge 2 and Pipes

The Photos on the left are of Arm End Bridge (bridge 2) and then Gayton Junction and the Grand Union Canal. Parking is available in Stoke Bruerne in the Canal Museum car-park  and you can catch a bus (the bus stop is on the museum side of the bridge) which leaves  at 1018hrs (but this time needs checking for updates) to go into Northampton.
To continue on to Stoke Bruerne you have to go left along the Grand Union Canal for several 100 yards to reach Turnover Bridge 47 - this is an interesting old canal bridge as it has a walkway for the horses which used to pull the canal boats. Cross the bridge and go back along the other side of the Grand Union - passing Gayton Junction and continuing on South. The canal passes to the west of Blisworth and then reaches the third longest navigable waterway tunnel in the United Kingdom - the 3057 yards long Blisworth Tunnel (which was originally opened in March 1805).

The modernised tunnel allows two 7 foot wide canal boats to pass - however there is no towpath through the tunnel. To continue walking you have to climb up on a pathway to a small country track, turn left and then almost immediately right onto a road. Follow the road until it bends half right - a wide signposted path on the left hand side of the road goes ahead from here and takes you gently down to reach the southern end of Blisworth Tunnel and the towpath. From here it is only a relatively short distance back to Stoke Bruerne.

We have picked out a few Books about England - Churches, Canals and Rivers as well as walks in England and English Nature. The Nicholsons Waterways Guides are a "must take" for anyone going on a Canal Barge or Narrowboat holiday (as well as anyone visiting the canals) as they are packed with really useful information. If the development and history of our Canals is of particular interest consider the Anatomy of Canals series - really good reading!. (The relevant Nicholoson Guide covering The Northampton Canal is BOOK 1.)