The Oxford Canal - the stretch from Hawkesbury Junction to Braunston Turn - with photos.

Features, bridges and locks on the Oxford Canal as it heads south from Hawkesbury Junction via Brinklow, Newbold Tunnel and Hillmorton Locks to Braunston.

If you are on holiday in England and would like to enjoy seeing some of our wildlife, old buildings, beautiful canal locks and bridges plus lovely English countryside you could do far worse than visit one of our English canals - and the Oxford Canal would be a great choice for this. We cannot find any actual bridge numbers for the first 3 bridges at the start of the canal at Hawkesbury and assumed therefore that the numbers we have given are probably correct since they are logical. We have also assumed the Wyken Arm Bridge is bridge number 6. The towpath heading south from Hawkesbury Junction is in relatively good condition all the way to Brinklow for cyclists and walkers and where there are muddy problems British Waterways seem to be solving the problem. As you continue past Rugby it is surprising how really peaceful the Oxford Canal is and you would not think you were in the midst of such a major city - the high hedgerow and loads of trees make this really nice walking. We did divert to have a look at Newbold Quarry Park - really this is just a series of walkways going round the original (now deep water filled) quarry - with much of the edge of the quarry itself ringed with high metal fencing. As Rugby is left behind by the Oxford Canal the route is mostly through open countryside especially as you continue on past Hillmorton Locks - which incidentally is the last place for any facilities before reaching Braunston.
Note - the canal's towpath from Tarrys Bridge 74 heading south really deteriorates - lots of collapses, deep holes and and if the weather is/has been wet very deep sticky mud. In addition this part of the route is really overgrown with bramble and nettle in some places - and the towpath remains in this condition very nearly into Braunston itself.

The Oxford Canal's original route may have changed around Bridge 18 and Hopsford Aqueduct.

It seems possible that where the Oxford Canal goes over Bridge 18 this may well have been the path of the original canal - it is now used to link various parts of a golf course and is fenced off from the canal itself. Similarly at Hopsford Aqueduct 20 again it may have been the path of the old route - in any case it's well worth a walk down the bank to take a look at this bridge and also the excellent arches and brickwork on the adjacent still in use railway bridge.

The Oxford Canal and Brinklow Arches.

As the Oxford Canal passes Brinklow it has to cross a valley and when the canal was being built James Brindley designed an aqueduct to acheive this. The aqueduct has embankments both ends, runs for around 450 yards and is set on 12 brick and stone arches each spanning 22 feet. Nearly all of the arches have been filled in but you can still clamber down through the nettles and bramble and take a look at part of the structure (picture above). The fairly quite short Brinklow Canal Arm leaves from around here but is heavily weeded and silted up and therefore unfortunately dis-used. Several picture rows down see Oxford Canal Bridge 39 - this leads into the Brinklow Marina and offers a gorgeous example of a Horseley Iron Works canal bridge.

The Oxford Canal and about Newbold Tunnel.

The "new" 250 metre long Newbold Tunnel was built in 1829 as part of the 11 mile shortening of the Oxford Canal which was achieved in 1834. The tunnel is wide enough for two way traffic and is well -perhaps spookily- lit up and has a towpath on both sides which is rather unusual however only one side is actually available to use. The southern entrance to the original tunnel which dated from 1777 is located within the Churchyard of St Botolphs but has been bricked up with just a couple of gaps to allow bats to come and go and can be barely seen because of heavy undergrowth.

The Oxford Canal and Hillmorton Locks and Twinlocks:

These paired Oxford Canal locks are located in a pleasant area - just the right place to stop and eat lunch - there are several bench seats available alongside the towpath with the nicest part of the area probably by locks 2 and 3. There are canal-boat workshops and also a cafe alongside Hillmorton lock flight. Originally these canal locks were singles but during the Canal's modernisation a second set of locks were built alongside the originals to help with both water conservation and ease congestion.