Canal Boat — January 2018

4 January 2018 Canal Boat canalboat.co.uk

26

BOAT TEST: BRAYZELL 44FT CRUISER

This compact narrowboat-style widebeam

was built to be the perfect retirement bolt hole

36

HISTORY

Roger Wickson recalls his boyhood among

the working boats of the Oxford Canal

41

CHRISTMAS CRACKER

Martin’s fiendishly tricky festive quiz

47

CRUISE GUIDE: OXFORD CANAL (NORTH)

There is a change of character heading up

from Braunston on the northern stretch of the Oxford

56

LIVEABOARD

David Johns heads back to the Cut after his

river cruise. With help from a few friends

62

CANAL WALK: BIRMINGHAM

Urban interest and some brilliant festive

markets on this month’s foray

FEATURES

58

NARROWBOAT TRUST

The second part of Charlotte Fleming’s

working holiday on the Brighton and Nuneaton

REGULARS

03

EDITORIAL

The waterways might be quieter at this

time of year but their beauty remains undimmed

and there is plenty to look forward to this month

06

NEWS

Marple shut until mid-March; CRT licence

review; red diesel threat; CRT Executive reshuffle and

much more

17

LETTERS

The new licence review has certainly

ruffled some feathers and the CRT responds

20

ME & MY BOATS

A family home, a holiday cruiser and a Jimi

Hendrix tribute all rolled in to one

HOLIDAY AFLOAT

COVER STORY

COVER

STORY

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• Easy-to-follow route map • Information for boaters • Ten top pubs guide

CRUISE YOUR COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO THE WATERWAYS AROUND THE UKGUIDE

After the tortuous windings of the southern Oxford, the northern part comes as a contrast - a result of an 1830s shortening

exercise whose traces are still visible to today’s leisure boaters

Oxford Canal (north)

AND KEEPPULL OUT

PART 2

TEXT & PICTURES BY DEREK PRATT

canalboat.co.uk canalboat.co.uk

48 January 2018 Canal Boat

Canal Boat January 2018 49

canalboat.co.uk canalboat.co.uk

THE CRUISE GUIDEOxford Canal (North)

BRAUNSTON

JOURNEY PLANNERDistances/locks between pins Direction of locksFollow the route with our map showing distances, locks and pubs

Tunnel Waterway junction (^) see panel overleafOur top ten pubs
3 MILES / 3 LOCKS RUGBY
GRAND UNION (SOUTH) (^12) 6 MILES / NO LOCKS 3 HILLMORTON 4
Saturday. school 200 years ago, learn about its faRUGBY SCHOOL AND ITS MUSEUM to booked tours or a ‘drop in’ tour atExperience the atmosphere of the are open 2pm on
Webb pupils, and discover the origins of Football and the ground where it was first played. While you’re in REllis Rugby Football Mugby, there is also the Rugby mous
useum nearby.
MUST SEE
I
n last month’s journey up the southern section of the Oxford Canawe concluded our journey at l,
northern section of the Oxford CanalBraunston to begin our trip on the Braunston. This month we’ll return to
character is that in 1829, faced withwaterway very different in character toits southern neighbour. And the reason for that change of , a^
competition from more direct canals (^) , the
Oxford Canal Company began straightening out the section beHawkesbury Junction and Braunston. tween
off and replaced by deep cuttings and embankments, reducing the original journey by 14 miles. This left a number of The old meandering curves were sliced^
line, of which most are now derelict, bin some cases they remain in wateold loops and branches of the original ut
are used for mooring. r and
achieved its aim of allowing quicker journeys for the working boats, until For a while this straightening out
railways eventually impacted on tNevertheless, the northern section stayed open for business, while its southern neighbour came close to closingrade. the
down in the mid-20th Century. the Oxford and Grand Union Canathe hub of the canal system south oBraunston, situated at the junction ols, is f
f
Birmingham. Its location makes it a busy boating centre throughout the year in particular during the annualand
to bank. It has a large marina, two canalside pubs, a flight of locks and a long tunnel all on the Grand Union. boat rally when it is often crammed bank working
church spire stands on a hill overlooking the waterway. Braunston village with its prominent
We begin our voyage at the junction of
the Grand Union and Oxford Canabeneath two elegant cast-iron bridgesknown as Braunston Turn.The canal passes through open ls, ,
and patterns in some fields. These are countryside for the first five miles between Braunston and Rugby. Near Willoughby Wharf you will see bumps
remnants of a medieval method of farming known as ‘ridge and furrowresult of ploughing with non-reversible ’ a
ploughed in the Middle Ages buploughs on the same strip of land after year. It still is visible on land year
bridges 81 and 82. The developmentsince.Dunchurch Pools Marina between The next point of interest is the new t not used
OXFORD CANAL (SOUTH) been designed by the architects responsible for the Eden Project in Cornwall, working in partnership with the landscape architects who have has
The deep Nettle Hill Cutting dates from the improvements of the 1830s
TH I S MONTH
(^7320)
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