Canal Boat — January 2018

48 January 2018 Canal Boat canalboat.co.ukcanalboat.co.uk

THE CRUISE GUIDE

Oxford Canal (North)

BRAUNSTON

JOURNEY PLANNER Follow the route with our map showing distances, locks and pubs

Distances/locks

between pins

Direction

of locks Tunnel

Waterway

junction

Our top ten pubs

see panel overleaf GRAND UNION (SOUTH)

RUGBY SCHOOL AND ITS MUSEUM are open

to booked tours or a ‘drop in’ tour at 2pm on

Saturday. Experience the atmosphere of the

school 200 years ago, learn about its famous

pupils, and discover the origins of Rugby

Football and the ground where it was first

played. While you’re in Rugby, there is also the

Webb Ellis Rugby Football Museum nearby.

MUST SEE

I

n last month’s journey up the

southern section of the Oxford Canal,

we concluded our journey at

Braunston. This month we’ll return to

Braunston to begin our trip on the

northern section of the Oxford Canal, a

waterway very different in character to

its southern neighbour.

And the reason for that change of

character is that in 1829, faced with

competition from more direct canals, the

Oxford Canal Company began

straightening out the section between

Hawkesbury Junction and Braunston.

The old meandering curves were sliced

off and replaced by deep cuttings and

embankments, reducing the original

journey by 14 miles. This left a number of

old loops and branches of the original

line, of which most are now derelict, but

in some cases they remain in water and

are used for mooring.

For a while this straightening out

achieved its aim of allowing quicker

journeys for the working boats, until the

railways eventually impacted on trade.

Nevertheless, the northern section

stayed open for business, while its

southern neighbour came close to closing

down in the mid-20th Century.

Braunston, situated at the junction of

the Oxford and Grand Union Canals, is

the hub of the canal system south of

OXFORD CANAL (SOUTH)