Canal Boat — January 2018

canalboat.co.ukcanalboat.co.uk Canal Boat January 2018 49

RUGBY

1 2 6 MILES / NO LOCKS^3 3 MILES / 3 LOCKS

HILLMORTON

4

Birmingham. Its location makes it a busy
boating centre throughout the year and
in particular during the annual working
boat rally when it is often crammed bank
to bank. It has a large marina, two
canalside pubs, a flight of locks and a
long tunnel all on the Grand Union.
Braunston village with its prominent
church spire stands on a hill overlooking
the waterway.
We begin our voyage at the junction of

the Grand Union and Oxford Canals,

beneath two elegant cast-iron bridges,

known as Braunston Turn.

The canal passes through open

countryside for the first five miles

between Braunston and Rugby. Near

Willoughby Wharf you will see bumps

and patterns in some fields. These are

remnants of a medieval method of

farming known as ‘ridge and furrow’ a

result of ploughing with non-reversible

ploughs on the same strip of land year

after year. It still is visible on land

ploughed in the Middle Ages but not used

since.

The next point of interest is the new

Dunchurch Pools Marina between

bridges 81 and 82. The development has

been designed by the architects

responsible for the Eden Project in

Cornwall, working in partnership with

the landscape architects who have

The deep Nettle Hill Cutting dates from the improvements of the 1830s