UK Canal Boating

Cruise south through Nuneaton until you reach Marston Junction, then continue south do not turn left along the Ashby canal, with the suburbs of Bedworth to your right.
Another junction is soon reached, Hawkesbury Junction, where the Coventry canal continues its journey to Coventry, and this is where you will be heading tomorrow.

It is a lovely place to moor for the night , and you have cruised for 3 hours.

At Hawkesbury Junction you will see many traditional boats, a fine engine house and useful facilities. The steam engine used in the Engine house was installed in 1821, having been previously used for nearly 100 years at a colliery. The atmospheric steam engine is now housed in Dartmouth Museum.

To the east of the Junction you can see Hawkesbury Hall, now a private house.

There is a pub at the Junction, called The Greyhound, a traditional canalside pub, dating from the 1800's, which serves food and real ales. There is a garden and mooring here, and children are welcome.

Continue along the Coventry canal, do not turn left onto the Oxford canal through the lock.

There is a useful Tescos supermarket just before bridge 8

Just beyond bridge 2 before are 'Cash's Hundred Houses', an elegant row of weavers houses. The weavers slept on the 1st 2 floors, and the looms occupied the top floor. Only 37 of the houses remain.

The end of the Canal at Coventry basin is very interesting on the side of a hill, overlooked by attractive wooden canal warehouses. The Old weighbridge office is now a shop and information centre. The basin is home to shops, small businesses and an art gallery and has a welcoming community of boaters. A canalside walk is ideal for spotting wildlife.

A footbridge over the ring road gives access from the basin to the town centre, with shopping, eating and drinking possibilities. Coventry Art Gallery, the Museum of British Road Transport and Sir Basil Spence's remarkable Coventry Cathedral are also nearby.

The Basin features a bronze statue of the famous 18th-century canal engineer James Brindley - one of fifteen artworks commissioned from local artists for the Canal Art Trail which extends from the basin to Hawkesbury Junction.

The old Coventry Cathedral was destroyed during World War 2, but the new cathedral was completed in 1962, and is worth a visit. Designed by Sir Basil Spence, and completed in 1962, it is pretty spectacular. The font is a boulder from a hillside near Bethlehem, and stands in front of the Baptistry window.
The original old Cathedral was destroyed by the Luftwaffe in 1940, but the ruins remain, along with some of the original stained-glass windows. There are many interesting things on display in the ruins, and there is a Blitz Experience Museum with 1940's room reconstructions.

The Museum of British Transport is south of the canal basin, and claims to be the largest collection of British made transport in the world, with over 200 cars, 90 motorbikes, and 230 cycles, also period street scenes, royal vehicles and the awesome Thrust SSC -the world land-speed record holder.

For stag & hen parties Coventry offers Escape rooms & a high energy venue for laser tag games, also night clubs, bars and restaurants within walking distance of the basin at Coventry.

 

NB: This route has been provided as a guide only. Information may become inaccurate or out of date. You should always check with the marina that the route is possible within your time frame, current weather conditions and canal stoppages etc.