Sutton Stop

Between Bedworth and Coventry

We’ve reached the junction of the Coventry Canal and the northern part of the Oxford Canal. The former carries on a little further into the centre of Coventry, and (we have on good authority) is nicer than you’d expect. We’ll save up the visit until we come back through this way in the new year. The Coventry Canal has been a delight all the way, with only Nuneaton looking a little scruffy from the canal’s perspective – the town just doesn’t seem to embrace it at all. Go back 100 or even 200 years ago and you might understand that attitude – whilst the canal would have been responsible for bringing new wealth to the town, at the time most considered it a grubby ditch (it probably was at the time!). Nowadays most towns and villages have discovered the benefits to the local economy of having a ‘waterfront’, but not Nuneaton. Near Bedworth (an old coal-mining town), we passed ‘Charity Dock’. The following photos sort of tell their own story of what was there :

Boat and Morris Minor junkyard

Obviously this crew member couldn’t cope with the canal side landscaping

I wonder if he realises the war is over ?

The canal junction is known officially as Hawkesbury Junction, or colloquially by the boat people of the past as Sutton Stop. The canal companies had offices here, and as the canal widened out at the junction there was room for a number of boats to moor and wait for their next cargo orders. There is a pub right on the junction too – the Greyhound. In the past, in addition to beer, it used to dispense fresh food, chandlery, and even fuel ! It was a very important establishment, where boat families would have a chance to catch up with the latest news (or gossip), and let off a bit of steam with a sing song. It’s still there so we had to call in for a swift jar.

The Greyhound

Hawkesbury Junction presents a very attractive canal scene, and when one also considers it’s social history, it’s hard to resist transporting yourself back in time. The cast iron junction bridge dates from 1837.