The Ashby Canal
is unusual among British waterways in several respects. For one thing, it
doesn't go to the place after which it is named, and in fact it never
did--although it came close!
For another thing, it proceeds
for 30 miles through gently undulating countryside without a single lock. It is
therefore ideal for the novice narrow-boater who just wants to get used to
steering a boat round lots of twists and turns without having to worry about
negotiating locks. On the other hand, "doing the locks" is great fun
too!
The canal was originally built
to transport lime and coal southwards from the works and mines near
Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire. The canal links to the Coventry Canal
near Bedworth (Warwickshire), and hence directly to Coventry
and indirectly to Birmingham, and via the Oxford and Grand Union
canals to all points south. For boaters on the Warwickshire Ring with two days
to spare, a trip up the Ashby and back is well worth the trouble.
The first plans for the Ashby Canal
included a link to the River Trent at Burton,
but this was soon seen as being over-ambitious. Indeed, it was envisaged from a
very early stage that when the canal reached the point where locks would be
essential, a series of narrow-gauge tramways would connect the canal to the
mines and limeworks. The canal itself therefore only ever reached as far as
Moira, which is about three miles from Ashby.
The first disaster to hit the
canal was the realisation that the coal reserves at Ashby were nothing like as
great as had been thought. There would therefore not be the traffic to allow
the canal to make a profit, and any thoughts of extending the canal to the Trent were shelved for
ever. Good fortune then arrived, in the shape of extensive coal seams being
discovered at Moira itself, so the canal found itself a purpose almost by
accident. Moira coal was of such high quality that it was in demand as far
south as London,
and the route to get it there had just been constructed!
However, the second disaster
was caused by the very thing that made the canal a success. When you take coal
out of the ground, you almost always create subsidence as the layers above the
coal seams press down to fill the holes that have been created. This happened
in the Measham area, just south of Moira, in 1918 and again in 1966, the end
result being that the present canal is about eight miles short of its original
length.
As things stand, the canal ends
near Snarestone, which is a tiny village with an excellent pub, but not much
else. To go the whole length, you have to go through the Snarestone tunnel,
which is 250 yards long, but until recently you could only go less than half a
mile before needing to turn round and come back through the tunnel. However, a
further stretch has already been restored, adding another half mile of
navigable waterway. Work is in progress to extend this length even further.
The coalmines at Moira have
long been abandoned, but the village now has a new lease of life as the
headquarters of the National Forest,
which is a scheme to transform a huge area of central England, much of it blighted by its
industrial and mining heritage, into woodland and forest. The visitor centre at
Moira, Conkers, is an excellent
place to learn about how a forest works and its wildlife, as well as being an
adventure centre for all ages. The plan is therefore to bring the Ashby Canal
back to Moira so that the industrial history of the area can be linked
seamlessly with its new role.
The Ashby Canal Association has been working hard over a number of years
to achieve this goal, and there is already a 1.5 mile stretch of usable canal
running alongside the Moira Furnace,
but it is unconnected to any other waterway. It is no longer possible to use
the original route for the stretch between Moira and Snarestone, so the plan is
to make use of a disused railway line through the small town of Measham.
For much of its length, the Ashby Canal
meanders through open countryside. Because it sticks to the 300 foot contour
for the whole of its length, and villages in this area tend to be built on
hilltops, the canal passes within sight of several settlements without actually
going through them.
One exception is the town of Hinckley, towards the
southern end of the canal. This is an ancient town founded on the hosiery
industry, but the canal skirts its western edge, passing close to a modern
industrial estate and the Triumph motorcycle factory. The Limekilns pub is
worth a visit, as it is built where the canal passes underneath the A5 trunk
road, which was originally the Roman
Watling Street. The building appears to be on two
floors if you are on the road, but three if you are on the canal.
Close to its halfway point the
canal crosses the site of the Battle
of Bosworth Field, fought in 1485 between England's just and rightful king,
Richard III, and the foul usurper Henry Tudor. What was formerly presumed to be
the battlefield site is well marked out along a circular pathway that offers a
good, brisk walk, and there is also a visitor centre. However, recent
discoveries have revealed that the battle actually took place about half a mile
away.
If you moor up at the
battlefield you can also take a trip on the Battlefield Line
Railway, which is a preserved four-and-a-half-mile section of the former
Ashby and Nuneaton Joint Railway. Throughout the summer there are regular
services between Shenton (battlefield) and Shackerstone. The canal passes close
to all three stations on the line, although it takes six miles to do so! The
Shackerstone Railway Society has preserved a large number of steam and diesel
locomotives, many of which make regular trips along the line.
The thing most worth seeing on
this beautiful stretch of water is the English countryside at its peaceful
best. Canals attract wildlife in droves, and you will almost certainly see
family groups of swans, ducks and moorhens either swimming around between the
reeds or looking hopefully at you for titbits. You may also see herons, birds
of prey and, if you're really lucky, kingfishers. Look out for water voles as
well.
© John Welford