Warwickshire Ring Part 1

摘要

The Warwickshire Ring takes us on a 100-mile contrasting circuit of scenery and canal architecture. Remote, undulating countryside around Braunston and Napton is followed by the townscapes of Warwick, Leamington and Birmingham. Both narrow and wide-beam locks are encountered in almost equal numbers. We're going to follow this route clockwise, starting at Braunston. My local canal at Brentford Dock has a milepost which states 'Braunston 93 miles'. One day a party of schoolchildren were visiting the canal, and some were curious about Braunston and the reason for the milepost. Their teacher didn't know so I intervened and explained that. Questions followed and I suddenly found myself giving an impromptu lecture about the history of the canals and the Grand Junction (one of the constituent companies that went to make up the Grand Union) in particular -and why an apparently insignificant village in Northamptonshire is such an important place on the canals.