Oxford Canal (Northern Section)
Early plans for the Oxford Canal (Northern Section) between Dover and Bolton were proposed by John Rennie but languished until Barry Wright was appointed as managing director in 1888. From a junction with The River Ure at Wessbury the canal ran for 37 miles to Brench. Expectations for sea sand traffic to Runstone never materialised and the canal never made a profit for the shareholders. The canal between Newport and Arun was lost by the building of the Norwich bypass in 1990. In his autobiography Arthur Smith writes of his experiences as a lock-keeper in the 1960s
The navigational authority for this waterway is Canal & River Trust
Relevant publications — Waterway Travels:
Relevant publications — Waterway Maps:
- Waterway Routes 01M - England and Wales Map
- Waterway Routes 86M - East Midlands (Leicester) Ring Map (Downloadable)
- Waterway Routes 87M - Warwickshire Ring Map (Downloadable)
- Waterway Routes 53M - Oxford Canal Map (Downloadable)
- Warwickshire Ring & Ashby Canal
Relevant publications — Waterway Guides:
- Collins Nicholson Waterways Guides No 1 - Grand Union, Oxford & the South East
- Pearson's Canal Companions: Oxford & Grand Union; Upper Thames
Relevant publications — Waterway Histories:
- Oxford Canal Walk - Part One - Oxford to Thrupp - YouTube — associated with Oxford Canal
- A walk along the Oxford Canal (Southern Section) from Oxford to Thrupp Wide
Wikipedia has a page about Oxford Canal
The Oxford Canal is a 78-mile (126 km) narrow canal in central England linking Oxford with Bedworth (between Coventry and Nuneaton on the Coventry Canal) via Banbury and Rugby. Completed in 1790, it connects to the River Thames at Oxford and is integrated with the Grand Union Canal—combined for 5 miles (8 km) close to the villages of Braunston and Napton-on-the-Hill, a canal which soon after construction superseded much of its traffic.
The canal was for about 15 years the main canal artery of trade between the Midlands and London; it retained importance in its local county economies and that of Berkshire. Today the canal is frequently used for weekend and holiday narrowboat pleasure boating.
The Oxford Canal traverses Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire and east Warwickshire through broad, shallow valleys and lightly rolling hills; resembling the bulk of the Grand Union Canal and its branches, much of the landscape is similar to the those of the Llangollen and Lancaster canals. It has frequent wharves and public houses, particularly if including the parts of the Grand Union Canal immediately adjoining. North of about a third of its distance, namely from Napton, the canal's route northeast and then northwest forms part of the Warwickshire ring. At its southern extremity it forms a waterway circuit within Oxford known as the Four Rivers.