More gongoozling: Grand Union Canal, Kingswood Junction to Northampton

[For a summary of all my rides along the Grand Union Canal between London and Birmingham, see this blog.]

I discovered a useful word the other day: gongoozling. Apparently, it means 'an idle spectator', and in the canal community it is used to refer to someone who has an interest in canals, but who does not actually take to the water in a narrow boat. I think I would find travelling by boat too slow, but I am interested in canals: their history and their potential as green cycleways, so I guess I'm a gongoozler, though not a very idle one. The recent spell of warm dry weather means the towpaths are in good condition for cycling, so I have been taking the opportunity to do a bit of gongoozling by bike and complete my exploration of the Grand Union Canal from London to Birmingham, ie the section between Northampton and the Kingswood Junction with the Stratford-upon-Avon canal.

To make use of the forecast North Westerly wind, I wanted to do the ride from Kingswood Junction to Northampton, and take the train back to the start. So I decided to park at Berkswell station which is a few miles from the canal, but which is served by direct trains from Northampton. (The station is several miles from the village of Berkswell, and is actually next to the town of Balsall Common. Lapworth station right next to the canal might seem a more obvious choice, but there are no direct trains back to Northampton, meaning a long journey with two changes.) Once again I left home early to beat the M25 rush, and arrived at Berkswell station around 9.30am via the M40. The station car park here serves as a park and ride and is free of charge to train users (though how they check this I don't know). I got one of the last parking spaces: probably outside the holiday season, the car park is full quite early.

A map of my GPS track is below.

I followed quiet back roads for about 6 miles/40 minutes to the canal to pick up the Grand Union towpath where I left off in my previous excursion around Birmingham. It turned out to be a long day's ride. I did some 58 miles in all, 52 of which were on continuous towpath, taking around 10 hours from station to station, and by the end I must say I felt as though I had been in a tumble drier for that time. Whilst the towpath was well surfaced around major locks, there were long sections of towpath which were narrow, grassy and bumpy: a bike with front suspension and wide tyres is almost essential. Also, although the vegetation seemed to have been cut back, there were still some overhanging branches (I banged my head quite badly at one point) as well as nettles and brambles to sting and scratch. There were also two footbridges, and a subway, requiring the bike to carried up and down steep narrow steps. In retrospect, it would have been more enjoyable to divide the ride into two shorter days, which would have been easier on my joints, and given more time to explore the canalside curiosities, and also the towns of Leamington Spa and Warwick through which the canal passes.

That said, there is much of interest. The canal is an impressive feat of engineering, with a surprising rise and fall and hence several long lock flights. Each lock on the canal West of Braunston comprises the original narrow eighteenth century lock, capable of taking only one boat at a time, alongside the double width locks built in the 1920s to reduce delays and make the canal more competitive against road and rail. I was lulled into a false sense of security by the excellent downhill at the Hatton lock flight: this height has to be regained at subsequent lock flights. The tunnel at Shrewley has a separate tunnel for barge horses (and in modern times, cyclists) which gives access to the bridleway over the top. Between Warwick and Leamington, the canal passes on an aqueduct over the River Avon and the former Great Western Railway. At Braunston, the Oxford Canal branches off to Coventry. The junction is spanned by an elegant double iron bridge designed to allow barge horses to cross from one side to the other without unhitching. The town marina and wharf itself is a bustling hub, said to be one of the busiest in England's network. Beyond is the 2000 yard long Braunston Tunnel: there is no towpath through the tunnel, but there is a good bridleway over the top for cyclists, passing the cylindrical brick ventilation shafts. There then follows a stretch beside and between the M1 and the main line railway: on the one hand these might be regarded as noisy modern intrusions into a quiet greenway, on the other, it serves to emphasise the importance of this route to all modes of transport, ancient or modern. The run into Northampton is along the Northampton Arm of the GUC: in the latter stages it has been well surfaced for cycling, and joins up with the River Nene trail through a nature reserve.

There are many eateries on or close to the towpath. I stopped at the Hatton Locks cafe, and the Two Boats at Long Itchington.

I got to Northampton station (impressively modernised) around 1930, and got the train back as planned: there are generally two trains per hour, and there is bike space in the carriage labelled C. I couldn't resist stopping off at the chippy in Balsall Common, before a late but fast journey home.