Canals around Coventry

Kaga The boat in your jigsaw puzzle photo is 'Water Ouzel', which operated as a trip boat at Rugby and Braunston from about 1965 to 1990, and is now a trip boat in London. It was originally the Grand Union Canal Carrying Company's 'Sun' built as a carrying boat in the 1930's, not a modern pleasure boat. Are you sure that the person on the boat is Joe Skinner of the 'Friendship'? I understand the Skinner family were quite large, and Joe had a relative called Jack who operated other boats. There was an old boatman who steered 'Water Ouzel' for many years, but unfortunately I can't find his name at the moment. Not Local After they retired, Joe and Rose Skinner's 'Friendship' was often towed by Bert Dunkley's boat 'Prince' to canal rallies in the 1960's and a number of photos exist of these events.

jvb, yes I am sure. For it's a posed picture of an old boatman in a modern setting. Joe is posing, not a bit relaxed, modern silk shirt and tie, he would have been laughed off the cut in the old days in that gear. Not as they were around in the old days. Yes the name of pleasure boat company and Rugby are on the side of the cabin. I feel people are painting the wrong picture of the canal life, it was hard, dirty and dangerous life, the only good thing about it was the open air. One slip and you were down under the boat in very confined spaces. Working the boats - completely different to pleasure boating. I remember my father telling me when I was very young, they were being loaded with a cargo of Golden Syrup, something happened with the crane and a net full of large tin cans fell, serious injury to a couple of boatmen, and covering the boat in syrup, took several weeks to get the boat clean. It attracted animals and insects galore.

jvb - Thanks for the information about Joe's boat being towed to rallies. Jack Skinner was the next generation, he was Joe's nephew. Joe's boat 'Friendship' was built for him in 1925 at a time when motor boats were the future. By the time Joe had the conversation with Kaga's father in 1948 his opinions would have been seen as quite old fashioned by some fellow boatmen. Joe retired in 1959 and it was reputed he was the last boatman on the Oxford Canal to use a mule hauled boat. I have just been reading some accounts of Joe at the canal rallies in the 1960's. He was apparently regarded as someone special and as a result everyone wanted to buy him a pint. That would be a good incentive to put on a fancy shirt and tie and have a good time. I agree with Kaga that it is indeed Joe on the jigsaw picture. I never had a chance to speak to Joe but then we had nothing in common because he was a working boatman and I was just a gongoozler.

Not Local, No one had anything in common with him except perhaps my dad, they were a dying race that had seen a very different world, they lived, worked and slept all in the same space, and the space was so cramped it seems unbelievable they could raise families, at the same time they walked from dawn to dusk most days, and to walk through tunnels laying on your backside on a plank of wood?

Joe Skinner actually had the last laugh as you might say. We all tend to see Coventry as a city that grew up with the car industry because of our age, but that is not true. To me Coventry's real age was when they found the coal throughout the north of the city, this brought wealth and power right into the centre of the city. In turn the power gave the city to build and harness the skills of its people. But in 1926/7 the strikes of the north infected Coventry and a lot of smaller collieries closed, this in turn affected the transport by the coal boats. The younger ones turned to power boats, but Joe didn't have the money, and was stubborn anyway, he clung to the horse power for his boat. This irritated the younger boat people who were always in a bigger hurry than Joe and gave him a lot of stick. But the trade died, and Joe carried on in his own way as usual. But Joe had his problems - when the power boats got popular they no longer needed stables and feed and they closed but Joe had one old friend - my dad. We had feed and a stable he could rely on for both when in that area. The Elephant and Castle pub, Tusses Bridge, could accommodate about 15 horses in its stables behind the pub, but they lay empty from the mid-thirties until the Civil Defence used them in the war.

I looked in the search section and I can`t believe in this popular thread what I am going to post hasn`t been here before. I was watching "Salvage Hunters" on Quest channel last night and Drew Pritchard, a collector from North Wales, visited a site by the Coventry Canal, said to be Bedworth. He met a chap called "Pete" at a place called Charity Dock. Absolutely fascinating place, old motor bikes, cars, and an early Vespa (?) scooter conversion into a truck

Charity Dock on Towpathtalk

I've been past Charity Dock many times and it is well worth a look. The best view (if you haven't got a boat) is from the opposite side of the canal. Go to Hawkesbury junction and then continue north, you can't miss it. As it's such a well known place I'd assumed it had been mentioned on here before (although its not in Coventry) - what's the old saying about never assuming?

Good morning Kaga. Can you help me with your extensive knowledge of the canals around Coventry and district. I remember that, as kids, we had walked along the canal for miles and came to an aqueduct, the problem is I just cannot remember where this aqueduct was/is. I think it may have been around Brinklow area, though not too sure. Wherever it was it must have been within walking distance of Coventry, mind you, when I look at Google maps now, and see how far we used to walk from Foleshill as kids I can hardly believe it. Many thanks Kaga. Hope you and Janet are in good health.

Walking along the North Oxford from Sutton Stop in the Brinklow direction, the first small aqueduct you reach is just before Hollyhill bridge (No.19). It's about 4 miles along the canal and is near the B4029 between Ansty and Brinklow. There's another two about half a mile further along next to the railway line and there's another about 3.1/2 miles further on at Brinklow Arches beyond Stretton Stop. Hope this helps! Not sure how far you would have walked, although a 16 mile round trip sounds quite a long way!!

Thank you Malvern for your reply re the aqueducts near Brinklow. I don't know which I remember visiting, but I now know where to look. You say that a 16 mile round trip was a long way to walk. but walk we did, As I have said, I am surprised at how far we did use to walk as kids in the1950s, but we would start out in the morning sometimes and not get back till teatime - starving.

Midland Red, here we go again, reminders of the war. Of all the bridges and all the numbers in the world, and bridge 19 walks back into my life. play it again. My brother and I crossed that very bridge, clambered over the stile into what had been a field of cattle, but four bombs during the night in amongst them - we ran crying, never ever went over that bridge again! Malvern. Sorry, but to me your post had a few hits and a lot of misses, and the word aqueduct meaning. The two you mentioned along the Ansty 'pound' - there were two openings under the canal in the fifties, one a brook that went through a brick built culvert about 2/3 feet in dia; the main water supply coming from the hill at Mobbs Wood. Now this culvert was identical to the one at the start of your journey a few yards from the lock at Sutton Stop, a culvert under the canal it fed the Slough. Approx. a mile further on, just through Tusses Bridge, was another brick built culvert, the brook coming from beyond Lentons Lane, this also fed the Slough. Now the other one was a full blown aqueduct and farm track and entrance to Page's Farm from the Brinklow road, this farm track could take a horse and wagon load of hay through to the farm, also a tractor, a car. But the Italian POWs would not go through in an army lorry, they parked it and walked through. They were clearing that brook of debris in the mid forties. Now you mentioned the arches at Brinklow, but didn't mention the impressive arches at this aqueduct for the railway. Also the massive high bridge that a plane could fly under. I'm hazy about between the Brinklow road and bridge 19, I think there was another culvert, I also think there was what we call a cattle-way, a small brick tunnel under the canal, about six ft wide that allowed cattle to pass through. 80 years ago we called a farm track under the canal an aqueduct, a small water course under the canal a culvert, and a brick built built tunnel we called a cattle-way. Page's Farm stretched between the Brinklow road across to the switchback road at Withybrook. Yes It used to be a lovely walk with a lot of interest, but the new highway? But thanks for your post on this topic. Regards, Kaga.

The Ansty pound was a stretch of the canal approx. a mile long that ran between two hills on a man made embankment - knowing the pressure of water on the banks, at each end they narrowed the canal to one boat width, put in grooved stanchions that planks on edge could be placed across the canal to hold back the water should the banks break, but it was built for towing horses, and I don't think it had a serious break, but powered engine boats came about and in the fifties the bank broke flooding the valley! There were allotments, a gun site, a water tunnel under the towpath, that fed hot water into the canal a pipe that fed a cattle trough, stables, pubs, graveyard and numerous interesting things along that part of the Oxford canal.

Just taken our boat from Rugby to Coventry and back and can confirm that the first major aqueduct is the one at Stretton. There is the small cattleway which is now an underpass for Ansty Golf Course.

Malvern, hi, If you look at my post 211 it shows a shot of the Ansty pound where the bank had collapsed. Close to there was a aqueduct that went under the canal and railway, this was the only way to Pages Farm, so it was large enough to carry hay wagons through to the farm and it was built when they built the canal. Recently I have heard that the fire brigade said they could not get through with their modern machines, so they built a new entrance to the farm on the switchback lane at Withybrook. There is no way they could have destroyed the aqueduct, they may have filled it in but the brickwork would still be there. Malvern, if you're interested, there are a few other items you could look for along that way, like Canal House, the old canal, the well, the bomb field etc. Anyone interested, look at post 211, the tall bridge in the far distance and imagine a Tiger Moth plane flying under it.