Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
After the bridge at Whitestone, a collection of chalet buildings stand on top of the steep
canal embankment. One of the owners has laid out his section of bank as a shrine to Liver-
pool Football Club.
Bramcote's hospital is next to the canal and to the B4114, where vehicles are encouraged
to slow to the point where they don't become airborne from the canal bridge.
On the hillside is Burton Hastings, where the font of St Botulph's church dates from the
year 1300. Two limestone bridges across the canal are also Grade II structures. A distinctive
powerline flyover beside the cut, with lines along and across the canal, is hard to ignore. The
hillside, where Stretton Baskerville Village was lost to the field enclosures of the 16th cen-
tury, now serves to eliminate any noise from the M69, which is 900m away.
Next to the Lime Kilns public house, the A5, built as the Roman Watling Street, passes
overhead and the canal moves from Warwickshire into Leicestershire.
The A47 feeds the only built-up part of the canal, Hinckley. The centre of the town is
marked with a transmission mast that dwarfs the church spire. Hinckley has some fine timber-
framed cottages and its industrial background includes having the stocking frame in 1640,
long before Leicester did. It was also the home of architect Joseph Hansom, designer of the
Hansom Cab, and of Triumph motorcycles.
Powerlines cross the canal near Higham Grange hospital and kennels make their presence
heard. An ancient fishpond site follows a field of Shetland ponies.
The line of the branch railway from Hinckley runs beside the canal. Although the branch
was laid with track and signalled, it never carried traffic and was dismantled in 1900. It is
joined by the route of the railway from Nuneaton which approaches past the MIRA test track
complex.
From the picnic area at Stoke Golding, signs point to the George & Dragon, while a strik-
ing spire draws attention to the 13th century church of St Margaret with its decorated arcade
and delicate window tracery. The village is known for the Stoke Golding Country Dance, a
more complex version of the Scottish Strip the Willow.
Dadlington's church dates from the 13th century but the Dog & Hedgehog, with its green
and yellow illuminated signs, looks horribly modern. A narrowboat appears to be parked in a
field but there is a slot cut at a right angle to the canal just large enough to hold it.
To the west of the canal is the site of one of the turning points in British history. In August
1485, Richard III was killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field and Henry Tudor was crowned
on the battlefield as Henry VII, the first Tudor king, thus ending 30 years of the Wars of the
Roses. It was the last time the British crown was to change hands on a battlefield.
Many other narrowboats are moored along the canal. The canal crosses the line of the Ro-
man road from Mancetter to Leicester before Sutton Wharf Bridge. Tea rooms and trip boats
at the wharf make this a busy area.
