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Oxford Canal


Bob Blues

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First time on the Oxford...

I notice coming south through banbury yesterday there is traces of an old canal disappearing off to the west. When out with my dog this morning I found a old bed and towpath. Looking at the wiki entry for the Oxford canal it says it was re-routed but much north Banbury.

I have searched on the internet but can't find any charts with the old and new canals together (or even any old routings). Does anyone have a link that can point to where the old canal went.

 

Great Canal. Despite the 4 boats of Idiots on a stag party all heading south lol....

 

 

Bob

Edited by Bob Blues
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See this photo from Google earth. I was brought up in Banbury (our first boat was moored at Aynho).

 

The road (A422) used to be the tiny Grimsbury Lane, and go over a traditional Oxford lift bridge just east of where the roundabout is. I have operated it single handed using a Banbury stick. When the new road was built (1985, according to Wikipedia) the crossing was moved east, to give space for an incline to get the road over the canal on a fixed bridge..

 

The southern stub is still in water, the northern one has been filled in, bar the last ten feet. I think your guide book is referring to the Northern Oxford between Braunston and Hawkesbury which was shortened & straightened in the 1820s-30s. The OS maps mark most of the derelict sections, and you can still see the old tunnel in Newbold churchyard.

 

grimsbury_lane.jpg

 

ETA: see here: http://movablebridges.org.uk/BridgePage.asp?BridgeNumber=247, which includes this photo (so not exactly a "traditional" bridge!) (earlier CW thread here). I was amused to discover that the old bridge is now in use on the Somerset Coal Canal where it meets the K&A (see here which has more on the history of the bridge).

 

The General Foods factory in the background is still there, although the smell of coffee does seem to be less than it was .... When the factory was opened it regularly used to deposit Maxwell House on sheets on the washing line.

 

grim_old.jpg

Edited by Scholar Gypsy
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Contrast:

 

Thomas Telford improved the North Oxford by straightening out the loops and shortening the distance travelled.

 

British Waterways "improved" the South Oxford canal at Banbury by putting a loop around a fairly straight bit and increasing the distance travelled.

 

Mind you without the bridge, and with the diversion being relatively deep, it did speed things up considerably.

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Contrast:

 

Thomas Telford improved the North Oxford by straightening out the loops and shortening the distance travelled.

 

British Waterways "improved" the South Oxford canal at Banbury by putting a loop around a fairly straight bit and increasing the distance travelled.

 

Mind you without the bridge, and with the diversion being relatively deep, it did speed things up considerably.

Except it wasn't BW that diverted the canal, it was either the Department of Transport or the County Council, and as the aerial view above shows, the new route isn't any longer than the old one.

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Contrast:

 

Thomas Telford improved the North Oxford by straightening out the loops and shortening the distance travelled.

 

British Waterways "improved" the South Oxford canal at Banbury by putting a loop around a fairly straight bit and increasing the distance travelled.

 

Mind you without the bridge, and with the diversion being relatively deep, it did speed things up considerably.

The truncated ends also provide two useful turning points. The upper, shorter end used for some years to have a little community in the space beyond the towpath, centred around an old double-decker bus. That all seems to have gone now and the area has been tidied up.

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Except it wasn't BW that diverted the canal, it was either the Department of Transport or the County Council, and as the aerial view above shows, the new route isn't any longer than the old one.

It may have been the DoT or the Council who wanted it moved but BW were in charge of the canal at the time so as a matter of principle I regard them as being responsible.

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