Coventry Canal - Nuneaton to Tamworth (★★★★☆)

Today is the second of two days spent doing some walking along the Coventry Canal - having spent the previous day walking from Coventry to Nuneaton.

The previous night had been spent at Bedworth Nuneaton Travelodge, and from here we face two early challenges - firstly trying to (unsuccessfully) order a bacon roll from the nearby Greggs (where an internet outage meant it was cash only), and then trying to cross the busy duel carriageway that this Travelodge sits alongside.

There are fortunately some nice drivers that kindly help us across this road - and then we have to head through the hospital car park on the far side, and back to the side of the canal.

Once back alongside the Coventry Canal, we have a short stretch to complete before we get free of Nuneaton - and then we mostly have open countryside ahead of us until we reach Tamworth (aside from two brief spells passing through Atherstone and Polesworth).

But even as we remain within the bounds of Nuneaton, it is a pleasant enough walk - with plenty of trees lining the canal.

Just about to leave Nuneaton

Once beyond the outer edge of Nuneaton, we do however see a drop in the quality of the towpath (as the cycle route heads off towards Market Bosworth) - but here we find a quiet, and probably not that well walked stretch of canal.

There isn't a whole lot to see or take note of along this stretch, but that isn't a problem - because we are now properly able to enjoy the countryside around us - and this proves to be a more hilly stretch of country than I was expecting.

A bit hillier (but prettier) than expected (just ahead of Springwood Haven Marina)

Soon we pass Spingwood Haven Marina, which opened fairly recently in canal terms (in 1998) - and which offers quite a pretty spot for boaters to park up in, within this hillier section of the canal.

From here we make our way round towards the very edge of Hartshill - and here we pass by Hartshill Wharf.

Hartshill Wharf

This site was originally built as the central maintenance and operations yard for the Coventry Canal (and is still used by the Canals & River Trust) - but this stretch of canal also supported the nearby Hartshill Quarries.

These quarries operated in tandem with a narrow-guage light railway, that could shift extracted granite to the nearby Coventry Canal (and then later to the railway - which currently runs parallel to the canal).

Former route of Hartshill Quarry Railways

This railway initially operated as a horse-drawn railway - but from 1908 onwards a small steam engine would operate on the line - and this line remained in operation up until 1954, after which roads became the main method of transportation.

This area continues to see active quarrying - with Crown Aggregates being based near the pub we had just passed - but we soon leave these quarries behind, and walk along the edge of Hartshill Hayes Country Park.

This is a popular area for walking - with the country park being council owned - and so there is an uptick in the number of people out (ie one or two), as we make our way towards Atherstone.

Now closing in on Atherstone

Atherstone itself is a town with notable Roman heritage - and just before we reach Atherstone we pass close by a former roman settlement at Mandussedum.

It is thought to have been near here that Queen Boudica and the Iceni were finally defeated around 61AD - and Mandussedum itself consisted of a small Roman fort, surrounded by a small town - with this fort being placed near the point where Watling Street crossed the River Anker.

Watling Street itself was a significant Roman Road that ran from Dover through London, St Albans, and Towcester - before finishing at Wroxeter (by the River Severn, between Telford and Shrewsbury). And this wasn't just a Roman Road, but one of the main Roman Roads running across Britain at the time.

That defeat of the Iceni was also signficant - as it effectively marked the end of resistance to Roman rule in southern Britain. 

That said the battle may or may not have been fought here - and all that is really known is that is was probably fought somewhere along Watling Street between Wroxeter and London - with this just being one of the most likely locations.

But for us Atherstone also offers up a second item of interest - in the form of the Atherstone Lock Flight.

Ahead of us we have a run of eleven locks over about two miles - and here we will start to lose height through these locks, before once again walking along a level canal until Tamworth.

At Tamworth we will encounter the two Glascote Locks (close to the very end of our walk along the canal today) - and from there the Coventry Canal has no further locks for the remainder of it's passage.

And so here we head through Atherstone - and start ticking off those locks off.

Our first lock along this canal

The third lock

This stretch through Atherstone is a very pretty one - and it is worth noting that we pass very close by the train station here (and so you could easily break this walk into two).

But whilst we soon get beyond Atherstone, the locks keep coming as we continue to make our way along the canal.

Now well beyond the edge of Atherstone, and still ticking off locks (I think this is number 10)

By the time we reach Bradley Green, all eleven of these locks are behind us - and now we start to cross the empty stretch of countryside that lies between us and Polesworth.

Polesworth itself is technically village, but even as we walk through it, it is continuing to grow in size - with quite a few houses popping up alongside the canal.

The village itself is most notable for being the site of Polesworth Abbey - which is a site with quite a confused (and unclear) history.

One tale is that it was founded by King Egbert of Wessex in 827 (with the abbess in this tale being the daughter of King Egbert), whilst another tale suggests that the abbess was in fact the daughter of King Edward (son of King Alfred - and living about a hundred years after King Egbert).

In the second tale (where she is the daughter of King Edward), she is claimed to have been set to be married to a Scandinavian by the name of Sihtric (at the time King of Dublin and Northumbria) - but after Sihtric renounced Christianity, she returned south - and founded the nunnery here at Polesworth.

All the same, the Abbey was a notable nunnery, but eventually caught up in the Dissolution of the Monasteries - with many of it's buildings being dismanted and re-used during the construction of Polesworth Hall.

As we continue on round, and start to pass beyond the far edge of Polesworth, we do pass a train station - but note that this station only operates one service a day - that departs at 6:48 in the morning (with the station otherwise being skipped due to being on a busy stretch of the West Coast Mainline). 

This departure time makes it quite impractical for use on a walk, unless you fancy camping over on the station platform - and so any journey must be split at Tamworth or Atherstone if making use of the trains.

But in any case, we are soon beyond the limits of Polesworth - and heading out across empty countryside to Tamworth.

Passing Pooley Country Park (near Alvecote Marina)

And on towards Tamworth

The stretch of canal between Polesworth and Tamworth is an excellent one - with the path once again getting busier (ie there were actual people) around Pooley Country Park.

And whilst we see no sign of it from the canal, we do pass the (fairly limited) ruins of Alvecote Priory - which was a Benedictine Priory founded in 1159 by William Burdett.

But before you start thinking about how nice it was for William to have done such a wonderful thing, please bare in mind this was done in penance for having fatally stabbed his wife - who he believed to have been unfaithful whilst he was away at the crusades.

It is not clear if this was the last of the matter - and whether founding a monastery got him off the charge of murder - but with this question in our minds, we continue to make the short trip across to the edge of Tamworth.

This final stretch through Tamworth proves to be a pleasant one - with the houses being set slightly back from the canal, allowing us to pretend that we are still in the countryside.

But the increased number of bridges do rather give the game away - and we soon pass by the only other locks on this canal, at Glascote Upper Lock and Glascote Lower Lock.

From Glascote Upper Lock

And from here we continue on round until just before the canal heads over the River Tame - and here we turn off, and make our way across to Wilnecote train station.

This has been a good two days along this canal, which has exceeded my expectations - and we will return at a later date to both finish off this canal, and to explore both the Ashby Canal and Birmingham & Fazeley Canals. But for now it is time to head home.

Total Distance: 17.5 miles (16.1 miles on the canal)

Total Ascent: 367 feet (272 feet on the canal)

Enjoyment Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ★ / 5

Click for the adjoining section of the Coventry Canal from Coventry to Nuneaton.

Disclaimer: This writeup provides a narrative of what to expect rather than a route guide to follow. The route is covered by the 139 and 140 OS Landranger maps (links redirect to Amazon). The route is very easy to follow (just stay on the canal)