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

Today we are heading back to the Midlands to complete the full length of the Coventry Canal - and with this in mind, we are making our way towards Lichfield Trent Valley train station this morning.

The main challenge in organising this walk has been deciding how to get to the meeting with the Trent & Mersey Canal and the Coventry Canal (just to the north of Fradley).

One option is to head out across a combination of roads and footpaths, but the one I feel is going to offer the most enjoyment is the option of taking the bus from Lichfield to Alrewas - and then following the Trent & Mersey Canal from there to Fradley Junction.

Getting across to the Trent & Mersey Canal

This is a good plan - but unfortunately I turn out to not be a good navigator, and in the end we set ourselves up at the wrong bus stop - and so we get to stand and watch, as the bus heads off to Alrewas without us.

And so here we implement Plan B (it is always useful to have a Plan B!) - which is to head out across a combination of footpaths and roads, until we meet up with the Trent & Mersey Canal (on the western side of Fradley Junction).

This means heading north up to Nether Stowe - and here I am seduced by the potential of a well trodden path - that ultimately takes me into the middle of an under-construction housing estate - with a blocked path up ahead (a notice slightly earlier on the path might have been useful).

But here the construction workers do a good job of guiding me towards the road I had alternately been thinking of using - and upon reaching this road we are now following a marked cycle route (NCN 54).

This takes us up an exceptionally quiet road - and once we meet up with the edge of a new housing estates, things improve even further as cars are shifted off this old road, onto a new parallel road (that has been recently constructed).

And so from here we are following a traffic free path - with this cycle route then running on a shared pavement, as we navigate round an industrial estate.

Once we have made it past Gorse Farm we turn off onto a footpath - and although we have to hop a locked gate (where the style has fallen into disrepair), this proves to be a decent enough route in terms of getting us to the Trent & Mersey Canal. 

Having reached the canal itself, we remain on the wrong side - but whilst we do have a footpath across to a bridge, it does prove to be heavily overgrown.

But for all these struggles, we do indeed make it over that bridge - and onto the main towpath of the Trent & Mersey Canal - with the other walkers looking on in wonder as this refugee from Lichfield stumbles out of the bushes, and back into polite society.

Here the original plan of heading to Alrewas would have been better, but it does look like paths are being built into the new housing estates - and I do suspect that once those are all completed it will be much easier to get up to the canal from Lichfield.

Following the Trent & Mersey Canal

But we can for now just reflect upon our meeting up with the Trent & Mersey Canal.

Meeting up with the Trent & Mersey Canal

We are only following the Trent & Mersey Canal for about a quarter of a mile - but the smart kids amongst you will realise that this was built to connect up the River Trent and the River Mersey.

More specifically, at it's northern end it connects up with the southern end of the Bridgewater Canal near Preston-on-the-Hill - and connects with the River Mersey via the Weaver Navigation (making use of the Anderton Boat Lift). And at the southern end this 93.5 mile canal meets up with the River Trent at Long Eaton, near Derby.

This was a relatively early canal, having been completed in 1777 - and since it is one we will come back and walk, we won't dwell too much on it now - and will instead make the short walk down to Fradley Junction.

Crossing over the Trent & Mersey Canal

And on the far side at Fradley Junction

The sections of canal here are excellent - and this brief visit has given me plenty of enthusiasm to come back and complete more of the Trent & Mersey Canal.

Now on the Coventry Canal

But now we start to make our way along the Coventry Canal - and here we pass our first gang of workers, out improving this stretch of towpath - before we soon get back to the sort of towpath that typically features along the Coventry Canal (the tourists get a fancy path, but the rest of the towpath is more than good enough for us)

Now following the Coventry Canal

It is a short trip down to Fradley - and along the way we soon pass under a bridge that carries the road we had been following (just before we turned onto a footpath to join up with the Trent & Mersey Canal).

But whilst we are yet to reach Fradley itself, we are now on the very edge of what was once RAF Lichfield (and the industry we passed on the way to the canal - and many of the houses that we will pass - have been built on top of that former airfield).

The former site of RAF Lichfield (now housing and industry)

This airfield was built at the very start of World War II - intially as a maintenance site, but later as an active airfield. And after the war it resumed it's role as a maintenance site, but closed in 1958 - and the site was sold in 1962.

These days the main activity at the site is the construction of houses - but is also notable for having some major industrial sites. 

And there remain some unusually shaped buildings (that we passed on our way over to the canal) that result from a decision to repurpose (rather than demolish) the original aircraft hangars (these can be seen just off Wood End Lane).

But soon we are heading through Fradley - and here the vast majority of the housing is very modern, with a tiny patch of much older housing (that looks to have been a small farming village) - and then a second bunch of houses that look to date from the 1970s.

It remains a small village for now (although I'm sure it will will become a suburb of Lichfield eventually) - and we are soon out the other side, and passing under the A38.

Passing under a busy road is not something we usually dwell on too much, but here the A38 runs along a route formerly known at Ryknield Street (or Icknield Street).

There is a lot of debate over whether this should be Ryknield Street or Icknield Street, but to avoid confusion with Icknield Street (and since it doesn't really matter anyway), Ryknield Street is often used - and that is how it is marked on OS Maps.

But this was a Roman Road that ran from Bourton-on-the-Water (on the Fosse Way) to Templeborough via Birmingham and Derby. 

And this was one of the four Roman Roads given the King's Protection by Edward the Confessor (making any offence committed on these roads a personal offense against the Crown) - highlighting the importance of this road during the 11th century.

But once under this road we get some quiet for a bit, before our route soon turns to run parallel to that busy (and noisy) road - as we head past Streethay Wharf, and Kings Orchard Marina.

From here we head on towards Huddlesford - where we meet up with yet another canal - albeit with this being an abandoned section of the Wyrley & Essington Canal (you do eventually start to keep track of all the different canals, but there are quite a lot of them).

The former junction with the Wyrley & Essington Canal

This seven mile (former) section of the Wyrley & Essington Canal was abandoned in 1955 - but due to the short length of this stretch, there have been plans to restore this section of canal for some time.

The original canal opened in 1797, but it wasn't really usable until 1800 - when Chasewater reservoir was contructed to boost (the formerly inadequate) water supplies along this stretch of canal.

The canal itself wasn't a major success, but it did make it easier to transport Lichfield Coal - and this stretch of canal is most notable for a new modern law, that meant that a new road couldn't be built in the path of a waterway restoration scheme unless an aqueduct or tunnel was provided.

And when the M6 toll road was built, they did indeed build an aqueduct for this canal - even though only slight progress had been made on the wider restoration.

Is it technically an aqueduct if it has no water? Source: Google Maps

These days sections are slowly being completed - and whilst a reopening date is likely to be some way into the future - it is also highly likely that this stretch will be completed. And so in about 5-10 years time we should be able to return to tick off this new section of canal.

But being quite a few years too early to turn off down that canal - here we stick with the Coventry Canal, and start making our way across to Whittington.

Whittington itself passes by on the far side of the cana -, and so we don't see very much of it other than the backs of the houses - but we do see a big increase in the foot traffic (from no other people, to a few people).

But this foot traffic dies down once we get out beyond Whittington, and start making our way across to the tiny village of Hademore.

On the way past Hademore we see very little of it - but soon we reach the best stretch of the canal so far, as we pass by Hopwas Hays Wood.

Passing Hopwas Hays Wood

We have come at the right time of year to enjoy this stretch in it's full autumnal splendor - although note that the woods are used by the troops at Whittington Barracks as a live firing range (so don't panic if you hear any unexpected noises).

Footpaths do go from here into those woods - but the footpaths should not be used when the red flags (or lamps) are on display. And the gates (to turn off the canal into the woods at Hopwas Wood Bridge) will also be locked when the range is active. 

But having got through this lovely stretch without getting shot at, we now pass through of Hopwas (which looks much older than the more modern housing we have generally been passing).

Looking back just beyond Hopwas

And looking forwards

By now we are starting to close in on Fazeley - but before we get close, we reach a new housing estate at what was once Dunstall Farm - and here we get diverted off through this housing estate as the towpath is being upgraded.

But we are soon beyond this diversion, and now walking along what is the absolute gold standard of canal paths.

Phwar - look at that towpath

This most beloved of all towpath surfaces does only last for so long, before we return to something a bit less fancy - but here we are now on the very edge of Fazeley, and getting ready to meet up with the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal.

As we do so, I have opted to re-use a picture from our very recent trip up the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal (from from Birmingham to Tamworth) - as today the canal is very busy, and being used by all the kids to get home from school.

Fazeley Junction without people (taken four days ago)

But from here we make the short trip on beyond Fazeley, and over the River Tame - before we turn off onto the A51.

Heading towards the aqueduct over the River Tame

On the way towards the aqueduct over the River Tame there is a very cute little kitten that seems to remember me from my previous visit. And then for the third time in eight days, we set off across to Wilnecote train station - which has proven to be quite a useful link with the canals at Tamworth.

Having reached this station, the trains up to Derby have all been cancelled - and so here I am naughty - and use my NOT VIA BIRMINGHAM train tickets, to make the trip home via Birmingham.

But with today over, the Coventry Canal has been completed - and it has definitely been an enjoyable canal to explore.

The plan is to come back to walk the Ashby Canal either next week (or the following week if there isn't suitable weather), and then we will take a break from these Midlands canals for a bit, having had a great time exploring this area (for now though I am tiring of these train trips down from Teesside).

But in the spring we will come back - and both complete the Oxford Canal, and our first sections of the Trent & Mersey Canal - and this is quite exciting, as once these have been done we will have connected up our networks of walks in the south of England (from Bristol and the south coast of England up to Oxford), with our network of walks in the north of England (from the Peak District up through the northern National Parks - and on up to Gretna and Berwick on the border of Scotland).

But that will be a task for the spring - and for now we head home.

Total Distance: 16.6 miles (11.4 miles on the Coventry Canal)

Total Ascent: 364 feet (151 feet on the Coventry Canal)

Enjoyment Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ ★ ★ / 5

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

Click for a connecting walk along the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal from Birmingham to Tamworth.

Disclaimer: This writeup provides a narrative of what to expect rather than a route guide to follow. The route is covered by the 128 and 139 OS Landranger maps (links redirect to Amazon). Once on the canal it is very easy to follow