Oxford Canal - UK Inland Waterways - Yellow Tea Towel

Oxford Canal - UK Inland Waterways - Yellow. The Oxford Canal is 78-mile-long (126 km) narrow canal in central England linking Oxford with Coventry via Banbury and Rugby. The canal connects with the River Thames at Oxford, to the Grand Union Canal at the villages of Braunston and Napton-on-the-Hill, and to the Coventry Canal at Hawkesbury Junction in Bedworth just north of Coventry. The Oxford Canal passes mainly through the Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire and Warwickshire countryside, and is often considered to be one of the most scenic canals in Britain. The canal was once an important artery of trade between the English Midlands and London, and is now highly popular among pleasure boaters. The Oxford Canal was constructed in several stages over a period of more than twenty years. In 1769 an Act of Parliament authorising the Oxford Canal was passed. The intention was to link the industrial English Midlands to London via the River Thames. Construction began shortly after near Coventry. Surveying the route and initial construction were originally supervised by the celebrated engineer James Brindley, assisted by Samuel Simcock who was also Brindley's brother-in-law. Brindley died in 1772 but Simcock took over and completed the canal. The final section into central Oxford was ceremonially opened on 1 January 1790.