Canals in Warwickshire

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Paw Broon

Active Member
I've got a long weekend coming up with my son Adam, aged 18, who has learning difficulties. He loves visiting canals (colourful boats, locks, cafes, slightly eccentric people...) and cycling along towpaths. We're staying near Warwick so I'd be grateful for advice about which canals have got towpaths good enough for him to cycle on (not too much mud, not too much grass, not crumbling away into the canal). All I know about in that area is the Grand Union Canal from Warwick Parkway Station to Hatton, which is the kind of towpath that Adam is fine with. What are the towpaths like further afield on the GUC or the Stratford Canal?
 

Milkfloat

An Peanut
Location
Midlands
Without knowing exactly where you are staying/starting it is difficult to get specific. I tend not to ride the canal paths too much as they can be busy but I used to run along them a lot. After Hatton heading away from Warwick it can get a little muddy, but very passable all the way to Birmingham. However, I would also suggest heading through Warwick out past Leamington and up onto the Offchurch Greenway. It can get a little bumpy past Offchurch. One top tip is to take a look using Streetview in Google Maps, usually every mile or so somone has taken a photo which is geo referenced and can be seen using Streetview.
 
The Stratford towpath is generally unmade and narrow, but never too rough. Within Birmingham it's recently been upgraded and is good quality. From there to Lapworth it's rougher but ok. Around Lapworth it's good. Lapworth to Wilmcote is the roughest section, but again, not too bad - we boated it the other week and there were lots of bikes out. Wilmcote to Stratford is fully upgraded as part of NCN 5.
 
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Paw Broon

Active Member
The Stratford towpath is generally unmade and narrow, but never too rough. Within Birmingham it's recently been upgraded and is good quality. From there to Lapworth it's rougher but ok. Around Lapworth it's good. Lapworth to Wilmcote is the roughest section, but again, not too bad - we boated it the other week and there were lots of bikes out. Wilmcote to Stratford is fully upgraded as part of NCN 5.
Thanks, Richard. Wilmcote to Stratford sounds good. We can try Warwick Parkway up as far as Lapworth. (Decent cafe at Hatton if we have to turn round...)
 
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Paw Broon

Active Member
Without knowing exactly where you are staying/starting it is difficult to get specific. I tend not to ride the canal paths too much as they can be busy but I used to run along them a lot. After Hatton heading away from Warwick it can get a little muddy, but very passable all the way to Birmingham. However, I would also suggest heading through Warwick out past Leamington and up onto the Offchurch Greenway. It can get a little bumpy past Offchurch. One top tip is to take a look using Streetview in Google Maps, usually every mile or so somone has taken a photo which is geo referenced and can be seen using Streetview.
Thanks Milkfloat - really helpful. We're staying in the outskirts of Warwick, near Parkway station. Parking at Parkway is easy so your suggestions are good. I didn't know about the Offchurch Greenway - thanks for that.
 
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