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IWA Branch
Navigation Authority
British Waterways, Peel's Wharf, Lichfield Street, Fazeley, Tamworth, Staffordshire, B78 3QZ. T: 01827 252000, F: 01827 288071
enquiries.hq@britishwaterways.co.uk
www.britishwaterways.co.uk
The canal runs for 22 miles (35.4km) from Marston Junction, where it joins the Coventry Canal, to Snarestone with no locks.
Boaters’ Services
Hire Boat Companies
Ashby Boat Company
Canal Wharf, Stoke Golding, NUNEATON, CV13 6EY
Tel: 01455 212671
Fax: 01455 213255
Boatyards
Ashby Boat Company
Repairs, emergency call out, pump out, diesel, gas, wet dock, chandlery
(See above for contact details)
Trinity Marina
Pump out, diesel, gas, wet dock, chandlery
Wharf Farm, Coventry Road, HINCKLEY, LE10 0NB
Tel: 01455 622243
Visitor Attractions
Bosworth Battlefield Visitor Centre & Country Park
Sutton Cheney, NUNEATON, CV13 0AD
Tel: 01455 290429
Fax: 01455 292841
www.leics.gov.uk/community_services/sustainable_development/country_parks
Battlefield Line Railway
Shackerstone Station, SHACKERSTONE, CV13 6NW
Tel: 01827 880754
www.battlefield-line-railway.co.uk
Moira Furnace
Furnace Lane, MOIRA, DE12 6AT
Tel: 01283 224667
moira.furnace@nwleicestershire.gov.uk
Measham Museum
56 High Street, MEASHAM, DE12 7HZ
Tel: 01530 213956
Historical Information
This was originally intended to be a broad canal that would link the Coventry Canal to the Trent at Burton-on-Trent, as can be see from the broad bridges built to take barges. The canal was used for transporting coal to the lime works near Ashby-de-la-Zouch and carried coal from the coalfields around Moira and Measham. Coal continued to be carried on the canal until 1981. Mining subsidence caused the closure of the Snarestone to Moira section. With the coalmines now closed and land settling now thought to be complete, there is optimism that the canal could be reopened to Measham in the near future.
The northernmost eight miles of the Canal, above Snarestone, closed following mining subsidence, but now that the mining in the area has ceased, Ashby Canal Association and other local interests are promoting restoration of the Canal back to its original terminus. A short section of the Canal at Moira was re-opened in 1999 and has been the venue for various Trailboat events since. 700-yards addition to this isolated section, from Moira to Donisthorpe was reopened in May 2005. Leicestershire County Council is promoting the restoration of the canal from its current terminus to Measham, where it is proposed to build a small marina, including a diversion along a disused railway line. The Council was granted an Order under the Transport & Works Act in 2005, the £50,000 costs of which were raised by supporters of the project, following a short public inquiry at the end of 2004.
Further Information
For books, maps, guides, videos, DVDs and gifts on this canal, click here
Websites
The National Forest
The Ashby Canal by Geoff Pursglove
The Ashby Canal Association
Local government links
