30/09/18 - Coventry Canal Art Trail

Distance - 7 Miles
Geocaches - 1
Walk Inspiration
Pub - Good Beer Guide Tick 320 - The Greyhound, Sutton Stop, Coventry



This is the sort of thing that has to admired but needs to be maintained.   In an effort to promote the regeneration of the Coventry Canals and encourage people to get some exercise, a 27 item, open air gallery has been created.   There is a web site, a map and an i-Spy style sheet to be printed off and ticked as you find them.

The Map and the Art Work Locations

However, the actual art works are looking tatty now.  Used by tramps to sit on and drink, covered in litter and generally run down. 

And once you have seen a dog paw print in a human poo, there's no erasing the image from your brain.

Here's an example.  Of the art work.

James Brindley - Art #1 in Coventry Basin

Frequent Signage

Scabby Fish Seats.  I wouldn't sit on them.

Tunnel lights were intended to come on as you walked past.  

Inspired by a construction seen on the canal locally.  Cov Huckleberry Finn?

Other things seen - the M6 and Coventry City's (is it?) Ricoh Arena.   Who would have predicted 24 hours earlier a 3rd tier football game would have involved Cov vs. Sunderland?

An easy walk and the real reward is at the end.

A 2019 Good Beer Guide Tick at the Greyhound, Sutton Stop.   It's a proper gem.

It sits in the heart of the Canal infrastructure at Hawkesbury Junction - where the Coventry and Oxford canals meet.   Plenty of architectural items of interest, along with the pub itself - a handful of canal cottages knocked together.

End of the Walk Reward

It's proud of its awards - with the bible detailing how it has been a frequent CAMRA Pub of The Year and four time winner of the Godiva Award for best pub in Coventry and Warwickshire.  Pre-empting the smoking ban by 24 years, it was this trophy that took my eye.

Are B&H still a thing?

The pub is impossibly busy.  I struck lucky in both getting a table outside, remembering its number and it still being free by the time I had queued and ordered refreshment.   The Black Sheep (in a Bass glass) was good, but its the beef bourguignon pie with Stilton Flakes that is going to stay in the memory for a long time.

A highly recommended pub.

Black Sheep - Some one Mooring up for a Pint

A couple of final items of interest, as I make my way to Exhall to catch the bus back to town.

Bang on the time predicted by Google Maps.

Engine House

Uncle Albert opposite the Bus Stop