Stays near Hawkesbury Junction, Coventry

Hawkesbury Junction, also known as Sutton Stop, is where the northern end of the Oxford Canal meets the Coventry Canal, between Coventry and Bedworth. The second name comes from the Sutton family, who provided several of its lock keepers in the nineteenth century.

Getting the two canals to meet was a long fight. The Coventry Canal was authorised in 1768 and the Oxford Canal in 1769. The junction was first planned for Gosford Green, then argued over and eventually settled at Longford, with the canals running side by side for about a mile. It opened on 15 April 1777 only after a court order, with the Oxford about seven inches higher than its neighbour.

The junction moved to its present spot in 1803. In the days of commercial carrying it was a meeting point for working boats waiting for orders from the many pits nearby and a stop lock still separates the two companies' water levels.

On the west bank stands an engine house of 1821, built for a Newcomen steam engine brought from Griff Colliery that pumped water from local mines to feed the canal. Named Lady Godiva, the engine was retired in 1913 and later moved to Dartmouth, where it is known as the Newcomen Memorial Engine.

Sullivan Heights is about 3 miles by road from Hawkesbury, Stoke Lodge and Stoke House about 5 miles and Humber Hub about 5 miles. For a canal weekend or a job on the north side of the city, any of the four houses gives a group its own kitchen and parking.