IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Westwood Road, ATHERSTONE, CV9 2AZ

No motorist wants to find themselves approaching this - a 4-way temporary traffic light control just as it turns red. Oddly, there is no obvious sign of any roadworks - and how is the blue car turning into Westwood Road from the opposite direction?

It is not unusual for pubs and other businesses to advertise themselves to canal boaters - it all adds to the interest, but beware of any establishment claiming to be ten minutes away (reckon on at least double that!) This is a particularly curious collection by bridge 41 in Atherstone. Anyone expecting a warm welcome at the Barge and Bridge will be disappointed - the pub closed in 2015 and has since been demolished. And who exactly is selling Calor Gas?

A burst of colour between the towpath and a canalside building close to bridge 41.

Pink roses grow between the towpath and a canalside building close to bridge 41.

This is the Coventry Canal in Atherstone, south-east of Coleshill Road Bridge, No 41.

The derelict factory of Wilson & Stafford Ltd. The Coventry Canal is in the foreground.

On the other side of bridge 41 is Atherstone Top Lock, the first of a flight of 11. On the left is part of a derelict factory, the former premises of Wilson & Stafford Ltd, hat makers. Atherstone once had two main industries: coal mining and hat making, both of which have now completely disappeared. Wilson & Stafford was in fact the last manufacturer of felt hats, not only in Atherstone but in the whole of Great Britain. The company went into liquidation in 1999; it is perhaps surprising that it lasted that long given that hats had long since ceased to be essential fashion items for both men and women. Although there were plans to demolish the building in 2008, it remains standing in 2020.

At the top of the Atherstone flight on the Coventry Canal. The building on the right was seen to be in a coal yard in an earlier shot. The factory in the background on Coleshill Road is the derelict Wilson & Stafford Ltd hat factory.