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The Quarryman’s Walk follows the towpath from Hartshill Canal Yard (Bridge 32), which is lies just north of Nuneaton and goes as far as Tuttle Hill Bridge (Bridge 23).

The walk along the canal passes close to three major quarries - Hartshill, Judkins and Midland. At Hartshill you can see the yard where the narrow boats were repaired. The route also takes in Boon's Wharf where the stone from the quarries was loaded and you can see the spoil heaps created by the quarries.

Why are there so many Quarries in this area?

The Quarryman’s Walk runs along what is called the Nuneaton Inlier.

The Stone quarried in Hartshill is called Quartzite. This area used to be under the sea millions of year ago and the sand on the sea bed was later crushed by other rocks when the sea dried up turning it in to Quartzite.

Later pressures under the earth forced this Quartzite to the surface along the Quarryman’s Walk, this is the Nuneaton Inlier. It is very unusual for this stone to come to the surface like this which is why so many quarries were set up close together.

Much of this stone has now been quarried leading to many of the quarries closing. However the quarries still have a massive impact on this area. From the giant spoil heaps and holes to the canal and railway - much of the landscape you see was made by us, not nature.

It’s not only stone that the quarrymen found while they were digging. Find out more by listening to this clip:

Listen to the Quarrymen:

From even longer ago fossils of animals that lived in the sea when this area was underwater have been found. Two of these have only been found here and so are named after this area.