Snarestone Wharf put-in

The Ashby Canal has only one lock in its length, a stop lock at Marston Junction that protects water supplies rather than changing level. The canal originally ran thirty-one miles to Moira, but the northern nine miles crossed the coalfield itself and were closed in stages between 1944 and 1966 as mining subsidence fractured the bed. A mile and a half of the line near Moira was restored and re-watered between 1999 and 2005, and the current restoration objective is to rebuild the two and a half miles connecting Snarestone to Measham.

From Snarestone to Carlton Bridge the canal is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest for its aquatic plant life and dragonfly population. Nine dragonfly species have been recorded on the wider canal, along with water shrews and the nationally rare water beetle Haliplus mucronatus, and submerged plants including mare's tail and spiked water-milfoil. Coarse fish including bream, roach, chub and pike are present, and the reed-fringed, hedgerow-lined banks support herons, kingfishers and moorhens.

South of the tunnel the canal runs on through open farmland, where ridge-and-furrow patterns left by medieval ploughing are still visible from the water.