Blisworth Stoke Bruerne and several other villages. There is a small supermarket/post-office/newsagent, being the only shop. There is a modern well-equipped doctor's surgery in Stoke Road serving several surrounding villages as well as Blisworth itself. The village has a pub, The Royal Oak. A second pub, The Sun, Moon and Stars, near the canal closed at least 50 years ago. A third pub, the Grafton Arms, is now a private dwelling. After several years of neglect the listed building was the subject of a compulsory purchase order by South Northants Council in 2007 and may now be restored partly for accommodation
Chirk Tunnel was let in January 1796, and its construction was completed in 1801. The of canal eastwards to Frankton was opened immediately, because of the valuable trade in limestone from the Fron Quarries. The section through the tunnel, which also passed through Whitehouse Tunnel to reach Pontcysyllte was opened in June 1802. The tunnel is claimed to be the first in Britain to have a towpath running through it (along with its shorter neighbour - Whitehouse Tunnel). However, Berwick Tunnel on the Shrewsbury Canal was open by 1797 and included a towpath throughout its length. As the tunnel at Chirk is