The Oxford Summit Pound - Wednesday 22nd May 2013

This morning we left our mooring at the top of Claydon Locks and headed gently through the narrow remains of what had been the Fenny Compton Tunnel to the wharf where we moored up and walked into the village which is about 1 mile away. The Candy Boat had set up business at the wharf but as there was a cool wind blowing I doubt if he did much business.

As we walked along the lane towards the village we passed the premises of Lee Sanitation the well known loo provider for narrow boats and next door was the Formula 1 hovercraft racing teams headquarters. Not what you would expect in the middle of the Warwickshire countryside.

Entering the village from the wharf means that you see the newer properties but as you reach the school and church the older properties become evident. There are some particularly interesting cottages which back on to the churchyard. No problem with the neighbours though.
The village name which means " settlement in a marshy valley", is very apt as it has its own water company, which is the smallest in England and was founded in 1886.
The Methodist church is squeezed between these two houses and the Old School House is adjacent to the new school hopefully as a reminder of what it used to be like.

on a small green next to a relatively new housing development stands this large stone block and on the back is map of the village and its surroundings at the start of the third millennium.

On our way to the village we met a couple returning to the wharf and started to chat. What a small world it is; they had followed us up Claydon Locks and we had had brief chats then but now it turned out that they, Pam and Keith Nb. More Content, were friends of Michael and Angela of Nb Levick who we know from our marina.
We returned to the boat and after some lunch motored on towards Napton but decided to stay in a lovely spot we had seen on the way down with gorgeous views over the valley towards the Windmill on Napton Hill, some 7 miles way by canal, and the Burton Dassett Hills.

I decided to go for a walk on my own as June is not as keen as Phoenix was and did a circular walk taking in the lovely village of Wormleighton. and the site of its medieval village. The photos show the old Manor House, original home of the Spencer family of Althorpe fame, and its Gate House which date back to 1613 and the lovely 12th century St Peters Church together with some of the thatched cottages which make up the hamlet. Unbelievably the old forge shown at the bottom left is now the Forge Recording Studio.


this is the site of the Medieval Village of Wormleighton and the outlines of earthworks can still be seen.