Wooten Wawen - Lapworth

Saturday

This morning I popped up the the village shop in Wooten Wawen for a newspaper, the forecast was for rain all day, but it hadn't started yet!

Along the way you pass the old paper mill, converted to housing.

 The weir and old mill race,

The old Manor house, surrounded by crisp frosty scenery,

The Church with the lovely old Saxon part in the front.   People have been worshipping God here for over 1,000 years. The original building would have been wooden, with many changes being made over the years.

There is also this little chapel close to the mill building, but I can find no information about it.

 Coming back,  I took a closer look at the Wooten Wawen aqueduct,  shorter than the Edstone, but built in the same way.

They rightly were proud of their work, and so they should be, still in place after  200 years.

At Yew Tree Farm where the craft workshops now occupy the lovely old farm building set around the farmyard, there is also this very impressive log store.  Someone has been busy stacking it so neatly and evenly.

Once on our way, we enjoyed working the first few locks in the dry, though we had dressed prepared  for rain as last night's forecast warned.
And they were right, although it was never too bad, and we made good progress climbing up through the Warwickshire countryside.

 At Preston Bagot the car is still parked in the same position as last year.

The barrel roofed lock house, much altered and added to.

Perhaps not quite the right style beside the canal.

At Lowsonford a more original cottage, well maintained and in good condition. I know which one I prefer.  The story goes that these lock cottages were constructed with the barrel roofs because the canal engineers who were asked to design them, at the time of building the canal, knew well enough about bridges and tunnels, but not so much about houses, so used a style they knew they could do. 

We got to Lapworth (lock 25) at 2pm, just about 4 hours journey, rather wet and hungry.  It didn't take long to get the frying pan on, and 20 minutes later bacon, eggs and mushrooms were ready to fill that gap!  
This is where our journey ends for a while.  Locks 24 & 23 are having lock gates replaced, hopefully to be finished next Friday. With work beginning on lock 26 behind us on Monday.  Dodging the stoppages has begun!

5.5 miles,  14 locks