Keith Baud Memories

The continuing story of the Buckingham Canal in the 1950s
- Part 2: from the west side of the present A5

The culvert, which took Dogsmouth Brook under the embankment, was obviously a source of great interest to the local lads, it is reputed that some of the more daring waded through it to the far end. It is called Dogsmouth Brook, by the way, because of a spring that used to issue from a Dogs Mouth in the bank near the road bridge over the brook on the old Northampton Road at its junction with the Cosgrove road.

The section of the canal between the Dogsmouth culvert and what is now the A5D was never easily accessible, as the towpath was heavily overgrown. We did get along it in 1963 however when the canal froze over for months. There was certainly a short arm and I seem to recall a building made out of corrugated steel sheet and painted black near it, although whether it was a wharf or not I would not like to guess. This arm lay in the far (eastern) corner of a rectangular field bounded on two sides by the canal and was well overgrown in the 50s. In later years David Adams of Bridge Farm (opposite Riverside Garage) established ACE Plant Hire in this field - I guess it is still there.

At the south-east corner of this field the canal made a 90-degree turn west, with a short arm going straight into what we called 'The Wharf'. Although we never went into 'The Wharf' (it was private property), a little niggle at the back of my mind says there must have been a way of crossing this arm to gain access to the towpath which continued on the southern side of the main cut. I note that you have found evidence of a swing bridge and this must have been it. By the late 60s the Wharf Arm had dried up and we used to walk across it through the reeds.

This junction seemed quite big as a child; it was certainly quite an expanse of water and a popular fishing spot. There was also an old punt here, covered in black tar that we used to use to make the odd foray onto the waters of the canal. As I said, I think I can only ever remember going into Hayes Wharf once and this was from Wharf Lane. I can remember a great barn of a place like a Dutch barn, with old walls overgrown with ivy.

From the junction with the Wharf arm to the Bridge the canal ran along the north side of another rectangular field that served as the village recreation ground (known as the Rec). I think there are houses there now. The boundary between the 'Rec' and the canal was a high unkempt hedge with plenty of gaps to access the towpath. The eastern boundary of the 'Rec' was the old stone wall of Hayes Wharf. The western boundary was Cosgrove Road - the old A422 to Northampton. As the major junction of the A5 and A422 from Northampton to Oxford, Old Stratford was very busy place before the opening of the M1. I can remember this bridge when it was a conventional narrow 'hump-backed' bridge so I would guess that is in the 50s. However, as I said, the A422 was a busy road, and after an Army tank transporter (Diamond T or Mighty Antar — I cannot remember which) grounded out on it one day the local council decided to lower the bridge.

They constructed a new, flatter concrete bridge that I guess is still there, and this had a towpath underneath on the south side. You could walk under it OK with just your head bent (about 5'6' headroom I would guess) so from water level there should be enough room for a boat. There was always plenty of water in this stretch of canal. The towpath was accessed by an inclined path which led from the south side of road near the entrance to the 'Rec' and along between the wall and the road.

(More in the next Navigator)