Keddington Lock history revealed to towpath walkers

It seems swimming in the canal at Keddington Lock might have been just too shocking for some residents in the 1860s when a local newspaper carried a request for it to be banned –ladies too, it read, were “prevented going to Keddington church on account of the irregularities”.

By The Newsroom

Published 29th Apr 2022, 09:18 BST

LNT work party installing the information panel at Keddington Lock. Thanks go (to from left): Roger Subden, Richard Drinkel, Alan Coulbeck, Phil Dunham and Pete Brookes

LNT work party installing the information panel at Keddington Lock. Thanks go (to from left): Roger Subden, Richard Drinkel, Alan Coulbeck, Phil Dunham and Pete Brookes

Fortuitously, this is not an issue in 2022, but this and other interesting snippets about the lock can now be found on the new all-weather information panel, created by Andrew Stratford and installed by members of the Louth Navigation Trust (LNT) work party.

The Louth canal (more precisely a ‘navigation’ because it parallels a large part of the natural course of the River Lud) oozes industrial, social and environmental history and LNT has been bringing it to residents and visitors for over 35 years.

Currently, it is targeting those who walk the towpath by establishing a series of panels; first at Ticklepenny Lock on the outskirts of town, and now at Keddington.

The panel was made possible by generous support from Councillors Sarah Parkin, Chris Green and Ed Mossop using their ELDC Community Funds.

As a structure, Keddington Lock was seriously breached by heavy rains in 2018, disturbing the flow of water.

A spokesman for LNT said: “It had been slowly collapsing since the canal closed in the 1920s. Lindsey Marsh Drainage Board kindly stabilised it in 2021.

"We are lucky now that you can see the water moving well these days back into the Lud, and once again flowing on to the Water Mill at Alvingham.

“Part of our work is to encourage people to get to know the navigation better and to make their use of it more fun, hence the panels, but we also want to maintain the canal and make it more alive and accessible.

The Trust is currently looking for anyone with a little time to spare who is interested in doing some bankside work to join their monthly work parties.

Roger Subden, Trust chair, said: “It’s very satisfying to see regular progress.

"We have a great dedicated team, but it is small and we’d love to welcome some newcomers.”

Whether interested in the practical work or not, readers are invited to any or all of LNT’s events, held throughout the year.

These include walks under the Lincolnshire Wolds Outdoor Festival banner (May 24 – 28); the AGM (June 15), with a talk from Lincolnshire Bird Club; boules on the boules piste and music on the desking, as part of the Zero Degrees Festival in June, plus two full days of fun on the Heritage Open Days, September 10-11.

More events and further details at www.louthcanal.org.uk or email [email protected]

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Councillors Louth