One canal, two deserted villages - and only a bit of rain

Sometimes, lumps in a field are nothing more than lumps. But these regular "stripes" are the remains of an old farming system. And on this excellent walk, we also found the remains of two deserted medieval villages....

Our New Year's Day walk began with 5 miles along the Oxfordshire Canal, starting at the appropriately named Wharf Inn, Fenny Compton. (Good reviews on Tripadvisor - reasonable prices)

The canal was a strange milky coffee colour, owing to the recent days of rain.

The weather was dull, but at least it wasn't raining. The towpath was squishy most of the way

After about a mile, we passed the lumps and bumps which were once the village of Wormleighton, abandoned to make room for more sheep farming. We would be coming back this way for a closer look.

Some of the bridges need a bit of care and attention.

Very few people out today - we saw three boats moving, and no walkers at all. 

This bridge is called Wedding Bridge 2009. Must be a story?

Mossy tree roots

The canal is very lonely, and very winding. It was built to follow the contours: this part makes a big loop round the hilly land on the right of this picture. (There's some ridge and furrow if you look closely)

The sun made a brief appearance, reflecting extra light into the water: but only  for about 5 minutes.

The mild winter has led the alder leaves to start opening

Underfoot, large patches of crab apples - the local wildlife must have had other, better food sources.

Another lonely bridge: this one was the end of the canal section: it's about 5 miles from the start, and passes no villages just open rolling countryside 

We crossed the bridge, looking at the excellent example of ridge and furrow - the "corduroy" effect! 

This beautiful house is Stoneton Manor, with a  moat...

...crossed by this lovely old brick bridge

More of the moat,...

...and still more

This straight line of trees led to the house from the road - maybe once an avenue?

These lumps are the ancient village of Stoneton, another deserted medieval village (DMV)

Our route then led us to Wormleighton, and these stone houses

Even the bus shelter, dwarfed by the conifer, was stonebuilt.

The few remaining houses in Wormleighton are stunning. 

This Tudor gatehouse was once part of a manor which was burnt down in the Civil War. It belonged to the Spencer family, who then moved to Althrop and took some of the stone with them.

This is all that was left of the old manor house, and has been much altered. Nice coat of arms.

St Peter's Church 

These wornout faces are called grotesques (not gargoyles, which are waterspouts)

 Misty view back down towards the canal

The muddy track back to the canal

...passing through the old Wormleighton DMV.

The sheep give some idea of the size of the lumps: This, I think was the main road

The amazingly ugly Texel sheep - with a distinct look of pig about them!
From here we walked along the canal to the start

This was a really lovely walk - great countryside, and fantastic architecture. It would be even lovelier in the spring/summer. I can highly recommend it. 
Today's walk: About 9 miles. Park at the Wharf Inn, just outside Fenny Compton, following the canal for 5 miles. At Bridge 126, cross the canal and follow the path up to Stoneton Manor. Just before the manor, a path will take you straight to Wormleighton, but you need to go to the road if you want to see the Stoneton DMV. (We actually walked by minor road to Wormleighton, as the path was too waterlogged). However you get there, walk into Wormleighton (there's only the one road). Fork left just after the church, and follow the path down to the canal, passing the DMV on your left, and heading to a stile in the far corner of the large field. Then walk back along the canal to your start point. Easy walking, but quite a long way. Can get muddy, so be prepared. Navigation is very easy.