Tixall Wide
Today’s journey takes us from Rugeley to Haywood Junction, where we turn left so that we can moor in Tixall Wide.
The weather is bright and sunny although a little windy! Martin is in charge as it is Wednesday and I am at work, so we are taking our time as we head to Stone. We decide to get as far as the junction at Haywood.
The nature of the canal changes in this stretch with fields either side and plenty of livestock to see out the windows! The main place en route is Colwich, a town which has developed around the canal with a rather attractive lock and lock cottage.
A last minute decision sees us turning left at the junction to find a spot at Tixall Wide. Also known as Tixall Broad or The Broad Water, this wide stretch of water was created on the advice of Capability Brown as part of the development of the Staffordshire and Worcester Canal. The 3rd Baron Clifford of Chudleigh only allowed the canal to pass in front of his baronial hall, Tixall Hall, if the canal was made to look like an ornamental lake!
Whatever the reason, it is a fantastic spot to stop and feels most peculiar to look out of the window and see so much water!
We decided to walk into Great Haywood village to pick up supplies. We pass the junction which now is home to an Anglo Welsh hire boat centre, and cross the lock, passing a small brick building with a lovely plaque commemorating the canal:
The village of Great Haywood is interesting with two churches, one CofE and the other Roman Catholic - testament to how the reformation had less of an impact on the religious buildings in this part of the country.
St Stephen’s Church designed by Thomas Trubshaw became the centre of the village in 1854 and has a school attached to it called Anson Church of England School.
The RC Church, St. John the Baptist, was originally built at Tixall as a private chapel for Tixall Hall, was dismantled and relocated to Great Haywood when the Tixall estate was sold to Lord Talbot in 1854, the family being Protestant and not wanting local Roman Catholics to visit the chapel. Built in the Gothic style, it has a particularly fine belfry but the the Gothic bay window didn’t make the transition. We weren’t able to see inside and the building was surrounded by trees so the pictures aren’t as good as I would have liked!