The route is marked with a boat logo.
(S/E) From Navigation Warehouse, where the River Lud enters the canal, follow the canal away from Louth town centre, cross the canal at the first weir, continuing along the towpath.
At Keddington Lock the remains of the original lock finally collapsed in 2018. It is expected a weir and riprap cascade will manage the water flow into the future. A footbridge leads across the field towards Keddington and St Margaret’s Church. St. Margaret’s Church dates from Norman times but is now sadly redundant. Members of the Ticklepenny family, who Ticklepenny Lock was named after, were farmers, lock keepers and toll collectors in the area, are buried in the churchyard.
(1) Continue along the towpath through a field where the River Lud runs on your right to Ticklepenny Lock.
Ticklepenny Lock is still in reasonable condition after having been repaired by the Louth Navigation Trust in 1996. There used to be a wooden swing bridge here, which has now been replaced by one made of concrete. In the early 1930s, a sheep wash was built alongside the lock and can this be seen amongst the trees on the left-hand side.
(2) Cross the road to follow the towpath. Go past farm buildings and the sewage works on your right. Continue along until you come to Lock Farm at Alvingham Lock, where a tributary of the River Lud runs under the canal, by way of a brick siphon, to feed Alvingham Mill. Cross the road to follow the towpath.
(3) Continue along the towpath to join the road at High Bridge. At the road turn right, leaving the canal, past the houses. At the end of the road, turn right onto the bridleway.
(4) Continue along the bridleway as it crosses fields and ditches until you meet a road and continue straight ahead. After the road first bends to the right and then left, turn right along a footpath. Follow this along the edge of Green Dike until you join another road.
(5) Turn right then left onto Meadow Lane at the next road junction through North Cockerington village. Just past the public phone box, turn right down a footpath. At Chapel Lane, walk straight across to join another footpath. Follow this to rejoin the towpath, turn left and retrace your steps back to Louth.
Near North Cockerington, the remains of the medieval settlement of Cockerington village can be seen as ‘lumps and bumps’ within the fields. The origin of the name Cockerington means a ‘farmstead by a stream called Cocker’ which is a Celtic river name – perhaps an earlier name for the river Lud.(S/E)
