36 January 2018 Canal Boat canalboat.co.uk
T
he hundreds of people who travel to
Oxford must all pass through The
Pigeons Lock yet very few will have
any idea why it is so called.
In books, canal handbooks and on maps
it is often misspelt as Pigeon’s Lock or
even Pidgeons Lock. But the clue to the
name lies in the rather grand house
opposite the lock now almost completely
hidden by a tall hedge.
It was not always known as Pigeons
Lock. Not far away is an ancient mill that
was mentioned in Domesday Book.
Towards the end of the 17th century it
became known as Flights Mill. At the
beginning of the 19th century the mill was
owned by William Ensor and the recently
built lock nearby became known as
Ensor’s Mill Lock.
Later in the century, an ale house was
built opposite the lock to serve the canal
called The Three Pigeons and in 1912 it
was replaced by a bigger inn a little nearer
the lock which became named after it.
That old canal pub is now a country house
valued at over £900,000.
In 1926, my grandmother, Lilian
Wickson, took over The Three Pigeons
from her parents, Sophia and Gerry Keys.
Sophia had been born on a narrow boat.
Her maiden name was Grantham, a name
shared by many boating families, although
Sophia did not remain on the boats.
Until the mid-50s when my grandmother
moved into Kirtlington, The Pigeons was
always my favourite place to visit. Little
did I realise what demanding work it was
for my grandmother to run the pub. It was
very much an ale house for the boat
people, canal workers and local farmlabourers. There was a stable next to it
with stalls for the boat horses.
The house had no running water, gas or
electricity. Water was provided by a pump
in the kitchen which produced a pint of
water for every pull of the handle. Lighting
was by oil lamp or candles. Meals were
cooked on a range in the dining/sitting
room or on a gas stove. There was no
bathroom or inside lavatory. The pub side
of the house consisted of the cellar withThe boat boy
Growing up with grandmother who ran the Three Pigeons pub
opened up a new world for a young child who never lost his love
of narrowboats and their working crews on the busy canals
BY ROGER WICKSON
Rose Skinner of narrow boat FriendshipThomas Glaytons Umea, looking smart
after repainting at Polesworth in 1953