Life at Falling Sands Rock

Time and Place: NarrowBoat, Spring 2022

David Godson recalls memories of growing up in a remote lock cottage on the Staffs & Worcs in the mid-20th century

Roughly halfway between Kidderminster and Stourport, on a rural stretch of the southern Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal, lies Falling Sands Lock (No 4). One of the prettiest and most isolated of the 43 on the canal, the single lock is perhaps overshadowed by the impressive railway viaduct of the same name that’s around a third of a mile to the north. During the days when working boats still used the canal, the lock was given extra prominence by a pretty lock cottage. This was sadly demolished almost 60 years ago and while there is little or no evidence of it today, I have particularly vivid memories of the house as I was raised there in the late 1940s and early ’50s. I have reached the stage in life when childhood reminiscences take hold from time to time and I’m constantly reminded of Falling Sands by a painting, produced for my late father by H.G. Carter of Kidderminster, that hangs in our village home here in Hampshire. Danger My first genuine recollec…