Lyra's Travels

Friday 20th July 2012
Here we are, moored up near Warwick. With a lot of double width locks to do we got up early and were on our way by just gone 8.00.
After about an hour's running we reached the top of Hatton Flight. There was no-one waiting at the top to go down so I decided to walk down to the cafe to see if they sold milk, and get a bit of cake for morning coffee.
When I got to the cafe, which is only one lock down from the top, there was a boat crew who had just finished breakfast, and they seemed happy to wait for us to cycle the top lock and then pair up for rest. I went back to the boat and started to fill the lock ready for us. Just as I was opening it a chap ran up from the other boat and said they'd decided not to wait and would carry on by themselves. I was flabbergasted! It's not only unusual to refuse a pairing, it's bad manners and wasteful of water.
Anyway, we waited in the lock, and after about 10 minuets another boat came along and we paired up for the slog ahead of us.
All went very well, "Bwthyn Dŵr" the other boat had 4 on board, which gave us enough crew to get ahead and prepare locks if there wasn't anyone coming up. We met a few boats climbing the flight, but not many. The pairing lasted until the bottom lock where there was a singleton waiting so we took that slot and said goodbye to "Bwthyn Dŵr",which is Welsh for Water Cottage.
At the bottom there is an arm of canal, Saltisford Arm, which boasts mooring and facilities. We decided to give it try, but were very disappointed, the mooring is very limited, and the facilities are difficult to get to. So we turned around and are now moored outside the main area and I'll have a look around later to see if we can get closer or we'll just stay here.

Hatton Flight, near Warwick