Heading up Hatton.

We set off soon after 0930 hoping that somebody else would turn up whilst we were taking on water at the bottom of the Cape or Warwick Locks and they did. A family on a hire boat kindly waited a few minutes for us whilst we finished off the water.

The secong of the two locks by the Cape of Good Hope pub.

Before the start of the Hatton Locks the Saltisford Arm goes away. This was actually the end of the Warwick and Birmingham Canal that ended closer to the centre of Warwick than today. Latert the Warwick and Napton Canal arrived and joined up isolating the last part of the earlier canal. It is now used for moorings and has an active community down there.

As we arrived at the first of the 21 Hatton Locks we lost our partner to a share boat that had just about to start upwards. However as we had to wait for them to leave the locks we were joined by another boat who turned out to be good lock buddies. Our first partners heading of without us.

There are a fair few still ahead of us.

The helmsmen had now decided to pair up rather than have to throw ropes up to the lock side and things go quickly. However we often have to wait a little to allow the ones ahead to clear the locks so we can reset them. I was able to pick a pound or two of brambles whilst standing around.

We did meet a few boats coming down which needed a bit of shuffling about. This makes the process look like the Red Arrows have been involved with a star burst.

Near the top in a side pound is this sculpture of a dragonfly

Near the top now with St Mary's Church, Warwick, in the distance.

Helen is all smiles now as there are only three locks to do. In the distance is the Asylum opened in 1852 and known as Central Hospital. At it's peak there were 370 acres of land round the Hospital that were farmed by the 'inmates' and they provided all their own food. A tuberculosis hospital was built on the site too. The farms were sold off in 1973 and the hospital was closed in 1995. Some of the buildings were knocked down and a housing estate built. The Grade 1 buildings were converted to apartments.

We got to the top in just under three hours and as the weather has been just right, not too hot or sunny, and no wind or rain, it was a pleasure to do them with our lock partners who knew what to do. We didn't go much further, just cleared the cuttings to get a bit of daylight.