Lapworth, Hatton and a family weekend aboard No Problem

Today – Hatton Station to Warwick, Grand Union Canal, 3.25 miles, 21 locks
Weekend – Lapworth to Hatton Station. Stratford and Grand Union Canals 5.75 miles, 15 locks

On Saturday we dropped down the rest of the Lapworth Flight to just below the lock by The Boot Pub.  We had arranged to meet the family there on Saturday evening, having found a safe place to keep the car for a couple of nights.

We were a bit worried at one of the lift bridges as it took all of our combined strength to lift it.  The hydraulics seemed to be a bit stiff, maybe it was running out of oil or something.. but we managed it and on the other side a British Waterways barge just moored on the mooring for the bridge..

It wouldn’t have taken much to move it down a bit!  Anyway a short time afterwards I saw some BW guys and reported the lift bridge difficulty, and they went to it straight away..

The family arrived and we had a great evening aboard catching up on all the news together and draining a lot of the recourses from the bar of No Problem!

Kiera and Niamh particularly enjoyed themselves this time, and really enjoyed the few locks down to the Grand Union Canal, although the weather could have been kinder..

Once we turned onto the wide canal at Kingswood Junction it started to rain, but we all enjoyed the trip to Hatton Station, about half a mile from the top of the big lock flight.  A Sunday afternoon walk to the top of the flight then, and of course ice creams, tea and cakes all round at the little cafe..

Feeling guilty at my indulgence I suggested a walk down a few of the locks before returning..

Today they were all off home after a fantastic weekend, and Dan caught the train at Hatton for the quick hop to Lapworth to collect the car.. Shall we or shant we.. ho hum…

Yep lets do it, so this afternoon we moored on the top lock landing.  I was waiting for a hire boat to come with 12 strapping 20 year old good looking lads going our way in a hurry!  

We waited just under an hour, and we could see a boat approaching.. yep.. well not quite what I had in mind.. a crew of four who I guess were a little older than me!!  So we set off around 3pm..

On past the British Waterways Buildings.. they are looking good now.. and it was a very pleasant trip down with this crew, their boat was built by them.. a couple of brothers and their wives.  The build, shell and all, was started 30 years ago, and they just about finished it now.  “We built a shell before this one, but me and my bro fell out so we cut it in half”  I had to go inside No Problem because I started to giggle at the thought of that.. just he said it so seriously!  But him and his bro were best of mates today I felt!

Amazing stuff.. there are always tales on the waterways!

It took about 2 hours and 20 minutes so the OAP crews did OK I think.. Bottom lock..

Those paddles are tough on that flight and the bottom gates are heavy too, but plenty of people lockside for our trip down.  Our locking buddies were going on to the pub at The Cape, but I didn’t fancy a pub meal this evening so we put the pins in just before hand and when I looked at the map I could see we were very close to Warwick Racecourse.. I took the girls to explore after tea…

Gosh this took me back, I remember when I was a teenager I used to ride over the sticks when I worked for a racing trainer.. they looked bigger today.. WOW I must have been brave!