Turning right at Wigrams, onto the Warwick and Napton canal section of the Grand Union is a good place to have friends. The next 21 miles has 46 double locks, and pretty though it may be, it’s hard work without a crew, at this time of year, there are usually other boaters to share the load.
We struck lucky, making friends with a party of Australian men who had left their wives back home and come to explore the UK by narrowboat. Our heritage is certainly something to be proud of.
I hope that, if and when HS2 ever gets completed it will mellow into the countryside again just before Radford Semole
It will mellow and the trees will grow again, but I doubt it will last as long as our fabulous canal network. We said goodbye to our aussies who wanted to get to Warwick to visit Castle. We decided to have a few days in Royal Leamington Spa. Leamington is an odd place, you don’t see it at its best from the canal, although there’s some amazing street art
The town itself grew up around its mineral spring, when taking the waters became a fashionable cure all in the early 1800s. (Apparently the waters were actually a mild laxative so no wonder you felt well cleansed) Parks, promenades and bandstands with fabulous floral displays were created to entertain the visitors but despite the arrival of the railway, bringing more wealthy victorians, this prosperous period didn’t last. And nowadays its sadly rundown although the local council seem keen to maintain the gardens now, so it’s still a pretty place to walk around.
Leamington and Warwick are so close, they seem to merge into one with only the River Avon between the two.
We’ve moored in Warwick before on the Saltisford Arm, but not this trip
We’d had the offer of a helping hand from my friend Jude
who was keen and eager to help us up the Hatton flight, so we set off straight away.
I’m not sure if Jude realised what she’d volunteered for but we never say no to sharing the load.
It’s a great sense of satisfaction when you reach the dragonfly pond,
Although there’s still 3 more of the 21 locks to go.
The Hatton Flight was opened in 1799 as part of the Warwick and Birmingham canal. Not only did it carry coal but also tea sugar and spices were being brought to Birmingham, it was hard work for the boatmen but it became known as the Stairway to Heaven because they knew that once they reached Camp Hill in Birmingham they would get paid. In the 1930s the unification of the network incorporated as part of the Grand Union canal and the decision was made to improve capacity by widening the single locks to double width. Not only was it unusual for canals to be improved like this, the new locks were unusual because they were built out of that revolutionary new material, concrete. Economic and efficient the new flight might have been, you’d have thought those engineers would have spared a thought for us leisure boaters, who don’t get paid at the top of the flight.
Unless you count the evening view as a reward. Thankyou Jude, your help was very much appreciated, it was lovely to spend time with you and also to meet your family.
And just thrown in for good measure, I’ve also squeezed in a flying visit back home to Suffolk to check out the view from my back garden.
It doesnt suffer from a lack of boats though, just not the ones I’d choose to live on. Ipswich was built around the Orwell estuary and despite there being limited navigation inland, it has a huge marina full of sea worthy leisure cruisers, yachts and quite a few restored old sailing barges. Along with a significant number of fancy meeting places in the old warehouses for me to catch up with old work colleagues, (that’s old work, not old colleagues)
Thorpness is a tiny fishing village on the coast but around 1910 the Olgilvies built themselves and their friends a fantasy holiday village which included a mere paying homage to one of their friends J M Barrie, so if you were to take one of these boats out be warned there are pirates and crocodiles awaiting the boys and girls who don’t want to grow up.
Yes Anne, that’s a crocodile on the island.
Thanks to a thriving wool trade back in the 15th century, there’s some remarkable old mediaeval buildings still in use around Suffolk, Anne and I ventured into the heartland to a village called Peasenhall where this hall is owned by the Landmark Trust, who rent it out as holiday accommodation. Eric and I shared a holiday in it with his brother and family, over 30 years ago before we moved to Suffolk. 
This time Anne and I only stopped for coffee and cake.
And there’s the magnificent Framlingham with it’s castle, 
deli and several nice coffee shops.
And being pumpkin season, this is what Tim and Veve brought home, 
No wonder Heather looked a bit concerned, 
But Veve knew how to put a good meal together.
