Stratford to Napton

Wednesday

A good meal of Fish and Chip was enjoyed in the Navigation pub last night with a pint of Directors, Fish and Chips come in two sizes and after consulting with the next table we also ordered small which was more than adequate. We also arranged with Paul on Waterways Routes that we would leave together between 9-30 and 10 am today so we could work down Hatton together.

We set off at 9 45 am in very light drizzle, this continued on and off all the way to Hatton when things improved, To start with all the locks were against us, but as Paul had a crew of 3 on his boat Diana went ahead setting the next 4 locks, it is surprising what a difference a 5th crew member makes to working this flight, We had a short spell where we met a few boats including a wide BW boat who were removing the undergrowth from the lock gates, if it was allowed to get any worse they would probably needed permission from English Nature to remove it. All these boats were in consecutive locks so it wasn't long before the locks were against us again. The weather held right to the second before last lock when it was coats on again for a short time.

Once down the flight Waterway Routes turned off into the Saltisford Arm for the night to get their strength up before heading back up the flight in the morning shooting a DVD as they go. We continued on alone until the top of the Cape pair where a boat was just setting the lock and we were able to join him, we did the two locks together before parting company with him tying up at The Moorings pub for the night. We continued on for a few more miles before mooring for the night at 1630 hrs opposite the church at Radford Semele. The church is still cocooned in white plastic and scaffolding following a fire some time ago.

You will find our latest position at
http://tinyurl.com/Harnser-s-route