As we were moored above the
penultimate lock at the bottom of the Hatton flight on Sunday night, Karen was able to walk
into work on Monday morning. It’s only
just over two miles and quite a pleasant walk through the middle of Warwick.
Monday was a day of
topping up the boat’s supplies so, after breakfast, Buddy and I drove to Fen End
where there is a coal yard that we hadn’t used before. As there are several stoppages all the way to
Calcutt for the next couple of months we are having to fend for ourselves as Mark
cannot get along this far in his fuel boat.
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Monday morning once the
sun came up
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The car was loaded with
seven bags of coal and two jerry cans containing 20 litres of red diesel
each. My plan (stupidly) was to carry
the jerry cans and one bag of coal to the boat during the day and unload the
rest when we can park next to the boat when we reach Lidl in Leam. It occurred to me, when driving back, that I
should park in the CRT car park by the penultimate lock. I could then take the boat into the lock and
unload everything. I do wonder if I’m
getting slower in my old age 😊
When I got to the car park
there weren’t any spaces left alongside the lock, but I managed to get one by
the lock landing. So, it was a simple
matter of bringing the boat across the cut and mooring up at the lock landing.
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Getting ready to unload
the car – Buddy didn’t help to be honest
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As I was going to be dropping
down the lock during the day, I had set it whilst taking Buddy out for his
pre-breakfast walk. I didn’t feel guilty
as there would be no boat traffic and, even if there was, there was plenty of
water coming down the flight, so it wouldn’t be wasted if someone did come up.
Ironically, as I was
unloading the car, a boat did start coming up – it was a CRT boat loaded with
gear needed to get the lock ready for the closure.
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Note the stanking planks
hidden under the barriers
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The CRT boat was through
the lock by the time I had unloaded the car, so I set off down the lock as they
had left it set for me.
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Moored at the bottom
whilst I went back up to close the gates – that ugly bridge is carrying the A46
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As I was cruising I
noticed that our chives had starting shooting again; the thyme and rosemary are
in good condition and have been meeting our needs all year. I must remember to cut the tops of the
rosemary so that it develops more offshoots.
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The herb box and also one
of the primroses Karen planted on Sunday to brighten up the crocuses that are
just about to bloom
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After a while we came to
the junction with the Saltisford arm which I was going down so I could get a
pump out and top up with water. We have never managed to moor in the arm as we
have only tried in the winter when it is full of boats that people pay to overwinter
there. I suppose we should have tried in
the summer.
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The entrance to the
Saltisford arm
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The Saltisford arm is only
a few hundred yards long now but it used to run further into Warwick,
terminating at a wharf by the Antelope pub.
When driving along the Birmingham Road into Warwick, look to the right
just after going under the railway bridge and you will see an entrance road to
an estate of apartments. This road goes
over a hump which is the original hump back bridge across the arm. The brick parapets are still intact, so it
looks quite strange in a modern setting; it is filled in underneath of course.
I pulled up at the service
pontoon and found that the pump out pump was out of action. It was new a week ago and had failed
already. There were two engineers out
fixing it and by the time I had filled up with water they were ready to try it out. Fortunately, it worked perfectly but it was
one of those glitches – they couldn’t find anything wrong and didn’t replace
anything ☹ I’ve lost
count of the number of times I’ve gone for pump outs and the pump is in bits or
not working. I used to ring ahead to
check with boatyards if their pump was working but gave that up as they could
say, “Yes”, but by the time we turned up it would be broken.
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On the service pontoon in
the Saltisford arm
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Once I had paid, I reversed
out of the arm and I had hoped to moor practically opposite where there is a
short length that is in full sun all day.
When I had walked down earlier it was all clear, but a boat had arrived from
the opposite direction and had taken the spot whilst I was in the arm. I then decided to continue reversing back
down towards the lock I had previously come through. In the
end I reversed a few hundred yards before I could find a spot that was away
from trees and office buildings and therefore in the sunshine.
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Still reversing – the entrance
to the arm is in the far distance
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After mooring up and
having some lunch, Buddy and I went for a walk into Warwick. On the way back, we stopped at Sainsburys to
top with food for the week.
The forecast was still
predicting heavy frosts and snowfall for the next few days, so at least if
there is a freeze we are topped up with water, diesel and coal and have an
empty poo tank too!
This morning (Tuesday)
there is a light dusting of snow outside but no heavy frost. Hopefully, we will avoid it all here in
Warwick.
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Finally moored in the
sunshine
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