It was, we were told, a day for rain, but the morning was most pleasant. Milder than yesterday. We took advantage of the 'right' side towpath to sand the other hatch side door and apply the first of several coast of varnish.
About half an hour after setting of we arrived at Shrewley Tunnel - straight and wide so not difficult to navigate. The more unusual feature is the separate tunnel for horses.
By eleven o'clock we were at the top of Hatton and ready to tackle the descent of 21 wide locks. They are harder work than narrow locks, but nothing like as difficult as Knowle! We even met several boats coming up the flight.
Half way we took a breather for coffee (at 12:30 it was almost lunch but we did not want to take a long break mid flight) It was just before three when we cleared the bottom lock. Saltisford Arm is described in Nicholson's as having visitor moorings and being a good place to visit Warwick. Despite the large 'Welcome' sign over the bridge at the start of the arm, it proved far from welcoming and people on two boats made it abundantly clear that visitors were not wanted! So we simply turned around, used the disposal facility and returned to the main canal.
Shortly after the turning we moored - it was now raining quite hard and, at half past three, definitely time for lunch. Christine had been preparing a soup from the lamb bones (one of the side benefits of having a rolled lamb joint from a proper butcher) and after brewing all morning - and half the afternoon - it was very delicious, accompaned by Barnecutts new tomato bread.
Later, we walked down to Cape locks to see if there was a better mooring (which there was) and to take a look from the adjacent road bridge to see if there were any interesting shops (which there were not!) Returning to the boat we moved down to the mooring, leaving time for Mike to do a couple of bits of on-board maintenance.
About half an hour after setting of we arrived at Shrewley Tunnel - straight and wide so not difficult to navigate. The more unusual feature is the separate tunnel for horses.
By eleven o'clock we were at the top of Hatton and ready to tackle the descent of 21 wide locks. They are harder work than narrow locks, but nothing like as difficult as Knowle! We even met several boats coming up the flight.
Half way we took a breather for coffee (at 12:30 it was almost lunch but we did not want to take a long break mid flight) It was just before three when we cleared the bottom lock. Saltisford Arm is described in Nicholson's as having visitor moorings and being a good place to visit Warwick. Despite the large 'Welcome' sign over the bridge at the start of the arm, it proved far from welcoming and people on two boats made it abundantly clear that visitors were not wanted! So we simply turned around, used the disposal facility and returned to the main canal.
Shortly after the turning we moored - it was now raining quite hard and, at half past three, definitely time for lunch. Christine had been preparing a soup from the lamb bones (one of the side benefits of having a rolled lamb joint from a proper butcher) and after brewing all morning - and half the afternoon - it was very delicious, accompaned by Barnecutts new tomato bread.
Later, we walked down to Cape locks to see if there was a better mooring (which there was) and to take a look from the adjacent road bridge to see if there were any interesting shops (which there were not!) Returning to the boat we moved down to the mooring, leaving time for Mike to do a couple of bits of on-board maintenance.
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