Bartimaeus

This morning started more gently than yesterday.  We'd all got up and had a relaxed breakfast before a lock-keeper wandered down to suggest we might want to get going.  Our companions in Amelia were also ready to go, so Bryn and I went to get the gates of the first lock open, and Clare and Karen drove the boats in.

We had two locks to get through before the "steep" part of the flight, where the locks are much closer together.  Two boats that had been behind us yesterday had gone through those two locks after we moored up.  We knew that mooring there involved trying to stick a spike in to tough ground, which is why we'd stopped where we did.

As we opened the gates of our second lock, we could see the next lock was ready with its gates open, and the other two boats were still moored at the side.  There was a moment's indecision before Dean from Amelia suggested we "go for it!"  So we recovered our "rightful" place ahead of the other two boats and, more significantly, with a clear run of empty locks ahead of us.

The volunteer lock-keeper kept ahead of the boats preparing each lock for us.  With three of us on the towpath it was an easy rhythm to work the boats through the locks and be ready without having to hurry.  The paddles and gates are hard work enough without feeling the need to run between the locks.

Meanwhile the drivers had settled in to their own smooth pattern, driving the boats alongside each other which made for much easier and faster lock arrivals.  There was no need to hold one boat at the side or wait while the other tried to move their boat sideways in the lock.

They coped admirably when faced with a pair of boats coming the other way.  Karen went a little wider than necessary and there was some concern that she might get stuck in the weeds, but she had no difficulty getting in to the lock at the same time as Clare.

We made extremely good time, reaching the top of the flight before 11am.  We had actually been allowed in to the flight before the official opening time of 10am, but this was still a good showing.

Amelia stopped on the water point just outside the top lock while we used the mooring rings a little further on.  We walked back to bid them farewell and then go back to the cafe for our second breakfast.  The unofficial name for the flight is the Stairway to Heaven - perhaps that means the cafe is heaven.  We certainly enjoyed what we had, but I think heaven should have fewer wasps.

Restored, we drove on to Lapworth Junction where I had to wait for a turning boat but was royally rewarded with a view of a kingfisher.  We found a mooring suitable for leaving Bartimaeus while we return to Edinburgh from the nearby station tomorrow.

After some lunch, we went for a walk along a section of the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal. I was pleased to see that the water levels looked reasonable, and there were boats moving on it.  Let's hope it will still be in that state when we return in a fortnight.

I found a circular walking route which brought us back along the Grand Union Canal.  As we approached the junction again, we all got an excellent sighting of a kingfisher - probably the same one I saw earlier - sitting in a bush before flying away and vanishing ahead of us.