With the prospect of the 21 Hatton locks ahead, this morning we set off at 9:15am (yes, you read it right!) and did six locks on our own before catching up with nb Katherine and meeting Allison and Paul between locks 29 & 30 at about 12:30. After introductions and cups of tea we commenced the ascent with the two boats breasted up (roped together) and soon we were operating like a well oiled machine exchanging locks with boats coming down.
About half way up the supply of descending boats stopped and so Allison and Judy took over operating the locks while Paul and I went ahead to set the next one whilst Graham and Joy drove, Joy even taking the pair of boats into the locks a couple of times. We were soon at Hatton Yard & us men admired the old Ford Van. We made excellent progress and by 3:30pm we were at the top celebrating with a cup of tea in the cafe!
We said our goodbyes to Allison & Paul then decided to press on through the Shrewley Tunnel and moored up for the night a couple of miles short of Kingswood Junction on an embankment with great views of the surrounding countryside and spent a pleasant evening with Graham and Judy chatting over a drink or two.