Hatton Lock restrictions. Is this illogical

[Theo]

Waiting at the bottom of the flight below lock 26 at 1815 on 4/8/26.  A shiny boat with a nice engine goes through.  He won't get far we thought.  Oh yes he will.  All the way up to Lock 37!  (I checked the notice and that's what it said.) 

 

What's the logic here?  We had assumed that the whole flight would be shut.

 

(Note to self: Read the notice more carefully)

 

 

[David Mack]

24 minutes ago, Theo said:

What's the logic here?

So the staff locking and unlocking, and helping boaters through don't have to venture so far from their base at Hatton yard.

[Allan(nb Albert)]

CRT realises that some boaters are mad enough to want to go to Asylum Wharf.

 

More seriously, it might have to do with trying to keep the pound between the Hatton and Cape Locks in water and preventing moorers in the Saltisford Arm sitting on the bottom.

[john6767]

Only restricting part of flights is not unusual, they do the same when Atherstone has restrictions as well, it is only the top half that is restricted.  As to the logic who knows, but with Hatton as it is I would get up part way, and then split the flight over two days.

[Tonka]

But what if the stoppage is more serious then first thought and becomes a long term stoppage. That's a long way to reverse back

[alias]

22 minutes ago, Tonka said:

But what if the stoppage is more serious then first thought and becomes a long term stoppage. That's a long way to reverse back

 

It's very wide just above the lock near Asylum Wharf, I'd be very surprised if boats couldn't turn there if necessary.

 

[Stroudwater1]

There’s a boater who turned regularly there in their 60 footer as part of their 20 mile cruising pattern. They did once carry on up further but it was a bit hard work for them. 

[zimzim]

It's getting worse.....

Update 5 August 2026, 4:08pm

We have made the difficult decision to temporarily close Hatton Lock Flight to navigation from 1pm on Thursday 6 August. To allow boats already on the flight to clear the locks, the last entry into Lock 46 and Lock 37 will be at 11:30am.

This closure is necessary to allow the 8-mile pound above the flight to recover from low water levels, caused by an issue with the pump at Camp Hill Locks and reduced feed from the North Stratford Canal.

We hope to reopen the flight under the current restrictions on Saturday 8 August, subject to water levels recovering sufficiently.

We are closely monitoring the situation and doing everything possible to maximise available water supplies across this part of the network. We will continue to review conditions and update this notice as further information becomes available

[Allan(nb Albert)]

6 hours ago, alias said:

 

It's very wide just above the lock near Asylum Wharf, I'd be very surprised if boats couldn't turn there if necessary.

 

I was told many years ago by the Hatton lock keeper that boats used to wind at Asylum Wharf even before the 1930's widening. 

[alias]

30 minutes ago, Allan(nb Albert) said:

I was told many years ago by the Hatton lock keeper that boats used to wind at Asylum Wharf even before the 1930's widening. 

 

Old OS maps from that era suggest that turning was possible below middle lock before widening, but not above.  Perhaps that's what he had in mind.

 

[Allan(nb Albert)]

13 minutes ago, alias said:

 

Old OS maps from that era suggest that turning was possible below middle lock before widening, but not above.  Perhaps that's what he had in mind.

 

I guess so. He provided much information about the wharf and it's connection to the asylum. It even has its own ghost - the white lady.

[Ray T]

17 hours ago, Allan(nb Albert) said:

I guess so. He provided much information about the wharf and it's connection to the asylum. It even has its own ghost - the white lady.

The Freeth family working for Barlow's delivering coal for the hospital at Hatton.

 

Photo's from CRT Archive by Cyril Arapoff.

BW192/3/1/2/3/31

Off topic but this book catalogues much of the history of the hospital at Hatton. 

The GU for its part gets a brief mention.

For what it is worth is also gives the origin of "Going Batty" and "Going round the bend."

 

Unrecognised by the World at Large: A biography of Dr Henry Parsey, Physician to the Hatton Asylum, Warwick eBook : Robson, Alastair: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

 

Edited Thursday at 11:08 by Ray T

[Allan(nb Albert)]

Thanks for the photos and link to the book, Ray. I really appreciate it. 

[MrsM]

Ditto. I'm interested in the history of asylums and look forward to reading this. 

Edited Friday at 06:01 by MrsM