Hatton

[furnessvale]

Not wanting to start another gate debate but I expect you didn't close the gates in the 60's when you left a lock.

 

Not wanting to continue another gate debate but it all depends how the previous boat through left them. In the 60s, there was a 50:50 chance he didn't have to open the gates to enter the lock in the first place either.

 

George ex nb Alton retired

[IanM]

1 hour 32 mins is our best time with 5 crew

[RLWP]

2.5 mns per lock with no allowance for travelling between them , that's impressive !!

 

Pretty good I suppose, although not unexpected surely. 60 seconds a lock faster than the 1 hour 15 minutes for the pair mentioned above must be right.

 

Next time we may open both sets of paddles

 

Richard

 

Perhaps even start the engine

[Mike Tee]

We've been up (and down) Hatton a number of times, and always just the two of us, so we take our time - we are both pensioners after all!

However, two years ago we moored between 30 and 31 (going up) overnight as it suited us at the time. I think there must be a kennel near 31, because multiple hounds of the Baskervilles kept going most of the night!

Anyway, another boat also overnighted there, and the chap on that one came down and asked if we wanted to go up together. He was moving the boat from Devizes to Kingswood junction with an old lady and her dog on board. We ended up with me pairing the boats and moving them on my own, while this chap ran up and down opening/closing/setting all the way to the top with my wife trying to keep up with him. I reckon we did the 16 in under 2 hours. It was like going up an escalater - as the gates opened to let me out, every time the next lock was open and waiting.

I was obviously exhausted by the time we got to the top, so thought I'd better go and have a substantial breakfast at the cafe, so the other boat went off and I never got the chance to thank him - so if he's reading this, Many thanks and I owe you a lock or three.

[nicknorman]

Pretty good I suppose, although not unexpected surely. 60 seconds a lock faster than the 1 hour 15 minutes for the pair mentioned above must be right.

 

Next time we may open both sets of paddles

 

Richard

 

Perhaps even start the engine

Or overnight on last Sat in October, clocks going back 1/2 way through the flight!?

[Tim Lewis]

I've checked our log and our best time for Hatton is 53 minutes

 

Richard

 

Many years ago when we were younger and fitter (and a crew of eight) we did the flight in 1hr 20 minutes, we reckoned at no time was the boat not moving either horizontally or vertically or that the time could be beaten by more that a minute or two!

 

Tim

[NB Lola]

Started 10 am went up with a novice boat, finished at 12:45

 

All in all nice trip up, only met two boats coming down

[Dave_P]

For all their talk of the delights of a relaxing day on the cut, boaters sure are a competitive lot! I can honestly say I've never timed myself through a flight and I had no idea others did? Does that make me odd? Probably! I'd say that the time taken to do a flight has as much to do with factors beyond your control as anything else.

[nicknorman]

For all their talk of the delights of a relaxing day on the cut, boaters sure are a competitive lot! I can honestly say I've never timed myself through a flight and I had no idea others did? Does that make me odd? Probably! I'd say that the time taken to do a flight has as much to do with factors beyond your control as anything else.

Yes but there's something about Hatton that just begs a challenge. We never time ourselves through other flights, just that one.

[RLWP]

We can't compare timings on the Autherley flight then

 

Richard

[john6767]

Yes but there's something about Hatton that just begs a challenge. We never time ourselves through other flights, just that one.

And Wolerhampton and Tardebigge .....

[RLWP]

And Wolerhampton and Tardebigge .....

 

And Farmer's Bridge

 

Richard

[Nine of Hearts]

Not any more. There's a pub at the bottom and an up market gastronomic experience at the top.

 

Richard

 

That thing at the top hasn't been a pub in a long while. On my last visit there, prior to its current incarnation, they did the "cheese shop" sketch thing with the beer pumps. No wonder it closed.

[nicknorman]

And Farmer's Bridge

 

Richard

We find that is rare to get up these flights without getting stuck behind another "slower" boat and its harder to see what's ahead more than a lock or two. Maybe that's it, maybe its because relatively speaking the speed of Hatton locks draining/filling vs the effort required to operate expeditiously means that there is more "spread" in timings - or a better reward for effort and efficiency if you like. Otherwise, dunno - that's just the way we see it!

[Boat&Bikes]

That thing at the top hasn't been a pub in a long while. On my last visit there, prior to its current incarnation, they did the "cheese shop" sketch thing with the beer pumps. No wonder it closed.

 

 

The Waterman at the top lock? Closed?

 

Ian.

[RLWP]

The Waterman at the top lock? Closed?

 

Ian.

 

Naw. It has become The Hatton Arms

 

All the bikers got moved around to Hatton Country World and the premises has got aspirations:

 

Nestled alongside the Hatton Locks, the Hatton Arms offers a contemporary and casual drinking and dining experience, serving a superb range of classic cask ales and fresh British food.

 

Richard

Edited April 8, 2013 by RLWP

[Boat&Bikes]

Naw. It has become The Hatton Arms

 

All the bikers got moved around to Hatton Country WOrld and the premises has got aspirations

 

Richard

 

 

Ah,i spent years of I think Wednesday nights there on various bikes before I moved.Oh well times change.

 

Ian.

[RLWP]

Indeed. What on earth is this?:

 

 

Do you eat it, wear it or smear it on your parts?

 

Richard

[Nine of Hearts]

Indeed. What on earth is this?:

 

 

Do you eat it, wear it or smear it on your parts?

 

Richard

 

Is that a fishcake that a seagull has taken exception to? Al fresco dining is not all it's cracked up to be.

[Barry]

Indeed. What on earth is this?:

 

 

Do you eat it, wear it or smear it on your parts?

 

Richard

 

That's that bloody pretentious tower cooking that is

 

And where's the proper veg?

 

That's not a proper meal nor is it healthy

 

Pah!

[cheshire~rose]

Naw. It has become The Hatton Arms

 

All the bikers got moved around to Hatton Country World and the premises has got aspirations:

 

 

 

Richard

 

They stopped liking bikers when they got a posh new tarmac surface on the car park some years back and suddenly realised that soft, new tarmac on a summers evening is not the ideal place for a few hundred bikers to kick down their side stands.

[RLWP]

That's that bloody pretentious tower cooking that is

 

And where's the proper veg?

 

That's not a proper meal nor is it healthy

 

Pah!

 

It's clearly not a proper meal, where's the chips?

 

Richard

[Barry]

It's clearly not a proper meal, where's the chips?

 

Richard

 

You raise a good point

 

And I bet its bloody expensive too

[Boat&Bikes]

They stopped liking bikers when they got a posh new tarmac surface on the car park some years back and suddenly realised that soft, new tarmac on a summers evening is not the ideal place for a few hundred bikers to kick down their side stands.

 

 

And hundreds there were eh,i stopped going after getting a warning from over zealous cops for wheelieing..killjoys.

 

Ian.

[matty40s]

It's clearly not a proper meal, where's the chips?

 

Richard

The 8 Gourmet chips (£3.95) will be served on a separate square plate stacked like a Jenga set.