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21 Locks And A Rather Odd Story
This flight on the Grand Union Canal, just west of Warwick, delivers 21 locks in less than two miles and provides a stern
test of boater stamina. One of the most picturesque spots on the Grand Union, it has been feared and revered in equal measure
since the days of the working boatmen. The flight was widened in the 1930s as part of the grand scheme to upgrade the Grand
Union Canal - look out for the distinctive paddle gear, which boaters use to operate the locks. The old narrow locks are still
evident next to the newer locks.
At the new canalside cafe, owned and operated by British Waterways, you can sit and watch the boats go by. The Waterman
Pub also provides a welcome opportunity for recuperation near Hatton top lock.
Full waterway amenities are available at Saltisford Canal Centre on the short Saltisford arm, at the foot of the Hatton
flight.
The Middle Lock
by Sue Rivers
We were late approaching Middle Lock - light was fading and we
had to complete the Hatton flight before dark. "Alf," I yelled from the towpath, "Go ahead – it’s empty. No-one’s
around."
The boat entered the lock. Without warning, the lock gates slammed
shut and the top paddles began winding furiously. Clankety, clankety clankety; like a driverless train, going faster and faster,
out of control.
Water flooded into the chamber in massive torrents. Vicious whirlpools
formed, rocking the boat violently, sucking it downward into the murky depths…
I dashed towards the paddles, clasping my windlass - then froze:
a huge horse was heading straight towards me. Its hoof marks rose up from the dust as if embossed there. I leapt aside. It
passed right by me, its nostrils flaring. It was towing something.
It vanished into the mist beyond the lock. A young woman appeared
behind it carrying a wicker basket and crying, "Alfred, don’t leave me. It’s your child!".
Numb with shock, I turned round to find the water completely
still and our boat safe in the lockkeeper’s hands.
"Go careful past Asylum Wharf," he growled, "Eleanor don’t
like disturbance. She were laundress at the County Lunatic Asylum (pointing to Hatton Park). Put in there ‘cos she got
in trouble by one of the canalmen. They’d meet up ‘ere. Turned out he was already wed. Broke her ‘eart it
did. She comes back whenever she ‘ears ‘is name…"
Later that night after we’d reached the top of the flight,
we met up with some other boaters and told our tale. They were astounded - apparently there hasn’t been a lockkeeper
at Hatton for years.
The last one threw himself into Middle Lock in the 1860s when
his daughter died in childbirth in the asylum…
[this story first appeared on the Weird Warwickshire page of the BBC
Coventry and Warwickshire website]
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related internet links
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with Richard, Brenda, Nikki, Jack,
Rosie and Jim.
Britain's canals might conjure
up images of lazy, sunny
afternoons, but during the
industrial revolution they were
busy, brutal places producing
ghosts which haunt them still.
from the
BBC archives
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