Tea and castles

Warwick - a nice town with a castle and we're moored in a stretch of old canal near the town centre.  Fi was keen to see the castle and so we went and found it - strangely at the end of Castle Street.  However, when we looked at the prices to go in we decided that £48 was taking the p***, so we didn't.  Mind you the price didn't seem to put of the millions of Japanese who were there.  We were going to stay here only one day but as there is shore power we decided to stay for two nights as we could do multiple washes and the batteries could have a blitz and absolutely nothing to do with putting off the inevitable of going up the 21 locks of the Hatton flight.  Oh and I could get the clippers out and de-fluff the dog a bit now that the weather is improving.
We have also been thinking about our time on board and now that my books are selling well we've decided to do shorter hops and base the boat in a permanent mooring.  Lyme View marina is about 9 miles from the grandkids near Manchester, they have room and are not that expensive, so we are now booked in for a permanent mooring when we get there in August.  We stayed there last year and so know it suits well.  Basically we will now have a second home near Manchester but also one that is well placed to explore the northern system - which is less crowded and probably more interesting than a lot of the southern waterways. 

Warwick Castle - what we could see of it from outside as we were far to mean to cough up the entrance fee.

However, we had been told that there was a really nice 'Ye Olde Tea Room' just outside.

 

And there was - where Fi drowned her sorrows with some clotted cream and 'small' scone.  (I, of course, abstained!!)