We trundled down six more locks this morning, pausing to fill the water tank and empty the toilet cassettes, and then said farewell to the Stratford Canal and joined the Grand Union.

The Grand Union runs all the way from Birmingham to London, and was built as a faster way to move goods than the meandering Oxford Canal and unpredictable Thames. Most of it was built for double wide barges, so the bridges have plenty of room and the locks can take two narrowboats at a time.

We headed towards Warwick, the London direction, but we plan to turn north well before we get there. The next flight of locks on the Grand Union is the “Stairway to Heaven” or Hatton Flight. They got the nickname because it’s a grueling flight, but then a long easy stretch at the top to the place where the canal workers got paid. It sheds a whole new light on Led Zeppelin. Who knew they were talking about canal work?

The Grand Union was originally eight different canals, and did not become a single business until the 1920s. Not all of the canals were built to the same standard, and the Hatton flight only had single wide locks, so the current flight was built in the 1930s using a material not previously used in locks, concrete. They were opened by George, Duke of Kent, uncle of the current Queen.

Apart from opening canals, George spent his time as befits a younger son of royalty, in the military and having numerous affairs. He was notoriously indiscriminate in the number and gender of his lovers, and is rumored to have seduced both Barbara Cartland and Noël Coward. He died in a mysterious plane crash in 1942, allegedly on the way to Iceland carrying a briefcase full of Swedish currency.

There were also the illegitimate kids, the affair with the Russian spy, the drug use, and dressing in drag. As far as scandals go, the current batch of royals have some catching up to do.