"I dreamed a dream, by the old canal"

I didn't know that about Hatton!

As for the surface - I have only been up to Willington toward the North and it got very very bumpy and not rideable on a road bike for the last couple of miles, and then down to Fradley in the other direction, and all of that is reasonable, white stone hard path in most places in between. But, I have been on it when it's wet, and it gets a bit slippy.

Although I have been further up at the junction where the river Trent and the Derwent meet at Shardlow and the riding around there is also quite reasonable like it is round here.

So not much of a sample size to be of help (less than 10 miles)

EDIT- just realised its quite a while since I did the bumpy section up near Willington. Maybe they have done something with it  by now?

I have only been on a barge once. Yes, there are pretty strict laws about it.

I think the limit is about 5mph? But whatever the speed limit is, it is easily identifiable as it creates a noticeable wash if you go too fast. My guess is that other users would have stern words with anyone doing that and the community polices itself.

It reminded my very much of being in our camper van and the people and community have many similarities.

Yes, the speed limit on most canals is 4 miles per hour except on the large Yorkshire canals such as the Aire & Calder, where the limit is 6 mph, although the craft using them can carry payloads of up to 600 tonnes. Compared to the narrow canals of England they are also very wide and deep, and the water can flow very freely around and past the hull, which doesn't restrict or impair the speed. In a narrow channel the boat pushes the water forward, causing a slight rise in level, the water can't flow quickly past the hull due to the restricted clearance, so the water level behind the boat equalises more slowly, leading to slower motion through the water. At one time the channel on the local canal was so narrow and shallow I had difficulty in navigating in a canoe!

Fascinating subject!