On our own again at Gargrave

Sunday and Monday we completed our trip to Gargrave. The weather has turned a lot cooler, I arranged a delivery of fuel from Fred Green, the local coal merchant, today, and some of it is burning merrily on the stove now. Mags didn’t ask me to light it, but wearing a woolly hat, socks and gloves was a broad hint….

We arrived at Skipton on Sunday afternoon after a short cruise up from Kildwick. A few more boats about than we’ve seen recently.

Kildwick is a pleasant spot, clinging to the hillside above the Aire valley.

The canal through Kildwick

View of the Aire valley.
The locals made Neil and Val welcome at The White Lion where they went to watch a football match.

No locks up to Skipton, but half a dozen swing bridges kept Meg and I on the towpath for a while.

Milking Hill Swing Bridge, day boat from Skipton approaching.
At Hambleton Swing Bridge there’s a memorial to 7 Polish airmen who died in an air crash near here almost 65 years ago.

The aircraft was a Wellington bomber, returning to Silloth in Cumbria after a training flight. Witnesses at the time told of a catastrophic failure, the left wing and engine coming away from the fuselage.

The memorial was unveiled in 2007 by the widow of one of the young men who died. At the time of the tragedy they’d been married just 3 weeks.

One more swing bridge at Snaygill is the last before Skipton is entered. As usual the town moorings were busy. This is a very popular spot, Skipton has just about everything going for it. Good shopping, an excellent market, historic castle and extensive moorings for boaters.

We secured a spot around the corner, alongside Victoria Mill (now flats) above the Ellerbeck Aqueduct.

Moored in Skipton
Our friends Val and Johnny from Ingleton came over to say hi, bringing with them the latest addition to the family.

Harry is a 7 month old wire haired dachsund. A bit timid at first, he soon enjoyed himself playing with Meg. He’s a little darling, very much a people dog.

We shared a heap of fish and chips from Bizzie Lizzie’s, the very good chippie in the town.

After a quiet night we were off on the last leg of our trip from Sheffield. It was a lot busier on the water, with quite a few hire boats out of Silsden knocking about.

We were straight into a group of 3 swing bridges, and leapfrogged with a hire boat at each one. Other boats coming the other way complicated the procedure, though.

Busy at Niffany Swing Bridge.Which reminds me... I can put the anchor away again, now.

Once again I took advantage of Neil’s attachment to the tiller and walked most of the way with Meg, preparing the bridges for what was now turning into a convoy!

Several boats at once through Highgate Swing Bridge.
Open country at Thorlby Swing Bridge.
With this many boats about we had an inevitable wait at the 3 locks heading up to the Gargrave moorings, but still arrived at around 14:30, and were lucky enough to get on the end of the 3 day moorings.

We’ll be staying in the area for the next couple of weeks; Mags has her annual “MOT” at the Doc’s in Bentham, and I’ve arranged for a hire car to get to South Shields on Sunday for the Great North Run. Talking of which…. All those of you out there who thought about sponsoring me for this race in aid of Cancer Research UK, now’s the time to put intention in action, OK? Just click on the link on the right….
All donations gratefully received.

Mags’ son George and his wife Christine who is also our Postmistress General came over to see us in the afternoon. They’re a daft pair.

Titanic impressions on Seyella’s bow.

Chris doesn’t look too happy….
Then yesterday Mags’ grandaughter, Nicki and husband Arthur came over to collect our crew and travelling companions of the last 8 days. They’ve really enjoyed the trip, and it’s been great having them. They’ll be flying back home to Canada at the weekend.

Val, Neil, Mags, Nicki and Arthur.
It’s been a bit quiet today, getting back into the routine again. I’ve even had to steer the boat myself 50 yards back to the lock to pick up the coal delivery and use the “facilities”! We’ve moved a bit further along now, away from the lock.

Locks 3, miles 9½

On the edge of the Dales.

A bit of a catch up post, this. We’ve had a couple of long days, and I lost the urge to spend a couple of hours in front of my laptop in such fine weather.

Since Wednesday, we’ve been making good progress, heading up to Gargrave.

On Thursday we swapped the wide open spaces of the River Aire for the more restricted waters of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.

The river at Knostrop Falls

Into Leeds

Contrast of architectural styles and sizes.
Onto the L&L and the windlass comes into use again.

Unusual gear, a capstan for the ground paddles, and a rack and pinion for swinging gate paddles.

River Lock top gates.
The built up section of Leeds City Centre is soon left behind as the canal climbs up a series of locks, singles, and double and triple staircases.

Double staircase at Oddys.

Looking back at the city from Spring Gardens.
Forge 3 Locks – Meg sitting on the path waiting.
Finally Newlay 3 Locks lifts the canal the final 27’ of the 87’ climb up from the river.

Cooling the feet on another hot day.
We pulled over at Apperley Bridge for the night, after filling the diesel tank and getting a few bits and pieces at the marina.

Neil and Val at Apperley Bridge.
We had a later start than usual on Friday; before we left I had to replace the bilge pump. The bilge is always dry, any odd drips that come through the stern tube seal (where the propshaft goes through the hull) are caught in a plastic tupperware dish and tipped over the side as needed. So when the manual overide switch was accidently flicked on, the pump went into meltdown. A bilge pump is not something you want to do without on a boat.

That done we were off, joined by NB Kestrel who had moored behind us for the night.
The first locks of the day were Dobsons, a 2 rise staircase. As we arrived there was a boat waiting to come down, and we were able to practice the “Bunbury Shuffle”, crossing over the 3 boats in the middle of the locks.

Bunbury Dobsons Shuffle
We filled with water at the top of the locks, but with an extremely low pressure it took over an hour, and our locking companions had long gone.
So we were solo through the next triple staircase, at Field 3 Locks.
The gates here are very leaky!

Boat wash at Field Locks.
The swing bridges that the L&L is notorious for now come thick and fast. Some connect industrial units to main roads on opposite side of the canal, while others are out in the country and carry farm tracks or footpaths.

Rural setting at Buck Hill Swing Bridge.
Saltaire, with it’s mills overlooking the canal is a useful stop off for supplies. There are handy offside moorings near Bridge 207b, and the market square and a handy Asda are just 5 minutes up the hill.

Through Saltaire
We stopped just after ascending the 2 rise at Dowly Gap. It seemed to have been a long day, but we were now just 20 minutes from Bingley, and the 2 staircase locks that complete the climb out of Leeds.

Dowley Gap 2 Locks
We got a better start this morning, and were at the bottom of the 3 rise at 09:40.

Bingley 3 rise, in the shadow of the Damart Mill.
In the locks.

The first 3 lift the canal 30’, then there’s a short gap before hitting the 5 rise, to go up another 60’.
Every canal has it’s signature landmark. On the Llangollen it’s the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, on the Leeds and Liverpool it’s the Bingley 5 Rise.

Bingley 5 Rise

Especially at the weekend it’s a gongoozlers paradise. The lock keepers who control boat movements up and down both sets of locks must have the patience of Job and nerves of steel. Not only do they have to chaperone crews, many of whom have never seen a lock before, up and down, but they also have to keep an eye out for pedestrians straying too near the deep locks chambers, answering questions from curious tourists, and calming irritated boaters after telling them it’ll be a while because there’s a queue.
Still, on a day like today, I suppose there’s worse jobs….

Out at the top after just an hour and 40 minutes, and we’re on the long 17 mile pound to Gargrave. No more locks for a bit, but plenty of swing bridges still to come.

Black swan above the locks.
And a heron, stalking.

Leaving Bingley the canal hangs on the hillside an the NW flank of the Aire valley.

Looking over the Aire
Although Keighley and it’s suburb is not far away, most of the canal runs through open country. And splendid country it is too.

Cruising near Silsden.
On holiday or what?
Those swing bridges still punctuate the trip….

Cowling Swing Bridge

But not all have to be opened, or in fact close any more!

Woodside Swing Bridge
We pulled in just before Kildwick, after a very enjoyable day. I’m glad we got through Bingley early though. The queues would have been pretty long by lunchtime, the number of boats we’ve seen today.

Locks 32, miles 28. (In 3 days)

Superb cruising weather….

Well, it looks like we’re having an Indian Summer, after all. The weather has been getting steadily warmer over the last 2 or 3 days, this evening is glorious, now the breeze has dropped.

We’ve had another good day, on the broad reaches of the Aire and Calder Canal, and the River Aire itself.

We had a lockie on this morning at Pollington, so were through that lock like a dose of salts, and on our way to the next at Whitley.

The bank protection works near Heck Bridge look to be almost completed, now.

Whitley Phase III project.
We met a couple of boats coming down from Whitley, so the lock was empty for us. It’s still very quiet, not many boats on the move at all.

Near Whitley Lock
Whitley Lock
I’d much rather use this than a windlass and back muscles!
Just before Knottingley the navigation passes Kellingley Colliery. The now defunct coal wharf is lined with Tom Puddings, the compartment boats that were used to move coal from the pits to Ferrybrdge Power Station. From here at any rate, it mostly goes by road.

Kellingley and out of work Tom Puddings.
The last time we came through Knottingley we had a close encounter with Rix Owl under one of the bridges, but we came through today unscathed. Ferrybridge Flood Lock was showing a red light as we approached, then the gates opened and out came Fusedale H, heading back to the Trent and another load of gravel.

Fusedale H, Ferrybridge Flood Lock and Ferrybridge Power Station.
We had a chuckle going through the lock. The lady lockie waved us in, closed the gates and drew the top paddles to fill the lock. Then just a few seconds later the top gates were opening, having raised us just 4 or 5 inches. We didn't even stop, the lock filled in the time it took us to cruise it’s length!

Out on the river, the coal wharf for the power station is passed. The elevator which lifted the Tom Puddings from the river, tipped them to discharge the coal and returned them to the water stands idle, while truck loads of coal from Kellingley arrive behind.

Ferrybridge Coal Wharf
From Ferrybridge there’s a very pleasant run of 4½ miles up the river, before coming onto Castlefield Cut at Bulholme Lock.

Just above Castlefield Lock is Hargreaves Boatyard, where the tugs that pushed the strings of Tom Puddings are also waiting the return of a degree of common sense….

Hargreaves Tugs at Castlefield
A right turn out of Castlefield Lock took us back onto the river, and the 3½ mile trip to Lemonroyd Lock. In contrast to the minimal rise at Ferrybridge, this is the deepest lock on the navigation, today around 18’.

In Lemonroyd Lock
The lock took about 20 minutes to fill, then Meg and I walked to the next, Woodlesford, only about 1¼ miles.

We passed Bayford’s Oil wharf on the way, where the Rix boats discharge having loaded at Goole Docks.

Bayford Thrust Wharf

We came out of Woodlesford and moored for the night just in front of MV Wyre Lady, last seen on the Don at Sprotborough. I wonder what the old lady is doing over here?

Wyre Lady, good company for an overnight stop.
Tomorrow will be an early start to get to and through Leeds. Just 2 more mechanised locks then it’s back to muscle power.

Locks 7, miles 18¾