Another day, another set of staircase locks…

We dropped down into Leeds today, a long day by our standards, about 4¼ hours. It’s not the distance, it's the locks that take the time. Two triple staircases, one double and four singles.

Yesterday we moved through Rodley passing 4 swing bridges, to moor at the top of Newlay Locks so we were ready for the CRT chap this morning.

A gloomy sort of day…


Rodley Swing Bridge.


Lots of people taking advantage of the dry day were up and down the towpath.

Boats on the moorings near Newlay include one with a heroic history.
Abbey Pride was one of the “Little Ships” that crossed the channel to rescue the remains of the British Expeditionary Force and French and Belgian forces as part of Operation Dynamo.


Moored above Newlay Staircase Locks.

We moved down in the afternoon to avoid having to do the four bridges first thing this morning. The booking was for 09:00 so we’d have had to get going at a quarter to eight, in the dark! I wouldn’t recommend overnight mooring here in the summer though. To the right is Bramley Park, very popular with the residents of the housing estates which flank the canal. It can be very busy here in fine weather. Below the locks on the right is a meadow know locally as “Bramley Beach”, where the locals gather on warm evenings for barbecues and parties.

In Newlay Locks at 09:15.
  

In the wing-wall of the middle chamber there’s a series of holes in the pointing between the masonry blocks, each one surrounded by a mesh of cobwebs.



I’m only guessing, but I think it’s a wasp or hornet’s nest in the wall. The spiders have laid traps for those unfortunate insects that don’t make a clean entrance or exit.







Slightly leaky gates but not as bad as those at Bingley!


Below Newlay Locks, Darren the CRT man is just closing up behind us before setting off to meet us at Forge Three, half a mile further down.

“Bramley Beach” below the locks.


Darren dropped us down Forge Three, the second triple staircase, then we had another ½ mile to Kirkstall Lock where we met Darren for the final time. This top group of locks is padlocked to prevent tampering, so have to be booked in the winter.

Forge Three


Kirkstall Abbey, just visible through the mist hanging over the Aire Valley

Waiting for Darren at Kirkstall Lock


The city starts to encroach upon the route of the canal below Kirkstall Lock.

Kirkstall Brewery, alongside the canal, is now student accommodation for Leeds University. 

There’s a 2½ mile break from the locks through Kirkstall and Armley, passing the Leeds Industrial Museum at Armley Mill


Lots of rivets hold Armley Railway Bridge together as it crosses the canal at an angle.



Built around 1846 by the Leeds and Bradford Railway, it later became part of the Midland Railway network. It used to carry four tracks, reduced to two during the Beeching cuts of the 1960s.



There’s a single lock at Spring Gardens, Oddies Double Staircase Locks, St Ann Ings Lock alongside the residential development of City Island, then finally Office Lock just above Granary Wharf. All within the last mile.

We saw this floating shed up at Skipton a couple of years ago…

Oddies Double Staircase, lots of water in the canal here.

St. Ann Ing Lock with the high-rise City Island on the left.


Looking over at the Aire.


Almost exactly three years ago the river rose to the underside of the suspension footbridge, overtopped the towpath wall and flooded the canal. We were moored in Granary Wharf at the time…

Mags coming out of Office Lock.


If it wasn’t for help from the group of spectators on the lockside, I’d never had got the bottom gates open. So much water is coming over the top gates that it wouldn’t quite make a level.

Moored up in Granary Wharf


We’ll decide tomorrow whether to drop down out of Leeds or take a day off. It was a heavy day today…
Locks 12, miles 7