A much better day now the rain’s stopped!

It rained yesterday, And rained, and rained some more. We stayed put. After three damp days cruising we took yesterday off.
The sky cleared later, the temperature dropped and we had a hard frost.

Stiff ropes this morning!


We were only 200 yards from the top of Field Three Locks, a triple staircase, and Mags stayed inside till I’d got the levels set up. The top chamber has to be full, the middle one half full and the bottom one empty, else there’s not enough water to get over the cills between the chambers, or so much that it’s wasted, overflowing the gates.

Coming down a frosty Field Three.

Care was needed on the icy lock-sides… Although the sun was up the flight was in the shade.

Below the locks the trees still kept the sun off until the first swing bridge.

Heading for a patch of sun.


It’s probably more psychological than physical but it certainly felt warmer in the sun…


Two swing bridges later we arrived at the top of Dobson Locks where we filled with water and dumped rubbish. Ninety minutes later (it’s a very slow tap) we were dropping down these double staircase locks, once again in the shade with slippery cobbles.

Meg kept the locals amused while we filled with water…

Millman Swing Bridge is below the locks, and I always dread this one. Nearly 2 years ago, in January 2016, it died on me in the closed position with the barriers down. It’s a busy bridge, used by the locals to avoid the traffic lights on the main road. The short-cut bit them in the bum that time, it was 45 minutes before the CRT man arrived to fix it!
Today though it behaved itself like a gentleman. Might be something to do with the controls being re-sited to the towpath.

Leaving Millman Swing Bridge with a sigh of relief.


The canal runs past the village of Apperley Bridge, and I pulled in alongside the main road bridge to nip up to Asda for some last minute fresh stuff. Then we pushed on for another 35 minutes, tying up just past Calverley Lodge Swing Bridge.

It’s going to be another cold one tonight.

It’s the big day tomorrow, so I’d like to wish all our readers, boaters and land-bound alike, a Very Happy Christmas. Have a good one, don’t drink too much…

Locks 5, miles 3½

Damper than expected but we had some fine rainbows…

We’d planned to move today and take the forecasted wet and windy Sunday off. But it was raining first thing and only cleared up for short intervals through the rest of the day.

But needs must as they say, so we were off and dropping down Dowley Gap Locks by just after 10.

Dowley Gap double Staircase Locks




Dowley Gap is the narrow pass between the bulk of Baildon Moor to the north and Norr Hill to the south. The River Aire uses it as a natural route to the west, but now it’s also occupied by the Shipley to Keighley railway, the busy A650 dual carriageway, and of course the canal.

It’s here that the canal crosses the river as well, on the seven-arch aqueduct designed by James Brindley and constructed by John Longbottom.

Over the Aire




You’ll notice that the towpath has swapped sides as well. They were quite cunning, these canal engineers. If the canal is cut into the side of a hill or valley as in this case, the towpath is nearly always on the downslope side. The fill removed from the cut is used to build up the lower slope and the towpath built on top. This means that less material has to be shifted. Clever, eh.

It’s about twenty minutes from here to Hirst Mill lock and Swing Bridge. No photos, it had started to rain again. But it provided us with a series of rainbows as we passed through Saltaire between Salt’s Mill and New Mill.






Bradford was Titus Salt’s original base of operations, where he ran five textile mills and was the largest employer in the town. He became mayor in 1848 and took it upon himself to improve the lot of the mill-workers. He attempted to bring in measures to control pollution and smog, to increase the low life-expectancy of the inhabitants, but in the end decided to consolidate his operation in a new, purpose built mill alongside the canal at the edge of Shipley.
Along with the workplace, Salt built a workers village, with bathhouses, an institute, hospital and churches. A devout Christian, he wanted to improve conditions for his workforce, but there were also sound economic reasons for the investment. With a degree of hubris, he called the development Saltaire…

The offside moorings at Shipley are good, and we’ve never had any trouble there. (It’s raining again…)
 

Junction Bridge and Junction Mills stand next to the entrance to the long-derelict Bradford Canal.





The Bradford Canal was opened in 1774, rising through 10 locks over 3½ miles from it’s junction with the newly-finished Leeds and Liverpool Canal Shipley section. It’s primary cargo was limestone, shipped from Skipton to waiting lime-kilns in Bradford for the production of lime mortar for building. It closed in 1922 and has been mostly built over.

The recently refurbished and mechanised Dock Swing Bridge is shortly after the junction, then follow two more manual bridges before the top of Field Three Locks. It’s here we called it a day.


We had intended to drop down this triple staircase and pass two more swing bridges to take us to the top of Dobson Locks, but frankly we’d had enough.

It’s likely we’ll stay put here tomorrow, with the forecast looking a bit grim.

Locks 3, miles 4½

A longer shortest day and a schoolboy mistake…

We set off this morning in drizzly rain. We’d hoped that the sky would have cleared by the time we were ready to go, but the trip to the top of Bingley Locks turned out to be a damp one.

We had four swing bridges to pass through, three of them mechanised and carrying roads, the last just a light footbridge used to access the Airedale Boat Club moorings.

Low cloud hangs on the hills as we approach Morton Swing Bridge

Moorings at Hainsworth’s Boatyard at Bingley.

A gloomy Aire valley at the top of the locks.

We’d arrived with plenty of time in hand before our scheduled passage down the locks, so had an early lunch.

Just after one o’clock there was a knock on the boat – “Ready when you are” said the chap from CRT. The rain had stopped by this time, but I suggested that Mags stay inside anyway as we dropped down.

Into the top lock at 13:12


Some pics as we headed down…


The 5-Rise Locks drop the canal nearly 60 feet, so each chamber is an impressive 12 feet deep.

A trad stern is better than a cruiser stern coming down here!



The classic shot from the bottom as we leave the 5-Rise heading for it’s little brother, the 3-Rise.

Top of the 3-Rise. Our CRT elf now has a companion…
That’s the Damart factory on the left.

The chambers on this staircase flight are slightly shallower at just under 10 foot each.

Water spout from the cill on the middle lock.


That’s the lot, top of the 5 to bottom of the 3 in an hour and twenty minutes.



Another 20 minutes and we were tied up a quarter mile above the next locks at Dowley Gap.

Now, the schoolboy mistake. I was busy taking pictures as we descended one of the five instead of watching what was happening. We drifted back towards the top gates – and you’ve guessed it – got hooked up on the cill! Not badly, but enough to lock the tiller as the rudder took the weight of the boat. I shouted to the lockie and he quickly closed the paddles so we didn’t drop any further, then slowly put some water back in to lift us clear again. Panic over and no damage done, but it shows how easily it can happen, especially in these short locks.
First time for us, and it had to happen with a CRT lockie in attendance. I bet he thought I was a right muppet…

On to moor above Dobson Locks tomorrow.

Locks 8, miles 4

Swing bridges and soggy towpaths.

We woke to heavy rain this morning, but by the time we were ready to go it had started to improve.

Leaving Kildwick this morning.


It wasn’t to last though, by the time we got to Silsden it had started again, and we had pretty well continuous rain or drizzle until we arrived at Riddlesden. We had several swing bridges to negotiate today, mostly carrying farm tracks or footpaths, but a couple taking roads across the canal.

The derelict Lanehouse Swing Bridge is one we didn’t have to deal with…

The wet weather overtakes us near Cowling Swing Bridge.

There’s a familiar boat moored here.

We looked at Alice when we were buying a boat. An original David Piper boat built at Red Bull she’s beautifully fitted out in mahogany and leather. Or at least she was in 2006… Very reminiscent of a 1950’s Pullman railway carriage. It looks as though she’s not seen a paintbrush in the last 12 years though.

The soot-stained gritstone buildings of Silsden look a bit grim in the rain.

We had a glimpse of a kingfisher near Silsden, a flash of electric blue in the gloom but far too distant for a photo. A pair of gooseander hung around long enough for a quick pic though.

We’ve seen several of these recently, but they usually fly off or dive as we approach.

The rain started to ease again as we passed the last couple of bridges into Riddlesden (typically…)…

…and cleared completely after we’d  tied up.

We did discuss moving on a bit further, but I was wet and ready for a mug of soup so we called it a day. We’re not due at Bingley Locks till 1 o’clock tomorrow, only just over an hour away, so there was no need really.

Boaters in Cheshire have an early Christmas present. The breach at Middlewich has been repaired and the Middlewich Branch will reopen tomorrow.

Locks 0, miles 5½

We’re finally on our way!

It seemed as though there was a conspiracy to prevent us leaving though… We were moored at The Rendezvous when we made the decision to head towards Leeds today. We needed diesel, so I rang Snaygill Boats on Monday morning, intending to fill up there, turn around and head back to Skipton to top up the water tank and the larder. “Sorry, no diesel” was the reply when I asked. “No more till after Christmas” Oh. OK.

So we turned around just beyond Snaygill Swing Bridge and headed back into town. I tried ringing Pennine Cruisers a couple of times on the way back but got no reply.  Odd.
We got moored up near Belmont Bridge and I had a walk to the wharf where Pennine Cruisers is based, just at the entrance to the Springs Branch. No-one about, but a sign on the door advised would-be customers that it was the staff Christmas do, but normal opening times would resume on Tuesday.

Braving windy and wet conditions we reversed in amongst the boats moored at the wharf yesterday morning, took on a full tank of the red stuff and a replacement gas bottle before coming back through Belmont Bridge. We topped up the water and disposed of rubbish before mooring in same spot as the previous night, now facing towards the east.
A trip to Tesco topped up the groceries for the time being, then I thought I‘d better check for problems on the route. Oh heck, vehicle damage to the parapet of Farnhill Bridge has forced it to be closed until the displaced masonry had been recovered from the canal and the rest made safe. That’s just 2 hours from Skipton.
Anyway, I rang a very pleasant young lady at CRT Leeds who advised me that they should have it reopened in the late afternoon (yesterday) but she would let me know in the morning (today).

So this morning we set off under cloudy skies but with the promise of a bit of brightness later.

Out of Skipton for the last time this year (hopefully).

We were lucky at Snaygill Swing Bridge. A chap pulled up in his car as we arrived and opened it for us. He wasn’t really doing it for us; L&L Short Boat Kennet was on the way back to town having had a paint job.

I still hadn’t heard from Joy by the time we reached Bradley so we pulled in just before the bridge there and I gave her a call. No word yet, in fact she’d been trying to speak to someone from the council who were responsible for making the damage safe, without success. But she promised to keep trying and would let me know as soon as she could.
We had lunch and I’d pretty well reconciled myself to staying at Bradley when she rang. Yes, the bridge is passable. It’ll be officially reopened tomorrow, but the CRT dredging crew are still there and will let us through. Excellent. It was now about a quarter past two, still plenty of time to get to our planned stop at Kildwick.

“What’s the rush?”  I hear you ask. After all, we’d been stuck in the area since July…
Well, we’re booked to drop down Bingley Locks on Friday, early afternoon. And sensibly (at our pace) it’s a two-day trip. Not a half-day and a 1½ day… Especially as tomorrow is showery and today was fine.

Anyway, we set off again, through Bradley Swing Bridge and Hamblethorpe Swing Bridge, squeezed past a fallen tree and arrived at Cononley Bridge to find the unattended work boat moored in the bridge ‘ole.

Hah, it tried but the tree didn’t stop us…


…but the dredger did!
 

Pins in, and convinced we’d have to wait alongside the busy A65 until the morning, we were pleased to see two CRT chaps arrive. They’d been called away on an emergency but would move the work boat now.

So at 3 o’clock we were on the move again, with three more bridges and about a mile until we moored. No more drama, unless you count being scowled at by car drivers we stopped at Warehouse Swing Bridge. There’s a Primary School next to the bridge and we arrived at the same time as the doting parents. The open bridge did cause a bit of a traffic jam but I’m sure they sorted themselves out – eventually.

Moored for the night looking out over the Aire valley

Unless the rivers Aire and Trent go into flood, there shouldn’t be any more hold-ups now till we get past Nottingham and onto the Trent and Mersey. Then we’ll have to negotiate lock and bridge closures again.

Hi Nev. Happy Christmas to you too. You asked about batteries… We’ve 4 x 100ah AGM batteries for the main bank, 1 x 110 ah older lead acid dedicated to the Eberspacher water heater, and an 80ah maintenance-free battery for the starter. A Sterling A-B charge controller looks after the alternator output. The heater-dedicated battery is connected to the main bank through a voltage-sensitive relay which trips in when the main bank reaches 13.3v, out at 12.7.
 
Locks 0, miles 4½

Turn of the seasons…

Well, since we arrived in Skipton, summer has gone, autumn has come and gone, and now we’re seeing the first signs that winter is here.

Ice on the canal at sunrise today


But we can see light at the end of the tunnel. Meg went to see her vet on Monday and, although that bladder infection seems to have reared it’s ugly head again, it’s nothing like as bad as it was. So, with her dosed up with a course of antibiotics, Sam the vet is happy for us to leave it for 3 weeks before we need another visit.
Mag’s news is good too. We went to give blood and urine samples at our surgery on Tuesday, the results are in and are good. Everything seems to be working as it should and her liver function is better although still not 100%. And the same situation applies; she doesn’t need another visit for a month.  
So we can look at moving on. Further tests on both of the girls can be made as we head south and west, with the results passed back to Skipton and Bentham. We’re going to leave it though till after the weekend. Wind and wintry showers are due tomorrow afternoon and overnight. We’re keen to get moving, but not that keen!

The boat’s all ready to go; there’s a new set of batteries in the engine room, the engine and gearbox have both had oil and filter changes, alternator belts and the stern tube gland have been checked and adjusted. I’ve even replaced the radio aerial which has been a bit dodgy since it got snapped off under some trees…

One other thing needs replacing though. Mag’s hot water bottle sprung a leak the other night!

I think she’s had her money’s worth, she had it from before we got married!

Since the last post over a fortnight ago we’ve returned to Skipton for a few days, then back out to moor near the Rendezvous Hotel. We’ll turn around and head back to town to top up cupboards and tanks on Sunday after that front blows through.

An unusually calm night at Skipton!


Back at The Rendezvous


Then, finally, pastures new on Monday!

Thanks for all the supportive comments, everyone. You can look forward to normal blogging service being resumed next week.

Locks 0, miles 3