9th to 18th July

It’s been an enjoyable week on the whole – the good news is that we did successfully squeeze our 61ft boat into the 60ft locks, and made it all the way to Gargrave, a pretty village beyond Skipton. Even better news is that we have made it back down again in one piece, and are once more moored in the heart of Leeds.

Vincent Joseph at Granary Wharf, Leeds

The bad news is that we are heartily sick of swing bridges, of which there are all too many on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal!

Robert 'locking'

On Wed 9^th Robert came to help us tackle the tough stretch climbing out of Leeds: we travelled 11 miles and got through 17 locks, including 3 staircases, and 8 swing bridges – an exhausting day.

"Stop" - the alternative being...?

 Most of the swing bridges have to be pushed open by hand, and can be extremely stiff and heavy to move – and both bridges and locks are ‘padlocked’ with anti-vandal chains, which have to be laboriously removed and then replaced. When a bridge carries a main road, it is usually electrically operated, with flashing lights, warning siren and automatic barriers, which gives one a heady feeling of power!

Breasted up with another boat,
waiting for bridge engineer

Unfortunately, they break down all too frequently, leaving the boater red-faced in front of a queue of fuming motorists. The CRT maintenance engineers dash from one to another trouble-shooting, in between their scheduled tasks for the day.

HOWEVER, moaning apart, we have enjoyed passing through some lovely scenery as the canal has climbed up the wooded Airedale valley and into open countryside with sweeping views over the hills.

Stunning views

On Thurs 10^th Sue and Dave, who were staying in Leeds, came to join us for the famous Bingley 5-Rise Staircase Locks (preceded by the less well-known Bingley 3-Rise).

Bingley 5-Rise

 Built in 1774, between them they raise the canal 90ft in the space of half a mile, and are manned in daylight hours by a team of lock-keepers who organise the boats, and do all the hard work of winding the paddles to fill and empty the locks.

On the journey up, we were able to fit into locks with another boat if necessary, but we were obliged to come back down alone in order to position the boat diagonally across the lock, to avoid getting the stern caught up on the cill. (A boat was sunk in a lock at Gargrave because of this, during the week we were there!) 

 Roger getting soaked

However, being in diagonally led to difficulties in opening the bottom gates - all in all a complicated business, and also a very wet one for Roger, as the leaky gates poured a fountain of water over the hapless steerer at the back with nowhere to escape the deluge!

Rob and Matt retrieving bikes
( we couldn't moor any closer!)

We had more visitors over the course of the week : Rob and friend Matt cycled 20 miles up from Leeds (and 20 back), 

Amanda and David

David brought girlfriend Amanda to see the boat, and then returned at the weekend with Lizzie and James,

Lizzie and James (alias Superman)

 and Pat and Chris (Caroline’s parents) came for lunch in Skipton. 

Pat and Chris

Skipton is a very attractive town, with a castle towering above a little side branch of the canal.  The Tour de France passed through here,

Tour de France display

and all the shops were decorated with bike-themed pictures, models and displays – even the church sported a yellow bicycle!

Yellow Tour de France bike on church

On our return journey, we stopped at Saltaire, a ‘model’ village built by mill-owner Titus Salt in the 1850’s, to provide his workers with decent living conditions.

Saltaire Mill

 It is still a delightful place, with rows of elegant stone terraces of house climbing the hill up from the canal, and a magnificent church, as well as the mill buildings which still stand by the waterway.

We're definitely in Yorkshire!

We’re really pleased to have been able to travel at least some of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, and have very much enjoyed the beautiful countryside, and all the people we’ve met on the way. On Saturday, we shall head out of Leeds, to retrace our steps back to the Trent and towards the Midlands.