This time we made sure to get a boat of a sensible size, 57ft as
opposed to 68ft we had in 2011.
The crew remained the same: dynamic and daring!
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Ships
Log by Sandy
CANAL
TRIP – MONDAY, 6TH JULY TO SUNDAY, 12TH JULY, 2015
Julie
and Lance, Sandra and Graham
From
SOWERBY BRIDGE TO BARNOLDSWICK in West Yorks with
Shire Cruises
Using
the Calder & Hebble, Aire
& Calder, and Leeds & Liverpool Canals
Approximately
84 miles and 80 locks
Day 1 – Monday, 6th July
We started our adventure on Sandra
& Graham’s 52nd Wedding Anniversary and Graham suffering with
Sciatica!
We collected the narrow boat named
Dorset, at 1.00 p.m. and after many instructions, on and off the boat, we were
soon on our way on a very quiet stretch of canal. There was another narrow boat with a couple
and 3 children on board who set off at the same time, so we followed each other
intermittently through the week, sometimes sharing the locks and the work, of
course.
We soon joined the massive Aire & Calder Navigation system, whose locks could
carry 4 narrow boats at a time. Lance
was in charge of the tiller, Julie and Gra assisting,
Sandy helping with the locks and in charge of the galley (with Julie who had
brought lots of lovely food to eat on board).
We had a mixture of sun, blue sky and soft rain, a great start, it was lovely to be on the canal. 3.5 hours later, 7 locks and 6 miles on, we
arrived at our destination, Brighouse and moored outside Sainsburys. Free wifi!
We had champagne to celebrate our
Anniversary then off we went to Prego’s, an Italian restaurant, where we had a
wonderful meal. Then back home to our
boat for an excellent night’s sleep in our double beds!
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Just 3 ½ hours to our first stop, time to get used to the boat:
57ft still looks long! Celebrating Sandy
and Graham’s wedding anniversary
Day 2 – Tuesday, 7th July,
Exciting day! We left Brighouse at 9.00 a.m. to cruise for
6.5 hours, 8 miles and 16 locks. Weather
started off showery, then poured! This
was the day Julie and I had our “Bear Grylls”
experience! The boat was on the Aire and Calder Navigation (i.e. we had to go on and off
the river in places), the boat had cleared the lock and Gra
managed to get back on when the wind and current proved too difficult for Lance
to hold the boat steady so that Jules and I could jump on. Lance was going to have to turn the boat
round and come back for us. But – Jules
said “don’t worry, we’ll walk along the bank” and before I could hesitate she
said “come on Mom”, so Mom followed thinking Jules would know where she was
going !! By now it was raining quite
hard, on and off, we had our waterproofs on, fortunately, but our feet and
trousers began to get wet as we began to struggle to make a path through the 5
foot brambles, nettles and wild (very wild) flowers We still had our windlasses in our hands and
these helped us in our progress! In the
meantime, Lance and Gra had taken the boat further up
the river to look for another landing stage and disappeared from our sight
under the bridge and round the corner!
We felt a bit lonely, with no one else about and the clouds very
low. But Jules kept spurring me on, and both
of us thinking we could reach the bridge and return to the boat. We came across a stream, so now we were
paddling in sandy coloured water which began to fill my trainers, Jules had on
open sandals. After about 20 mins of
walking, Lance and Gra returned on the boat and
shouted that we would have to go back!!
Julie and I looked at each other.
“No, no”, we shouted, “we can’t possibly do that” – it had been quite a
struggle. But we had no alternative, so
– back we went. 45 mins later we were so
pleased to reach the original landing stage and, finally, to get back onto the
boat.
My shoes were so full of water, it took
3 days to dry them out. Julie’s trousers
were wetter than mine, so she hung them on the boat. A little while later, the rain having stopped,
but the wind was quite wild, and
suddenly the trousers flew off and were never seen again!! Fortunately, she did have others.
We eventually moored at Stanley Ferry,
Dewsbury, a lovely quiet spot, beautiful sunset and after Gin and tonics,
beers, Julie cooked our evening meal, smoked salmon with lentils and vegs and
of course wine. Delicious and very
welcome after our adventurous day!
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No photographic evidence exists for the story that Julie and Sandy
spun to Graham and I…
Day 3 – Wednesday, 8th July
Over the last two days, the canals were
very quiet; we didn’t see any other boats until we caught up with the couple
with the 3 children again.
Lance’s Birthday. We set off at 9.00 a.m. bound for Allerton
Bywater, 7.5 hours, 16 miles and 12 locks away. It rained for most of the morning and the
Skipper, Assistant, and lock attendants got quite wet. Some of the locks were very hard to
manoeuvre, so Gra and Jules took over most of this
work and Sandy stayed on board helping Lance, with ropes, closing front doors
so that water didn’t enter the cabin at the lock face, providing cups of tea or
coffee, etc. For lunch we indulged
ourselves with the gorgeous Birthday Cake Julie had made for Lance, (Lance gave
his permission for Gra and I to eat the cake too!!).
On we went, under the M.1 motorway
(which was going to Leeds – our destination), through locks on the Leeds and
Liverpool canal and tremendous navigation by the Skipper through the city locks
and basin and into the Leeds & Liverpool canal. Finally mooring at about 3.45 p.m. outside
the Hilton Hotel (wifi again!) and very close to the
restaurant for Lance’s birthday celebration.
After mooring, the crew relaxed with more Birthday cake, beer and gin
and tonics.
Before we went to the restaurant, Julie
had booked us in as a surprise for Lance, we took him the long way round and
discovered the 3 arches under the railway station which took the River Aire right underneath the city of Leeds. The sound of the
water was quite deafening but then we went to the Fadenza
Restaurant for a fabulous meal. Fantastic
buffet to help yourself to all evening, and skewers of different meats being
brought to the table, cooked to your liking, with a green tablemat to show if
you wanted more meat or, just display the other, red side, to say you were ok
for now. Then back to our beds, very
replete!
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Being
my birthday, I was allowed to relax – just a little: I was helped with the
steering, eating my birthday cake; allowing me time to settle.
Day 4 – Thursday, 9th July
We had a lie-in this morning, after
last night celebrations, and left about 10.10 a.m. aiming for Rodley,
15 miles and 19 locks. It would be our
longest day, taking about 9 hours. We decided to top up our water, but couldn’t
remove the top of the water pipe, it was much too tight. After asking for help from a fellow
traveller, Engineer Gra demonstrated how to remove a
large, cross-threaded, rusty nut, using only a large hammer and
screwdriver! We then filled the water
tank before cruising on.
It was a beautiful morning and the
scenery was beautiful, green and serene with many wild flowers on the banks and
several ducks, swans and herons to look at on our way. Today we had locks and swing bridges to
negotiate.
We met, and shared some of the locks,
with 4 elderly Americans from Florida who were spending 3-4 weeks cruising the
canals. We arrived at Rodley Bridge at 4.00 p.m., ready for our Beers and G &
T’s. We were having a meal at a Turkish
Restaurant called Ephesus, which turned out to be delicious – chicken in a
special spicy sauce, rice, etc.
It was very busy on this part of the
canal, very close to the town and many people celebrating on small boats on the
canal. I slept well, but Gra, Julie and Lance had problems during the night with
noise and shouting from the passers-by and Gra still
having problems with sciatica.
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The weather had improved enormously. And today we had multi-step
locks and swing bridges.
Day 5 – Friday, 10th July
A beautiful morning, calm, warm and
sunny. Today we had numerous swing
bridges to negotiate again, stopping the traffic in some cases, very
exciting! We were now going uphill on
the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, away from the rivers which would take 5 hours
from Rodley to Bingley, 10 miles and 8 locks.
We stopped for water again then on to a
2-rise lock. These were the Dowley Gap Twin Rise Locks and were in a dreadful state of
disrepair. On some of these difficult
locks there were volunteers to help your get through. At this particular (after reporting the
problems) it took us nearly 1 hr 10 mins to get through and then onwards
through more swing bridges to a 3-rise lock.
Ever upwards.
Finally reached our destination at
Bingley and moored close to our restaurant, but a much quieter spot than at Rodley. Another
lovely meal at the Orchid Restaurant, Turkish food, then home to our beds on
the boat.
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Water pouring over the top of the lock gate, something we had not
seen before, should have raised alarm-bells. It took over an hour to get
through this one lock!
Also more swing bridges toady, also not always in the best of
condition!
Day 6 – Saturday, 11th July
Today we will cruise for 5 hours from
Bingley to Skipton, 14 miles and 5 locks including the famous Bingley
5-rise. We set off about 9.30 a.m.
starting with the 3-rise locks which only took 22 minutes but followed by a
5-rise lock which took 40 mins, with a lock-keeper to help us, these lock gates
were very old and stiff and there was always something new to learn.
The Bingley 3 and 5-rise locks took us
about 100 feet from the bottom canal to the top. A fascinating experience, Lance always, in
the locks having to try to keep the boat central against the flow of the water
entering the lock. After the locks came
a swing bridge, water for the boat again at the café. However, we had tea and Lance’s fruit
birthday cake for refreshments on board the Dorset!
It had been cooler this morning but now
the sun was out with strong breezes.
We came to Micklethwaite
Wharfe and a swing road bridge. Julie and Lance had ridden over this bridge
on one of their rides in the area. The
countryside was beautiful, we were in the Dales now with Ickley
Moor in the distance with the 3rd swing bridge coming up. Still on the Leeds and Liverpool canal. Buttercups, ducks, swans and geese on the
water. Time for tea and chocolate
biscuits – 1.00 p.m.
The Leaches Swing Bridge (no. 196) was
badly out of balance in the horizontal plane and needed 1 person to rock the
bridge (on Keighley side) and 2 to push.
Took photo of boat cruising through
swing bridge, with Julie on the tiller and Gra and
Lance moving bridge. Further on we
passed a boat that had drifted from its moorings close to Bridge no. 186, but
we managed to avoid it.
Further on, Gra,
Jules and Sandy, walked the towpath towards 3 swing bridges, 2 were already
open (small ones) then came a road bridge which required a special key (various
keys for the locks were kept on our boat).
Finally arrived at Skipton about 4.00
p.m.
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The Bingley Three and Five-Rise lift’s our boat over 100ft very
efficiently.
Day 7 – Sunday, 12th July
Last day on the canal. Today we cruise for 6 .5 hours from Skipton
to Barnoldswick, 12 miles and 13 locks.
Left Skipton at 8.55 a.m., cool, cloudy
– jackets on! 3 swing bridges than the 1st
lock of the day (lock 30 – Holme Bridge).
It was very windy and Lance on the tiller had to work very hard to
control the boat. Then we crossed the Eshton Beck which flows into the Aire
River, under Bridge 172 onto 2nd bridge and lock. We had light rain at 12.45 p.m. going through
many locks today. We started No. 36 lock
for a run of 5 locks still going up, and reached the top lock at 2.20 p.m.
We continued along the Leeds &
Liverpool canal until, after the arduous locks, the canal gently twisted and
turned through beautiful countryside with cows, drinking the water from the
canal and then, a herd of cows being collected for milking across the fields,
and being herded by tractor.
Bright sun now but very strong
winds. The skipper worked hard
controlling the boat and the crew worked hard at the locks and in the
galley! Lots of teas and coffees
consumed during the cruise, plus biscuits and cake!
We arrived at our mooring in Barnoldswick at 5.30 p.m.
We enjoyed our last aperitifs, watched Jocovich,
on the TV on board, collect the Wimbledon Men’s Final Tennis Trophy having
beaten Federer, and Jules cooked our final meal, a wonderful Chicken Curry, wine
and then - it was time to pack.
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Another great canal holiday!
Day 8 – Monday, 13th July
Moved to our final mooring at Barnoldswick at 9.30 a.m.
Then all of us in the taxi to take us back to Sowery
Bridge where we had parked our cars at the beginning of the holiday.
Sadly, leaving the canals behind after
a wonderful week’s holiday.
Off in our cars, northwards, to
Annandale Water Services, lunch with Jules and Lance, then goodbye to Lance and
Julie came with us to Dunoon, to attend Jean’s
Funeral the following day, Tuesday, 14th July.