On top of the world

We made it as far as Riddlesden today, which means something actually went according to plan. We pulled pins about 8.30 knowing we had 11 locks to work today. Everything went very smoothly, there was one single lock, then a pair, then the Bingley 3-rise quickly followed by the Bingley 5-rise. Apart for the single lock all had lock-keepers to assist us through.

Shortly after leaving our mooring we passed through Saltaire, the village was built by Titus Salt as an "ideal industrial settlement" for his mill workers in 1850ish. As mill towns go it is impressive, I have visited it before and we didn't stop to explore this time  but it does look different from the canal. The mill buildings on either side of the canal are beautifully restored/preserved. I know one side houses the art gallery and small shops, the other appears to be residential. There is a huge park where an enterprising boatie has a wide-beam moored selling ice creams, burgers etc.

When we reached the 3-rise we caught up with 'Our Florence' and 'Trojan' who we first met at Clarence Dock. We followed them up the '3' and when we reached the '5' we were the fourth pair of boats in the queue. Luckily apart from the boat that was coming down as we arrived everyone was going up so we were able to follow each other with just a lock between each of us.

Bingley 5-rise from the bottom

And from the top, that's us at the back, hidden by the trees

It's a bit steep to walk up, you rise 60 feet in a distance of about 300 feet. The lock-keepers know their stuff and with their help we had a quick and smooth ascent. We are now on a lock-free stretch of about 17 miles until we almost reach Gargrave, 11 more locks, then it is downhill all the way.

We will be here for a few days as I have volunteered for baby-sitting duty. Tim and Margaret are coming to pick me up tomorrow and I won't be back until Wednesday. Ray should be kept occupied as one of the reasons for stopping here is to visit Puffer Parts who, by reputation, are an excellent chandlery and very helpful. Morgana still has a few "work in progress" elements so hopefully some will get sorted while I'm away. There is also a launderette here so I might even get the washing done for me while I'm gone as well!

We even get a good satellite signal so Ray can watch the footie.

Today's journey 7.3 miles, 11 locks and 8 swing bridges.

So far we have travelled 347 miles, 388 locks,  31 swing bridges 4 lift bridges and 9 tunnels.

The land of the swing bridges.

Now we are heading up over the Pennines back towards Lancashire. I have decided that I like the architect of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. Instead of a lock every mile or so, these locks are grouped together so you get a few lock free miles then a staircase style lock. These locks are designed so that the top gate of the bottom lock is the bottom gate of the next lock. This means that three locks only have four gates not six. this makes travelling much easier, or it would if not for the swing bridges. Our smooth, semi lock-free passage is interrupted on a regular basis by swing bridges.

We are now out in the countryside, although tomorrow we will pass through Saltaire and Shipley, hopefully reaching the outskirts of Keighley at Riddlesden. We had an mostly uneventful day, met up with Narrowboat Phoenix and shared locks and swing bridges with them until Ray knocked our stern rope into the water as he got off a a bridge, I still had Morgana in reverse to slow her down, and the rope ended up round the prop. We bow-hauled Morgana past the swing bridge then moored to sort it out. Phoenix carried on alone. It didn't take long to sort out but as it was nearly four o'clock we decided to stop for the day. This is a very pleasant spot looking across the Aire Valley. Lots of fish to catch, including some really big carp. We caught lots of small fish but aren't really equipped for big carp so we just enjoyed seeing them swim past.

Today's journey 4.9 miles, 5 locks and 8 swing bridges.
So far we have travelled 339.7 miles, 377 locks, 23 swing bridges, 4 lift bridges and 9 tunnels.

Escape from the city.

We headed out of Clarence Dock about 9.00. The locks on the Leeds and Liverpool have some unfamiliar paddle gear but we soon got to grips with it. Compared to the Rochdale and the manual locks on the Calder these locks seem easy to manage. We have still been travelling breasted up, but may have to stop that soon as the canal gets a little narrow in places and it would be better to be able to take the centre of the channel with both boats. Even today we had a problem at one lock where one gate wouldn't open fully so we had to unhitch Almyne and I took her up into the next lock as Chris had already walked on to set it ready for us. The run out of Leeds didn't seem too bad, The graffiti would have put me off the idea of stopping overnight anywhere but the canal doesn't seem to attract the sort of rubbish we encountered on the way out of Manchester. We did spot a couple of supermarket trollies near Morrisons.

We moored up for the night at Rodley, then Tim, Margaret and Nicholas came over and we went back to their place for dinner. Ray did a bit of sorting out of a couple of plumbing problems for them and then Tim, very kindly took us to Asda's for some shopping on the way back.

We are aiming to get to Keighley by Sunday so that we can use the launderette on Monday. There are time restrictions on some of the locks because of the water shortages. The fishing here seems good but as long as we can get away by lunchtime tomorrow we should get a decent bit of cruising done.

Today's journey 7 miles, 13 locks and 2 swing bridges.
So far we have travelled 334.8 miles, 372 locks, 14 swing bridges, 4 lift bridges and 9 tunnels.

Progressing slowly

On Monday we all took a trip into Leeds, I still reckon Leeds market is one of the best there is. I also found a fabulous aromatherapy shop, I can't believe I hadn't seen it before. Chris went up to the LGI to get his hearing aid fixed. then we went back and set up our bonfire.

We had a very special night, sitting by our bonfire, setting the world to rights and singing songs from about forty years ago. It was fantastic to watch the progress of the sun, even when it was 'dark' it wasn't, you could still see the afterglow moving slowly across the sky until it started to get lighter again.

Long before sunrise the sky was beautifully light, the mist was rising off the river and the world was wonderful. The sun rose in a blaze of glory in an almost cloudless sky with the cloud that there was enhancing the golden glow of the sunrise.

After staying up all night to watch the sun rise there was a lack of enthusiasm about moving on to Leeds yesterday. Not from me I might add, a couple of hours sleep and by about eleven I was ready to think about moving. It took Ray and Chris rather longer to recover. So moving to Clarence Dock was postponed until today. It was an easy trip, the locks are all mechanised and it wasn't far. For a built up area Clarence dock looks quite good, especially at night.

Slightly blurred photos due to the long exposure and lack ot tripod, my hands aren't quite steady enough.

We had a lazy afternoon, I went back to the aromatherapy shop, with a list! Apologies  to my bank manager! We didn't need the radio or TV to known what was happening in the football, a group of lads having a World Cup party in one of the flats kept us updated! Tomorrow is the long haul from the centre of Leeds out to Rodley. We are told the water levels are low and BW are restricting traffic so we will set out as soon as they unlock the security locks on Office Lock.

Today's journey 4.2 miles and 3 locks.

So far we have travelled 327.8 miles, 359 locks, 12 swing bridges, 4lift bridges and 9 tunnels.

The GPS says Leeds!

Yesterday was very windy. We had intended to travel as far as Wakefield, investigate the market and the fishing tackle shop and then move on. However, we decided that as the moorings looked secure and the wind was horrible that we would stop at Wakefield and carry on towards Leeds today. I was very disappointed with Wakefield, the market is rubbish and the rest of the shops are very "retail" and uninteresting. Except for Alexander's and Morgana. Alexander's sells fishing tackle at very reasonable prices, and also air rifles, cross-bows and long bows. Morgana sells "goth" style clothing, I just couldn't think of an excuse to treat myself to an ankle length black velvet coat and the emerald green velvet skirt which I could just about afford was only in a small size, small I am not!

We got woken early by the police knocking on the boat, they were looking for someone reportedly seen aboard a narrowboat in the area. It shouldn't be allowed on a Sunday morning.

As all the locks from Wakefield to the centre of Leeds are big, very big, at least 140ft long and 17ft 9in wide, Chris and Ray decided to breast the two boats up so that it only takes one person to handle them. It makes us about 14ft wide but we are still tiny compared to the gravel barges. The boats handled remarkably well and it made it a very easy day of travelling. Apart from the first lock they were all automated locks so it was just a question of pushing a few buttons. At some it wasn't even that as there were lots of other boats on the move and it only takes one person to operate a lock no matter how many boats are sharing it. We had five boats including ourselves in one lock. Ray was doing all the steering as Morgana tends to pull to the right but Almyne goes nice and straight but will follow if you change direction. Ray reckons that today's miles and locks count double for him as he has brought two boats all the way. I'm not convinced.

We have moored for the night near Woodlesford where we have a nice view across the River Aire. We are planning a bonfire for the summer solstice tomorrow so will stay here until Tuesday. We might take the train into Leeds tomorrow or we might wait until we get there by boat. The GPS says Leeds but we still have about 4 miles and 3 locks to the centre of Leeds.

Yesterday's journey 3.3 miles and 3 locks.
Today's journey 12.9 miles and 7 locks.
So far we ave travelled 323.6 miles, 356 locks, 12 swing bridges, 4 lift bridges and 9 tunnels.

Good travelling, good food and lousy football.

Before we left this morning we hauled up the crayfish traps and had caught enough crayfish to make a meal for us all so I started the day with two buckets full of water and crayfish in the cratch.

Today went like a dream compared to the previous couple, we actually fitted both boats into about half of the locks which meant we didn't have to work them all twice. The locks were a bit further apart which meant we covered more miles and some of the locks were actually a bit easier to operate. We have made it as far as Broad Cut Top Lock which means we only have two more locks on the Calder. The weather was a bit mean, rained on us a lot of the time but only light rain so not too bad. I managed to stay out of it quite a lot of the time as I was on mince pie and crayfish cooking duty. No, I wasn't cooking them together! One crayfish did make a bid for freedom and I had to chase him round the kitchen floor.

We made good progress, for the first time in ages. When we moored up above the lock for the night the sun decided to shine at last so we sat outside for a while, Chris and Ray shelled the crayfish for me, then I did a sauce of tomatoes, onion, garlic and peppers to go with them, followed by rhubarb crumble and custard it made a good meal. We ate it while watching the football, Chris doesn't follow football and last night's match won't have done anything to encourage him. England played so badly they don't deserve to get through the group stage.

Today's journey 10.7 miles and 11 locks.
So far we have travelled 307.4 miles, 346 locks, 12 swing bridges, 4 lift bridges and 9 tunnels.

Catching Crayfish

Today's progress was slow. The combination of warm weather, stiff lock paddles and heavy gates did nothing to encourage a long day. The locks on the Calder are very hard work and because of the way we are sharing the work if we travel through 8 locks I have probably done the work for the equivalent of at least 12 locks. It is a pity because the scenery is lovely and I would be enjoying this stretch far more if it wasn't such hard work.  I shall be glad when we get onto the Aire where the locks are so big we can all fit in (in a line behind each other if we choose), they are also mechanical locks so either there is a lock keeper or you just insert your BW key, push a couple of buttons and job done.

We stopped briefly at Sainsbury's at Brighouse for butter and flour, Chris has presented me with a huge tub of mincemeat so mince pies are on the menu for elevensies and I don't normally make much pastry. After that we headed down to a mooring above Kirklees Top Lock where the fishing was lousy until Ray caught a crayfish on his line. Chris has a couple of crayfish traps so he dropped them in (baited with dog food) and we soon had a couple of dozen crayfish. This is only about enough for one portion but we figure if we leave them in overnight we might get enough for a crayfish dish for dinner tomorrow.

We are hoping to manage to get almost to the Aire tomorrow and leave these awful locks behind us.

Today's journey 5 miles and 5 locks.
So far we have travelled 296.7 miles, 335 locks, 12 swing bridges, 4 lift bridges and 9 tunnels.