David in charge

Nine week cruise - day 23 - Sunday 24th July 2005

Skipton to East Marton


Will steering

David writes: 1400 Will arrived, engine started and under way. Pleasant countryside. Pizzas for (late) lunch. Three swing bridges, first two locks, approaching Gargrave, solo (apart from gongoozlers). Had good ice cream from lock-side van, then joined with friendly hire boat for rest of Gargrave and Bank Newton locks.

2015 moored at East Marton for the Cross Keys pub, bridge 161. Food stopped being served at 2000 so had pasta bake. Bed 2300.

Trains, bike, car and Godmanchester

Nine week cruise - day 22 - Saturday 23rd July 2005


Both up early for trains back down south for Auntie Pauline's 80th birthday party at David and Victoria's house in Godmanchester. John had a long day and was late for the (afternoon) party. David took the direct route, to Huntingdon, and thence by bike. I had to retrieve the car from Scholar Green where I'd parked it what seemed like ages ago - it was a fortnight - and drive down from there. Things didn't start well. The first train, from Skipton to Leeds, stopped for 45 minutes while an attempted suicide was dealt with. Then it was an empty but slow train to Manchester Piccadilly; a packed one to Crewe; and another one to Kidsgrove from where I cycled to Scholar Green. Would the car still be there? Would it start? Well, yes and yes, thankfully. But then a four hour drive to Godmanchester.


Auntie Pauline at 80

Arrived as the party was winding down. Some guests had already gone home. And I'd left the boat for a whole week, as I was off to sing in France, with Jan and a prep school choir. A great trip: sang in Chartres Cathedral, Versailles, Orleans Cathedral and Notre Dame in Paris.


David saw this on his way back to Skipton

Meanwhile David returned to the boat at 2300. "Dulwich", which had dogged us ever since Standedge Tunnel, was moored close by.

Malham

Nine week cruise - day 21 - Friday 22nd July 2005

Stayed put in Skipton

The boat did, that is, we cycled through some excellent Yorkshire countryside to Malham to look at the cove and tarn.



John up at 0810. Shopped at Skipton market and bought some rations, including pork pies, for our cycle ride. At 1230 we cycled to Malham and left our bikes at the start of the walk to the cove.



After some pretend silliness for the camera we walked to Malham Tarn and back.


cooling our drinks

Then we cycled to Gargrave with the intention of returning to Skipton along the towpath. We hadn't reckoned on it being quite so bumpy and slow, so we gave up on the towpath and used the A65 instead. When we got back to the boat we moved it out of the Springs Branch onto the main line beyond the second swing bridge to be near the staion.

Skipton is full of rowdy youths. Skipton's pubs are full of drunk rowdies. Hoping for a quieter night with no church bells in hearing distance.

The bells, the bells!

Nine week cruise - day 20 - Thursday 21st July 2005

Dowley Gap to Skipton

Got up at 0735. The floor under the carpet at the front has dried out, so it wasn't the radiator leaking. Of course, we now know where the water came from: the top gates of the L&L locks as we ascend (see second photo). The locks being shorter than the 72' ones we're used to, the bow is nearer the action as far as leaky top gates are concerned. Water has cascaded onto the bow and found its way into the boat through the vents in the bow doors. We know to cover these up when locking where there's a danger of water ingress now.

Under way at 0915, and headed for more waterways wonders: the Bingley Three Rise and Five Rise locks. We were through these by 1120, then we stopped and had a look around. Got going again at 1245.


Lining up for the Bingley Five Rise



In one of the Bingley locks: note how wet the bow is

At 1500 we stopped at Silsden Boats for pumpout, diesel, and loan of a vacuum cleaner to remove more water from the carpet at the front. Got going again at 1615.

Cruised to the very end of the Springs Branch and reversed back to a mooring. Moored at 1955. The church clock was very loud - and struck all the quarters all through the night!

Oil and water

Nine day cruise - day 19 - Wednesday 20th July 2005

Leeds to Dowley Gap


David steering

Up at 0710, and away from Leeds Canal Basin at 0755. We found sharing the L&L locks to be the thing to do, as they were slow and difficult with just one boat. We shared with "Dill" until Rodley.


In a lock at three o'clock

At Saltaire we stopped to have a look round this amazing town. I can't believe that David took no pictures, but I can't find them. I cycled to Idle to buy oil and filter from Bargain Motor Spares. At 2115 we moored just above Dowley Gap locks and I started to change the oil and filter. Never done it before on a boat. I successfully managed to pump out the old oil, but found that the filter wouldn't turn. I had a chain wrench with me but it wouldn't fit past an obstruction. At this stage I was distracted by David reporting a wet carpet at the front. It wasn't clear where the water was coming from, so David started taking up the carpet while I resorted to hammer and screwdriver to remove the filter. Oil and filter changed at 148.4 hours.

Falling through Fall Ing Lock

Nine week cruise - day 18 - Tuesday 19th July 2005

Horbury Bridge to Leeds


Some of the local plant life

I got up at 0625 and walked to the sanitory station and found the BW key wouldn't fit the lock on the loo door. Oh well. Back to the boat, and away at 0730. Watered up at Broad Cut Low Lock at 0830, and in another two and a half hours passed through Fall Ing Lock, the largest so far.


This waterway is so big it needs traffic lights


In a large lock

Stopped at Stanley Ferry Aqueducts to buy gas and have a look round the boatyard. David bought a handcuff key and I wish I'd done the same. There was one on the boat, but having ones own is very handy. We are now on the Aire and Calder Navigation - wide and deep, with electrically operated locks. We tied up for lunch just above a lock at 1345 (this is where writing up the log nearly three years after the event gets tricky: I've left a space in the original obviously meaning to write in the name of the lock when I had a chance to look it up. Well, that chance has been and gone. I suppose I could try to work it out from timings ... must have been Woodnock Lock, or possibly King's Road Lock.)


I wonder what's down here


Ah. More of the local plant life

Stopped at Castleford Junction to investigate the BW office - free Waterways World magazine - and to buy a BW key each. Approaching Leeds we discovered we didn't have a vital ingredient for the planned spaghetti bolognese, so David swopped a can of tomato soup for a can of tomatoes at a moored narrowboat. Eventually moored up in Leeds Canal Basin at 2115. Didn't quite have the feel of Birmingham's Gas Street Basin which we'd visited three years previously, but I think we were officially now on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, yet another first for us. Ate the spag bol.

Mushy peas and vindaloo

Nine week cruise - day 17 - Monday 18th July 2005

Huddersfield to Horbury Bridge

John and Jan up at 0715. Walked to Huddersfield Station for Jan to return home and for John to buy a ticket for Skipton to Kidsgrove (for future car shuffling). Back to the boat to continue cruising at 1145. Now it's just the two of us: David and myself. At 1535 we tied up just below Battyeford Lock on the Calder and Hebble Navigation for a lunch of filled jacket potatoes. Under way at 1600 making for Dewsbury. At 1845 we tied up at the end of the Dewsbury Arm. At the pub there we had a pint of ale, John helping his go down with a pie and mushy peas. I've noted that the pub was "good", but I didn't record its name. Here I put the wide angle lens on the time lapse camera which is recording the whole cruise.

Under way again at 1950 and moored for the night at Horbury Bridge, four hours behind my original, fairly tight, schedule. Hungry again, David found a Chinese takeaway, and I had a very good takeaway meat vindaloo for £4.00 - with free rice!

Linthwaite to Huddersfield

Nine week cruise - day 16 - Sunday 17th July 2005


Locomotive Bridge, Huddersfield

Up at 0715 and away at 0745. The downhill run from the summit level continued into Huddersfield: we encountered lots of very shallow pounds. One we came to was almost dry, so we had to fill it from the previous pound in order to be able to continue. That episode took one and a half hours. There wasn't much traffic about, so we stopped for lunch in lock 5E. We would have moved if a boat came, of course.

At Apsley Basin we stopped to use the facilities - water and shower. Oh, and Sainsbury's. Going on to the Huddersfield Broad Canal was interesting - the locks were, anyway. We'd not encountered such short locks before. It was a bit of a jiggle getting the gates shut and open with the 58' boat diagonally across the lock.

We moored at 1825 just below Lock 9 on the Huddersfield Broad Canal.