Monday 3rd April - Salterforth to East Marton
We woke this morning to more bright sunshine, but it was very cold with quite a frost over night.
As we passed through the bridge from our mooring I saw this tow line roller. When the canal turned a sharp bend, it was difficult for a horse drawn-boat to steer and the tow rope would pull the boat into the bank instead of around the corner. To stop this from happening, vertical rollers were fitted to upright wooden posts, the tow rope passing across the rollers and keeping the pull on the boat such that it was not a problem for the boatman steering the boat. The two rollers at this bridge have been renewed.
We are now into the Easter holidays and we have already passed three hire boats, two just moored at Barnoldswick and this one on the move. Hopefully that will mean that the waterways will come alive again and be busy.
The first of our three locks today, Greenberfield Locks, and we are going down now. As we approached, there was a working boat in the lock, apparently cleaning the locks out, so they filled the lock for us and exited to carry on their good work.
This is a clough ground paddle (I asked the CRT worker as I didn’t know about them) by the top gate of all the locks. Apparently you lift them to open the cover and push it down to close it. How it works in practise I’m not sure as we didn't need to use them as we were emptying the lock. Another learning experience to come!
We moored up in the delightful village of East Marton, very rural and very quiet. We went for a walk over the dales and I was struck by these tree skeletons against the blue sky, the buds are slowly forming but from a distance they still look bare.
Our walk took us through the churchyard and back down to the canal. The present church serves the communities of East and West Marton, it was constructed sometime between 1147 and 1186, after the Norman invaders had consolidated their hold over northern England and dispossessed the Saxons of their lands.
This odd-looking structure is the famous “double-arched bridge” which carries the busy A59 road over the canal and looks like two bridges stacked on top of each other. It would appear the upper arch was built on top of the original bridge to raise it up to the level of the rest of the road – thus allowing it to be better used for vehicular traffic. It is not clear whether this was done when the bridge was first built in the eighteenth century, or later when the road was improved. The upper bridge does not look to be particularly newer than the lower, so perhaps it was built like this.
5 miles, 3 locks, 2hrs 36mins
Tuesday 4th April - East Marton to Gargrave
Another beautiful sparkling day, with quite a hard overnight frost which soon disappeared after the sun had been on it for a while. We pulled the boat forward on to the water point and filled up with water before setting off for the day.
Just in the reeds is a swan sitting on a nest, we became aware of it because the partner swan was chasing the boat and making a dreadful noise, more signs of spring!
These photos really don’t do the scenery justice, but the stretch between East Marton and the top of the Bank Newton Locks was absolutely stunning, I still can’t believe we are cruising through the Yorkshire Dales, so we are enjoying every minute of this.
At the top of Bank Newton Locks we met up with nbMouseketeer again and we shared the locks all the way down to Gargrave. We were amazed at the amount of water flowing over the gates here, it doesn’t look as though there is any problem with water shortages yet!
Good to see a whole army of CRT volunteers hard at work on the adjacent gardens, they will look beautiful in the summer.
The waterway is becoming busier with hire boats coming from nearby Skipton and Snaygill, here they have pulled over to allow us access to the lock they have just left.
We arrived in Gargrave and found a suitable mooring, after some lunch we went for a walk into the village and did essential shopping and ‘cake’ shopping! We also found the fish and chip shop and are going to try and have those tonight.
A walk along the canal back the way we came rounded off our day and we returned to the boat for a well earned rest.
4 miles, 9 locks, 3hrs 18mins
Wednesday 5th April - Gargrave
Today it is forecast to rain all day so we decided to stay in Gargrave and do some boat jobs. We spent a few hours planning our return journey to Worcester and feel happy now that we have enough time to complete the circuit we wanted to do.
I also spent time giving the boat a good clean inside.
Thursday 6th April - Gargrave to Skipton
A much better day today, even a little bit of sun, so we set off to meet nbMouseketeer at 9am at the lock. We filled water bottles and then continued through the three locks. This is a field full of oystercatchers, running away from the boat, they have red legs and a long thin red beak.
Toby enjoying watching the world go by from the roof top.
One of the remaining textile mills along the canal, much of the mill has been split up in to separate units housing small industries.
Guardian of the Gateway to the Yorkshire Dales for over 900 years, Skipton Castle, once home to the famous Clifford Lords, is one of the best preserved and most complete medieval castles in England.
We stopped for lunch and had a pot of Yorkshire tea, when in Yorkshire drink Yorkshire tea!
5.25 miles, 3 locks, 4 swing bridges, 2hrs 36mins
Friday 7th April - Skipton to Silsden
A beautiful start to the day and after filling up with water I walked along to open the first swing bridge. This is electrically operated and having got it open two boats passed through before Dave came through with Ella. It seemed that we had joined a convoy of boats, so the first boat would open the swing bridge and drop to the back of the convoy.
It worked a treat and we cruised comfortably along enjoying the stunning scenery and the warm sunshine.
We cruised through Kildwick, a very pretty village with the canal going right through the centre. So much so that the church which is right next to the canal has its graveyard on both sides of the canal. Most bizarre, but from the photo you can see how close the church is!
This was the last swing bridge of the day for us and it was our turn to operate. All the boats moored up behind us as they were expecting to go and give Dave a hand as it is very hard to open. However, Dave managed it and they all got back on their boats and passed through. Note the reflection of the first boat on the side of our boat, it looks rather strange!
All these boats are making their way to Bingley where they are joining a flotilla led by the short boat Kennet from Bingley back to Skipton. On April 8, 1773, two barges loaded with coal set off from Bingley to Skipton where the coal was sold at half the price previously charged. They were the first boats to carry goods on the canal and the reduction in cost shows how important the waterway was to be to the growing economy of Yorkshire.
On Easter Saturday, April 8, the Leeds and Liverpool Canal Society will recreate the journey with its barge Kennet and more recent boats following on behind. On Saturday we shall be making our way to Bingley so will see the flotilla pass us.
We found a lovely mooring in Silsden, very quiet and peaceful and settled down for the rest of the day. We walked into Silsden and explored the town, very good with lots of independent shops.
6.75 miles, 0 locks, 11 swing bridges, 3hrs 6mins
Saturday 8th April - Silsden to Top of Bingley Five Rise Locks.
A little grey when we woke this morning, but soon the sun came out and we were happily cruising along under blue skies. The heron was watching for fish as we passed and didn’t seem perturbed by us at all.
The scenery again has been stunning, this really is a beautiful canal and we have been delighted with the views in all directions.
We got to one swing bridge, which Dave opened and I passed through, only to see the flotilla with Kennet leading the way. It meant Dave was the wrong side of the canal and saw the whole 15 boats through before being able to get back across. Heritage boat Kennet is the only surviving Leeds & Liverpool Canal short boat to be found travelling the length of the canal which is accessible to the public and not converted for private use. Kennet was built in 1947 and continued to carry cargo along the canal well into the 1960s.
Kennet has been owned by the Leeds and Liverpool Canal Society since March 2011 and is used as an interactive museum which would deliver the heritage of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, its boats and its working families to communities along the Leeds & Liverpool Canal through learning in an enjoyable way.
My second sighting of ducklings this year, I wasn’t able to get a photo of the first set. These are tiny and are being shepherded by both parents to safety.
After several abortive attempts to moor the boat above the locks we eventually ended up on the bollards right in front of the top lock as there wasn’t any other space. We had a lovely chat with Tim and Michele on nbHorace before they turned their boat around and headed back to Skipton.
A view down the locks from the top lock. Bingley Five-rise lock staircase is the most spectacular feature of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. This unique 5-rise staircase has a total rise of 60 feet. Only a few hundred yards downstream is another staircase - this time a 3-rise flight, with a fall of 30 feet. The locks are supervised by a lock keeper and are closed at night. The Bingley 5-rise and 3-rise locks opened in 1774.
6.25 miles, 0 locks, 8 swing bridges, 3hrs 30mins
Sunday 9th April - Top of Bingley Five Rise Locks to Shipley
An early start this morning as the lock keeper was going to start moving boats down the flight at 8am. We were ready and got into the lock and waited for a Silsden hireboat to join us. Today there was a team of 4 lock keepers on duty, which made light work of the descent, it meant that Dave could stay on the boat and experience the ride down.
Entering the second lock and it looks as though we are flying, the locks are a 60 ft drop over 25 yards, so it is quite amazing from this viewpoint.
Each lock must be about 12 feet deep and very leaky into the bargain. As the locks are only 62ft long it is impossible to avoid getting wet as we are waiting for the gates to be opened. As the lock keeper said, ‘you will get wet and the water is dirty as we didn’t have time to clean it yesterday!’
We have left the lock and the boat we shared with is following on behind. The view looking back is amazing, the date on the commemorative bench at the top of the rise is 21st March 1974 commemorating 200th anniversary of the locks, so next year will be 250th anniversary. The engineering and manpower that went into building these locks is beyond comprehension!
Two of the lock keepers worked us down Bingley 3 rise locks and then we worked the double staircase on our own. This enormous windlass moves the sliding mechanism to open and close the paddles.
This mill is occupied by Damart now, although the chimney is disused it does offer very prominent advertising. We had planned to stop in Saltaire but we couldn’t moor safely and the bollard mooring had notices saying ‘No overnight mooring’ so we kept going. The mooring in Shipley was full and we ended up on the outskirts of Shipley opposite The Saltaire Brewery where we moored for the night.
We took a walk back along the River Aire to Saltaire and had a look around the village, beautiful buildings , Saltaire is a complete and well-preserved industrial village of the second half of the 19th century. Its textile mills, public buildings and workers' housing are built in a harmonious style of high architectural standards and the urban plan survives intact, giving a vivid impression of Victorian philanthropic paternalism. It was designed and built by Titus Salt who owned the Salt Mill and wanted his workers to have decent accommodation and facilities available to them.
Once back at the boat we called into the Saltaire Brewery to sample their produce. The brewery began in 2003 over a laboratory bench when Tony Gartland, owner and founder, met Derek Todd, an industrial chemist at a Brewlab course in Newcastle. They had no idea then that starting one of the earliest microbreweries in Yorkshire would grow into the brewery and packaging facility it is today, producing more than 5 million pints of beer a year for drinkers around the globe. The beer was quite delicious too!
3.5 miles, 11 locks, 4 swing bridges, 3hr 30mins
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