Monday 17th April - Woodlesford to Castleford
A fine day, and we left our mooring and headed for Woodlesford Lock, stopped to fill water bottles and deposit rubbish, then headed down through the lock. Just a short trip along the canal section before another lock and down onto the River Aire again. This is a branch off the canal which goes to an oil terminal, still used today, on several days of the week vessels can be seen coming up from Goole carrying oil, I do hope we get to see one of these as they are massive!
This is Old Staithes Quay at Allerton Bywater, it has been refurbished with moorings for up to 7 boats. Originally a mining village, coal was once loaded from wagons onto barges from this staithe.
We needed to turn into Castleford Flood lock in order to leave the river and lock up onto the canal which eventually ends up in Goole and the North Sea. However the lock was in use so we had to wait until the man operating the lock worked out what he had to do.
After a significant amount of time we were able to enter the lock and we finally moored up on the canal at Castleford.
After lunch we took a walk into Castleford and found the footbridge over the river Aire’s weir. The boat stuck on the weir is Thomas, he was moored at Lemonroyd Lock in 1977 and let loose by some lads and has been stuck there ever since. The footbridge was built in 2008 and it was proposed that Thomas was removed but the residents of Castleford objected and it was left.
It was originally powered by an enormous water wheel built for the mill in 1884 and continued in service until 1970 when it was decommissioned. There is talk of restoring the wheel but likely quotes are in the millions of pounds and Dave in the photo is pessimistic about its future. He was fascinating to listen to as he was a fountain of knowledge about the mill.
Castleford Heritage Trust has been working hard to restore parts of the building as you can see in the photos above. The staircase was hand built by volunteers and the stained glass was painted by another volunteer.
The top floor of the building is used by Yvette Cooper, the Shadow Home Secretary as her constituency offices, as she is the local MP.
2 miles, 3 locks, 2hrs 36mins
Tuesday 18th April - Castleford to Stanley Ferry
A bright sunny start to the day and we made our way back to the flood locks in order to leave Castleford and continue on our way Stanley Ferry. This lock is so huge we can both bobble about in the middle.
Out of the lock and straight across the junction, right is the way we came yesterday, left is the river into Castleford and the weir where Thomas is stuck, straight ahead on the Aire and Calder Navigaton.
We are approaching Stanley Ferry Aqueduct which was built between 1836 and 1839 to take the Aire & Calder Navigation over the River Calder near Wakefield. It is one of the earliest compression arch suspended-deck bridges in the world and is considered to be the largest aqueduct executed in cast iron. Designed by George Leather and built by H. McIntosh, the aqueduct has a span of 50.3 m. (165 ft), a width of 7.3 m. (24 ft) and a depth of 2.6 m. (8.5 ft). It is still in use today, though an additional wider concrete aqueduct was constructed alongside in 1981 and the bridge was then renovated. We are going to travel along the left hand aqueduct, turn the boat round and moor up on the cast iron aqueduct to take on diesel.
Having taken on diesel we cruise along the aqueduct turn again and continue the way we ere going. We moored up at the visitor moorings and Toby and I went for a walk.
We found this piece of waste land which was covered in wild spring flowers, very pretty, mostly cowslips and dandelions, but delightful.
We walked back to the aqueduct to see it from a different angle. The trough we cruised along is clearly seen here. Each side has a cast iron arch in 7 segments from which the iron trough is hung by 35 wrought iron rods. It weighs 1,700 tons and holds 940 litres of water.
5.5 miles, 4 locks, 3hrs 18mins
Wednesday 19th April - Stanley Ferry to Horbury Bridge
We woke to a dull grey day, so on with the winter coat and off we go towards Wakefield and the end of the Aire and Calder Navigation. Here we are passing through one of the flood locks which are all open at the moment as the water levels are all in the green.
When we got to Wakefield we started to go up in the locks, up until now we had been going down. These flats are a similar design to the flats we live in, in Worcester. We also completed the Aire and Calder Navigation and moved onto the Calder and Hebble Navigation.
We turned left out of Wakefield and headed for the first lock. These locks use a slightly different mechanism for the paddles, it involves a ‘handspike’ on a ratchet type mechanism, and we have been given a long piece of wood, 3” x 2”, which works perfectly.
We moored up at Horbury Bridge which is home to the hymn ‘Onward Christian Soldiers’. This was written in 1864 as a processional hymn for the school children of Horbury Bridge where Sabine Baring-Gould (1834-1924) was curate.
The canal we shall be following tomorrow, still very wide and fairly straight, looking idyllic in the afternoon sunshine.
7.5 miles, 5 locks, 3hrs 18mins
Thursday 20th April - Horbury to Brighouse
We set off from Horbury nice and early as we plan to get to Brighouse before the rain which is forecast for tomorrow. We met John and Mandy [nbMouseketeer] at the first set of locks but as these locks are now very short it quickly became obvious that the days of sharing locks were over! With two boats in the lock there wasn’t enough room to shut the gates, so we said our farewells and they went on ahead of us.
Coming round Dewsbury I spotted this Mosque building, and when I looked it up I discovered it was one of 35 mosques in Dewsbury, so I’m afraid I don’t know which one it is!
On this trip we came on and off the river 12 times, each time we went onto the river it was through a flood lock which was open, this one is at Dewsbury, and to get off the river we had to go through a manual lock. As the day wore on it got windier and colder and each of the locks on the river had tiny lock moorings on which to stop the boat to let Dave off and tie up to stop the boat disappearing away with the current.
This is Anchor Pit Flood Lock, the last one of the day and the one that is closed as soon as there is any change in the water levels, hence our decision to make our way through before tomorrow. We moored up in Brighouse basin and went for an explore of the town and to find somewhere nice for our evening meal to celebrate my birthday!
We found Brook’s, a restaurant specialising in small sharing plates, a British alternative to Spanish tapas. They were also happy to let us have Toby with us and it turned out to be a brilliant find. It very quickly became very busy and we were delighted with the food.
We started with a bowl of olives and a goats cheese profiterole, just bite-sized but it was quite amazing, a delicious mouthful!
We followed this with 5 sharing plates all as delicious as each other and I finished off with dark chocolate doughnut, yum!
10 miles, 12 locks, 7hrs 30mins
Friday 21st April - Brighouse
We have had a quiet day today doing jobs on the boat, shopping and I managed to get my hair cut, which was a real treat. The weather really hasn’t been as bad as forecast, but it has been very chilly, and we have enjoyed being still for a day.
Saturday 22nd April - Brighouse to Sowerby Bridge
We made a late start from Brighouse, putting on water and emptying rubbish before moving on to Sowerby Bridge.
This is Dave using the famous handspike, peculiar to the Calder and Hebble Navigation, in place of the usual windlass. A good action shot!
My first sighting of bluebells, quite a carpet of them and although it has been quite cold they do flower from April onwards, so these are spot on time wise.
Three years ago, the Calder & Hebble Navigation sustained major damage during Storm Ciara, including Woodside Lock Landing and towpath being washed away and Figure of Three Locks becoming the most damaged single structure across our entire network when flood water from the River Calder overtopped, causing £3million worth of damage. This is the on going work at Woodside Lock with access to the lock on the right hand side, difficult to get close to, I wonder how a solo boater gets through here?
The first of the locks at Salterhebble, this one has a guillotine gate oddly enough, but there nothing surprises me on this canal!
In order to get to the lock Dave had to walk through a tunnel under the road, you can just see Ella at the other end of the tunnel waiting to come into the lock.
On the way out of the lock the canal passes over Hebble Brook, this is the only time we come into contact with the Hebble, even though the navigation is called Calder and Hebble.
Locks 2 and 3 of the Salterhebble Locks are the shortest locks on the whole of the system, at 57ft 6ins it is a tight fit for us although it is possible to get boats up to 60ft through with great care. This is the reason we had Ella built to 57ft so that we could fit through these very short locks. The canal was built to accept 57 by 14 ft Yorkshire Keels coming up the Aire and Calder Navigation. We continued on to Sowerby and moored in the basin.
We went for a walk through the town and came across this lovely sculpture. From a nearby village information sign: "The sculpture Jack of the Locks depicts the town's lock keeper during the last days of commercial carrying. Richard Tiffany was a well-known local character and his great-grandson modelled for the figure of the boy."
At the end of the basin is a signpost indicating the end of the Calder and Hebble Navigation and the start of the Rochdale Canal. Tomorrow we shall move onto the Rochdale, no more handspikes needed and all the locks are back to normal size, thank goodness.
6.5 miles, 11 locks, 5hr 48mins
Sunday 23rd April - Sowerby bridge to Hebden Bridge
Today we go through the deepest lock in Britain which can only be operated by lock keepers, and they are opened at 10am on a Sunday. So, we reversed Ella out of our mooring and turned left on to the Rochdale Canal.
We operated the first two locks ourselves, whilst the lock keepers emptied the third lock ready for us to go into. There was a huge amount of water coming down the canal and flooding over the tops of the two locks. We had to wait quite a long time as they couldn’t open the lock gates, it seems there was debris in the way and the top gates were leaking badly.
Our instructions were to wait at the entrance to the tunnel until the lights came on and then we could go through. Above the canal is the church which was ringing the bells for Sunday worship.
Eventually the lights came on and we made our way through the tunnel, to Tuel Lane Lock, originally built as two locks in 1798, after the restoration it was reopened as a single lock in 1996. It has a depth of 19ft 8.5ins and the full length lock holds 150,000 gallons of water.
Our first view of the lock with one of the lock keepers welcoming us in. We had to pull up on the left hand side and use ropes for and aft and attach them to vertical poles in the lock sides.
I had to go as far forward as possible to get the back rope around the pole, and the water was cascading onto the nose of the boat, bit frightening for Dave, but I was able to reverse back as they used the full length of the lock for us. It took about 25 minutes to fill the lock, such an amazing experience!
Our lock keepers, Mike and Andrew, many thanks to them for getting us safely up this enormous lock and giving us our certificate to say we braved the deepest lock in Britain!
We passed several geese nesting in the oddest of places and even saw one nest which had 5 eggs in it. The female produces 5-6 eggs in a single brood between March and June. Nests are usually close to water, often on small islands or in this case beside a factory!
This sculpture made from cast iron shows a hawk standing on a tree trunk. Erected as part of the canal improvement scheme. The regeneration project included improvements to the canal tow path as well as a series of art installations inspired by the canal and local area. This particular sculpture was inspired by a famous local poet, Ted Hughes, and his poem Hawk Roosting. We eventually arrived in Hebden Bridge and moored up in a quiet spot and we intend stopping here tomorrow so we can explore the town.
5.5 miles, 8 locks, 6hrs 6mins
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