Homeward Bound

Riddlesden to Apperley Bridge

Dowley Gap Staircase locks

Up early to a misty morning which soon cleared th another sunny day. The wind which has plagued us for most of the week has died away and it is turning out to be warm and pleasant. we are now on our final run home back down the Bingly 5 rise locks and then through Shipley.

Last leg of the home journey

An uneventful day and a relaxing cruise brough us home by mid afternoon – back to work tomorrow refreshed and looking forward to our next trip. Planning a big one in July!

Walk over Kildwick Moor

Kildwick to Riddlesden

Moorings at Kildwick

Moored near the church again but this time the bells were less intrusive – I guess you can get used to anything! We woke to a lovely day and decided to take another walk in the nearby countryside.

Typical Yorkshire Dales stone walling

Daffodils and Gorse

Halfway round the walk

We walked from Kildwick, up over the moor and back again through the village which clings quite precariously to a steep hill as it sweeps down to the canal. There was a mill here, now converted into attractive flats, and I sure the  village grew up as residences for the workers.

Proud mum with 14 ducklings!

We had a slow cruise (reluctant to go home I think!) and moored for lunch near a swing bridge, before moving on to moor at Riddlesden for the night. Had a couple of pints at the Marquis of Granby before turning in – the satellite TV seems to be well and truly knackered!

… and Back Again

Gargrave to Kildwick

Had a lazy start to the day – taking on water, polishing and doing odd jobs. We said our goodbyes to Lawrence and Lisa who are going to stay at Gargrave for a while (we are pretty jealous; we’ve got to get back to work!) and set off with the intention of getting to Kildwick for the evening. Very windy again – several passing boats warned us about getting stuck on the far bank at the swing bridges as the wind was blowing directly across the canal. As luck would have it, all the swing bridges we encountered were being opened by boats coming the other way se we could plough on without having to moor up and open them!

Rubber gloves!

 

We stopped for a few provisions in Skipton and then pressed on to arrive at Kildwick in the late afternoon. Sue and Chris and Karen and Mark were meeting us for a meal and we had booked at the White Lion. They arrived around seven and we wandered through the church yard down to the pub. Good job we booked as the palce was packed. The food was excellent! Back for drinks on the boat.

Good food and good beer!

A Walk along the Pennine Way

Mooring 1 reverse to Mooring 2, Gargrave

Now we have to do something about fact that we are pointing the wrong way for our journey home – basically there were two alternatives: 1. Travel about 2 miles and 9 locks(!) to get to the next turning point, or; 2. Reverse about 500 yards down the canal to the winding hole near the top lock. Frankly, we didn’t fancy either – narrowboats have a reverse gear but mainly for stopping – they don’t really do reverse! We set off walking down the towpath to see if there were any points before the locks which could possible allow us to turn. There were a couple of possibilities but it’s hard to  gauge whether 58 feet will go into the space and you only have to be out by a couple of feet to be in trouble! We retraced our steps in the teeth of a biting gale – the second alternative wasn’t looking at all likely! We assessed the situation back at the mooring and decided there was enough shelter from the trees to cut down the worst of the wind – with Sally at the stern with a pole and Lawrence at the front with a pole – we reckoned we could achieve a 500 yard reverse – or suffer a public and humiliating trip bouncing off moored boats – Lisa was appointed public relations manager! As it turned out we carried it off perfectly – a brilliant team effort!

Lawrence with pole at the ready!

We were keen to do another walk – this time I left my GPS turned off – and we headed off northwards along the Pennine Way towards Malham. Still a little windy, the weather brightened and we enjoyed beatiful spring  afternoon in the Dales.

Off along the Pennine Way

Lawrence, Lisa and Sally

The River Aire

Arrived back  late afternoon and made straight for the Old Swan – a really old fashioned pub where we sat in the bar amongst a crowd of local characters who were clearly in there for the night. Lawrence prepared one of his ‘world famous’ curries and we had dinner on Wilderness and turned in quite early – tired out from our exertions.

There ……

Snaygill to Gargrave

Captain Lawrence

Headed up to Skipton where we needed to dispose of unecessaries and take on necessaries! We moored at the British Waterways services and filled the water tank – 150 gallons take along time especially when we are both taking it from the same waterpipe. A short stop for Lawrence and lisa to replenish supplies from the supermarket and then on to Gargrave.  Second time we have done this stretch this week but it is a beautifull part of the canal. The weather is dry and bright but cool with that persistent wind. 

Gargrave Top Lock - the space just after the lock is the winding hole.

We arrived in Gargrave early evening and moored up further down the visitor moorings. A slight problem is that the nearest winding hole in the direction we a travelling is a couple of miles and a flight of 5 locks away which would be a pain. Anyway, a problem for tomorrow -  for now off to the Mason’s Arms. A really friendly pub with excellent food and Copper Dragon beer which I am getting a taste for.

Meeting with Wilderness

Skipton to Snaygill

Woke up to a pleasant morning – not quite so sunny but dry. We had a good breakfast and a lazy start down towards a rendezvous with Lawrence and lisa on their boat ‘Wilderness’. They have been ot on ‘the cut’ since early April and have come up on the Trent, along the Aire and Calder, up through Leeds to meet us on the Leeds Liverpool. 

Lisa in charge of Wilderness

 The wind was quite blowy and I was making a complete hash of turning Ebony around in a winding hole – much to the amusement of Lawrence and Lisa who appeared through the bridge as I was drifting all over the place.  It was really good to see them and we cruised up to Snaygill and moored up for some lunch.

Snaygill Boats

After lunch we donned our walking gear and set off for a walk in the hills using my new gadget – a mobile phone with a gps built in. I have loaded in the map for this area and plotted our walk so no need for paper maps! The planned walk was about 5 miles but I guess we did about 8 after all the shenanigans trying to follow the  GPS route! My fellow walkers made a lot more fuss about it all than was necessary and anyway it was a beatiful sunny (although very windy) day and we had nothing better to do! We finally got back on track and had wonderful views down across the valley into Skipton.

Bradley Moor looking towards Skipton

Got back to the canal early evening and crossed a swing bridge by the Snaygill Arms – where we sampled the local ale supplied by Copper Dragon Breweries. Back to the boat after several – we had dinner on Wliderness before turning in tired but happy!

Lazy Easter Monday

Gargrave to Skipton

The British waterways police didn’t knock on our door and we turned the boat round early in the morning ready to return to Skipton to drop Dan and Becky off at the station. The weather is still sunny but the wind has got up a little and it is quite chilly – it is only April though. Wind is always a bit of a worry as it really affects the handling of the boat and it’s easy to get into trouble if you don’t watch out.

Skipton - a busy bank holiday spot!

We took a slow cruise back to Skipton arriving in time to see them off at the railway station. We decided to stay on the visitor moorings at Skipton and had a good saunter round the town – very busy with a market and lots of bank holiday visitors. We stocked up from the local supermarket and enjoyed a cosy night in with a DVD. Didn’t even try the Satllite TV.

Easter Sunday BBQ

Kildwick to Gargrave

Moored at Kildwick by the church. The church graveyard needed an 'overflow' and they created one on the other side of the canal. This bridge was built to connect the two so that the coffins could be transported over the canal.

Up early to another beautiful morning. Kildwick is a pretty location but we were moored just next to the church with a set of bells which reminded you of the time every 15 minues  (even when you would prefer not to know and get some sleep!) and then enthusiastically announced the arrival of Easter Sunday with a cacophony of melodies no doubt intended to drive the locals to church – and drove us off to pastures new! Dan and Becky managed to sleep through it all and half of the rest of the morning.

 

We moored near here for breakfast. There is a memorial on the opposite side of the bridge - on 23 September 1943 the Polish crew of Wellington bomber HZ251 took off from Skipton on Swale for a routine training mission. Their aircraft crashed on the banks of the canal. None of the crew survived.

We stopped for breakfast near Snaygill and then went on up through Skipton to find a place for a BBQ. Dan and Becky were now up and about and helping with the swing bridges – although Dan looks horrifed whenever he has to help and can’t get away from the bridge fast enough when it’s closed – he says it’s so embarrasing making the road vehicles wait while we pass through!  No such hang ups from Becky.

 

Ideal peaceful mooring for a bbq

We found a mooring on the way up to Gargave by Thorlby Swing Bridge and Sally set up an Easter Egg Hunt on the boat for Dan and Becky (yes they are both nearly 21 – but who am I to argue!). I dug out our fancy portable bbq which I managed to light after two attempts, a bagfull of charcoal and a read of the instructions (Perhaps should have started with the latter).

Becky watching over the offending BBQ

This is the life - can't think of a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

 We enjoyed this beatiful mooring spot for a while before heading off up the locks to Gargrave. The main visitor moorings were all taken when we arrived early evening and we took a chance by mooring half way across the winding hole by the lock – for which we received many frowns and terse warnings that we would be ‘moved on’ when the British Waterways staff arrived in the morning. Satellite TV system seems to be knackered and the compass used for locating the satellite is languishing at the bottom of the canal!

Bingley 3 and 5 Rise

Dowley Gap to Kildwick

Heading towards the Bingley Five Rise

Woke up to a beatiful sunny morning and made an early start to the Bingley locks. No other boats around so we went up the locks on our own – helped by the lock keepers who are generally cheerful and chatty – apart from Barry who is famous for being in charge of the Bingley 5 Rise for 30 years and is a typically taciturn “‘ear all, see all, say nowt” Yorkshireman.

Barry - wearing his ubiquitous Tartan cap.

We have climbed up the Aire valley through 17 locks but now have a respite for a while as there are no locks between here through Skipton until Gargrave. Plenty of swing bridges to make up for it, though.

Moored at Riddlesden where the 'Puffer Parts' Chandlery is - Sally can't resist having a look around but unusually leaves without spending any money!

An uneventful day, we moor for the night at the picturesque village of kildwick and walk down to the White lion for a pint. A very friendly pub and the food looks good – no doubt we will be back.

The satellite TV seems to have packed in!

The Start of the Easter Break – Charles in Stitches!

Apperley Bridge to Dowley Gap
We loaded the boat on Thursday night and walked up to the Stansfield Arms for a meal before returning and trying out the new Satelite system. takes some fiddling with but once there is a picture it is really clear and there a dozens of free channels – most of it rubbish!
Friday morning – left the marina about 9am and made a good start as we have arranged to pick up Daniel and Becky at Saltaire around 11am. There was a Lock keeper on the three rise Field Locks which was a big help and then we took it in turns to open the swing bridges. After closing the last one before Shipley I made my way back to the boat, jumped with one foot onto the boat – lost my footing and crashed with my knee onto the metal corner at the stern. It really hurt but at least I didn’t fall in. When I inspected the damage a few minutes later I wished I had – at least I would only have got wet and a change of clothes would have put that right! A quick survey showed a one inch gash – not a lot of blood but down to the bone and clear it would need a stitch or two. Sally appeared with the first aid kit and did a sterling job of patching me up. What now? It transpired the nearest A&E hospital is Bradford so we kept going until we met Dan and Becky at the Saltaire visitor moorings. I decided to walk up to the nearby station and got a train into Bradford and a taxi to the hospital where I waited 2.5 hours – finally had four stitches inserted and caught a bus back to Saltaire – what a way to spend Good Friday!

After Treatment - the Chardonnay had nothing to do with my injury!!

We then did the locks up to Dowley Gap and moored by the Fishermans Arms where we had a meal and then tried to get the Satellite TV going – to no avail so settled for a DVD before turning in.

Dowley Gap. Shipley - next to the Fishermans Arms