Wednesday 28th /Thursday 29th June 2017

On Wednesday it rained all day. We went shopping in the morning, had a pump out and then moved the boat round to the railway station to meet Chris and Tim who arrived in the afternoon. At 4 o'clock we decided to move on for a few miles. The rain just kept coming! We stopped at 6pm and festooned the boat with wet jackets and waterproofs. The wind was blowing, the rain coming down and it was time to put the central heating on in June!! Luckily it was cosy in the boat and we slept well. 

We woke to cloudy skies but no rain. Graham needed to spend time drying out the bilges.

 The sun never put in an appearance but we had a good day tackling the strange ground paddles.  

When everything about canals is so well designed these seemed very odd.

Tim's job was to hold the rope when we were in the locks.

Then he was allowed to drive the boat!

Near East Manton an interesting double arched bridge appeared and the reflections in the still canal were lovely.

We visited St Peter's church and also the 'Cross Keys' for a drink before dinner.

Tuesday 27th June 2017

We woke to rain, rain and more rain. Still it is the first we have had since leaving the Marina so in true Yorkshire style "We mustn't grumble" . Instead we went to the launderette and did the washing, followed by housework and then this afternoon when it had stopped raining we visited Skipton Castle. Half of it is a permanent residence and the other half the medieval castle which still has a roof and is in surprisingly good condition. 

One of the nicest areas is the Conduit Court. So called because it was the termination of the spring water supply piped to the castle. The Yew tree in the centre was planted as a sapling in 1659 by Lady Anne Clifford after her restoration of the castle. 

Even the drainpipes were rather ornate.

We ended the evening by having dinner with my old school friend Linda and her husband Bob. We haven't seen each other for Oh so many years.

Monday 26th June 2017

A day out visiting Haworth today. We went by bus from Skipton and changed at Keighley. All the buses were on time, very comfortable and fitted with free wifi and charging points. The steepness of the street can hopefully be seen in these photos.

We passed the church where Patrick Bronte was the perpetual curate and he took up residency at the Parsonage with his wife and six children in 1820.

A cockerel in the graveyard was a little confused about the time as he was still calling dawn at 10.30am.

The dining room where most of the sisters' writing took place has been recreated very accurately.

The girls were prolific writers from a young age and wrote in tiny script as their early stories were for the tiny soldiers which they played with so the books had to be small so that the toy soldiers could 'read' them.

Visitors are taking part in an exercise to write out Wuthering Heights line by line using special pencils. The original manuscript is missing and the aim is to create a new manuscript this year for display in 2018 - the bicentenary of the birth of Emily Bronte. Both Graham and I wrote our lines.

The moors behind the house were very close and the sisters walked there wearing wooden overshoes called 'Patterns'to protect their shoes.

A very interesting day and yet again the weather forecasters were wrong as we had no rain and a fair amount of sunshine.

Saturday 24th /Sunday 25th June 2017

Jon and Fiona arrived last night and here is the Bingley 5 rise which we started at 9.10am

Fiona is the face of concentration while later Jon is checking from above and having a lesson from the CRT staff who bring you up the flight.

At one point Graham was being asked to move backwards in the lock. Nearly impossible with the force of water coming in and the revs on the rev counter have never been recorded so high before.

Safely at the top we moored for water (some of the water points are few and far between on this canal) and then headed for Skipton. We think that this boat was originally a lifeboat as you could see the orange paintwork underneath the wood effect.

Jon and Fiona were soon put to work on rope duties and they were a great help with the 15 swing bridges which we had to operate today. 

Jon went off for a bike ride this afternoon and Fiona was more than happy to take over the boat controls.

The memorial by Low Bradley recalls the death of 7 Polish Airman whose Wellington bomber was returning to Silloth on the Solway Firth when the port engine failed and fell to earth.

We moored at Low Bradley for the night after watching, with some trepidation, the antics of Day Hire boats from Skipton who were having an evening cruise. The boats appeared to have a definite list and the inebriated state of the crew did not inspire confidence. We moored up and walked past a very English scene of a Saturday cricket match on our way to the Slaters Arms for a drink. We intended to eat on the boat but the menu looked so nice we ate there and were not disappointed.

On Sunday we reached Skipton late morning so Fiona and Jon caught the train back to pick up the car. Graham and I went for a look around this busy town and found the Skipton Brass band performing next to the Freddie Truman statue.

Very much a boating centre with holiday boats everywhere.

Friday 23rd June 2017

A day off from boating as we wait for Fiona and Jon to join us tonight. We took the train from Bingley to  Ilkley. This involved two trains and a short walk across the car park at Shipley to change train lines.

The trains were most efficient, clean and they all ran on time. Felt rather envious of the good service which is sadly lacking in the immediate Devizes area.

Ilkley is quite a large town and gave an air of prosperity. The weather did not show the town off at its best as we had rain/ heavy drizzle all morning. Not deterred we set off to walk across Ilkley moor to the Cow and Calf which is a large rock formation consisting of an outcrop and Boulder. According to local legend, the Calf was split from the cow when Rombald the Giant was fleeing an enemy, and stamped on the rocks as he leapt across the valley. Unfortunately neither Graham nor I could see a resemblance to either a cow or a calf! This photo was taken up on the moor which shows the weather conditions. As you can see, we were "baht'at".

On the way to the rocks we passed Ilkley Tarn, a very pleasant stretch of water.

Whilst shopping in Ilkley we discovered a Supermarket called Booths. To all intents and purposes it was a Waitrose in disguise - even down to the free tea and coffee! We'll be looking out for them from now on.

Planning to move the boat to the foot of the Bingley 5 locks later this evening so that we are ready for the ascent in the morning.

Thursday 22nd June 2017

Yesterday evening the boat in front of us (where we had never seen anyone about) suddenly came alive and a group of young people gathered on the tow path playing Crossby, Stills , Nash and Young and having a drink and snacks. Graham and I went out to a well known Saltaire pub called Fanny's which looked like it was lit by gas lighting. When we returned to the boat the young people were packing up and asked if we wanted to join them at a Summer Solstice party along the cut at a boat with no engine which is pulling a piano round the system. We politely declined but were wished 'Happy Solstice'.

Today we left at 9.15 and passed the Salts Mill by water this time.

After the first lock we also passed the piano raft and it had very few sides and you could see people still asleep on the floor.

The next challenge was a 2 lock staircase. It was very hard work as nearly all the ground and gate paddles were broken. This photo shows a ground paddle with its strange turning mechanism.

This is the view which Graham has of me when I am on the bridge between the two locks.

These gates also had horizontal gate paddles which swing the paddles sideways to let water through rather than lifting up.

The paddles on this gate seemed to be new but the mechanism didn't work!

We reached Bingley at lunch time and moored in a very windy spot below the first 3 lock staircase. We walked to the cafe at the very top for lunch and realised that there was much nicer mooring between the two staircases. We had a chat with a lock keeper on our way down and decided to wait to see if another boat wanted to go up the first flight so that we could join them and moor between the sets. Luckily as we got to the bottom a boat was just entering so we were able to dash back to our boat, cast off and join them. It saves water and it is much easier in a double lock with 2 boats.

This is the view of the famous 5 staircase lock which we will do on Saturday with Fiona and Jon. 

Tomorrow we are off to Ilkley by train to explore there.

 

Wednesday 21st June

5.30pm and it has just started to rain! However, this is probably due to the high temperatures today and some rain will hopefully cool things down with the sun still shining.

We went to have a look around Saltaire which is a model township built by Titus Salt to house the workers when he relocated his woollen mill from Bradford. The mill is so impressive.

He wanted to move workers from the terrible conditions being experienced in Bradford in 1850's. Houses, a school, church, park, infirmary all followed as did improvements to the health of the workers and their families. It is an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The workers houses opened straight onto the street.

Their back lane is now full of rubbish bins!

Higher in the pecking order at the Mill were the overseers whose houses had a small front garden. While single workers were housed in the 3 storey houses which you can see in the photo.

The classic style was inspired by the Italian Renaissance and their finest work was the Saltaire United Reformed Church which is a Grade 1 listed building.

The Mill eventually closed when cheaper overseas fabric made it unprofitable. Following closure in 1986, an entrepreneur called Jonathan Silver decided to save it and purchased it in 1987 and within months had opened a gallery to display the works of Bradford-born artist David Hockney. It now houses various businesses and a superb bookshop as well as the David Hockney exhibition.

Also in the mill was an antique shop and we have realised that we are now antique as one item for sale was a G plan coffee table which we were given as a wedding present. It is on sale for over £100. We cannot remember what we eventually did with ours although we certainly still had it until a house move in 2007.

Moving on tomorrow and ..... It has stopped raining.

Tuesday 20th June 2017

Thought that I would start with a couple of photos taken quite late last night as we were sitting 'on deck'. The weather was beautiful and so warm.

The swing bridge in front of us was the first of 11 today. We woke to much cooler weather which was great for doing locks but such a shock after the boiling temperatures of the last few days.

We passed an enormous water treatment ( sewage) works so were glad that the temperature had dropped!

We had two staircases today. One of 2 locks and one of 3. Luckily there was another boat going up the 2 so we could go together but then we stopped for water so we had to do the 3 on our own. The photo shows the view from the bottom looking up. 

Workmen were out in force today repairing the towpath. It looked as if they were making a wooden frame which I presume they will fill with concrete.

We were pleased to see how far we had come from Leeds.

But not impressed when we read how much further we need to go!

Now moored at Shipley / Saltaire and will spend tomorrow visiting the latter which was set up by Mill owner Titus Salt to house and educate his mill workers and their children.