Leeds to Selby

Leeds city centre was a short walk from our moorings; a long tunnel known locally as the 'Dark Arches' took me under the railway station.  Once inside the tunnel I could see it was more than just an underpass; running at right angles to it were another series of arches which gave me a view of the channels taking the River Aire under the road.  

The Dark Arches are now illuminated.

I walked up to the art gallery and library which are housed in an elaborate building built in 1884.  I walked through the Tiled Hall, complete with a tiled ceiling, and saw the interesting staircases with their pillars, arches and heraldic beasts.

Heraldic beasts guard the staircase

The top floor was originally the reference library with alcoves for the books and an oak ceiling.  The librarian seemed pleased when I asked if I could take a photo and brought me a leaflet about the building.

The top floor which makes rather a grand reference library

The art gallery was closed for roof maintenance but the display of 'Leeds Tapestries' created for the Millenium was well worth seeing.  The 16 panels are nearly 8 feet tall and depict various aspects of life in Leeds using a wide variety of needlecraft techniques.

The Art for All panel, it represents a pinboard on which a variety of art related pieces have been pinned

Back outside I had a wander around the various shopping centres and the Kirkgate market which is the largest indoor market in Europe.

Leeds Kirkgate market in another impressive building

 On Saturday we decided to move on and sailed through the last lock on the Leeds Liverpool Canal onto the River Aire.  Flood defence works will now be underway at Knostrop and as we came through we could see some work was already underway.  It was a bit disconcerting to see Knostrop Flood Lock had been removed and as we approached Knostrop Fall Lock the traffic lights were off.  Thankfully the electric controls responded when Chris turned her key and we continued on to Woodlesford. We were now through all winter maintenance works affecting our journey so we were happy to take a day off when we saw the heavy rain on Sunday.

On Monday we sailed through to Castleford, always a good place to stop.  We'd been looking forward to a Chinese take-away from the excellent Oriental Delight and it didn't disappoint.  Bess and Brinny enjoyed the walks and it was nice to see the Lock Lane gardens are still well tended by volunteers.

The Lock Lane gardens look well kept even at this time of year

We continued our journey on Friday and sailed through to Knottingley where we stopped for a large shop at the nearby Morrisons before continuing to Bank Dole Lock and onto the River Aire.  It was then a short run to Beal where we stopped for the weekend.  On Sunday Nic, Gaz & Bett-Lou came over to see us and we went for an excellent lunch in the Kings Arms.

The Kings Arms at Beal where we had an excellent lunch

We left Beal on Monday and took the short Selby Canal into, you've guessed, Selby. The Monday market had a vacuum spares stall which was lucky because the hose had just split on our Dyson.  Having repaired the vacuum we set about investigating the damp patches which had appeared in the bathroom cupboard and the bedroom.  We had thought this was condensation but it wasn't drying with extra ventilation.  Kev resealed all the vents and the fittings attached to the outside and then we checked the bathroom.  Some of the seal around the sink and shower had deteriorated so all that was removed and Geoff came on board to give us a professional finish with silicon sealant.  So hopefully we're now ship-shape.


Our journey from Leeds to Selby

Skipton to Leeds

We sailed out of Skipton on Friday, a bright sunny day.  On the outskirts of the town we passed Snaygill Boats in their tranquil setting.

Snaygill Boats on the way out of  Skipton

From Snaygill we had a view across the Aire Valley as the canal now follows the river all the way to Leeds.  There aren't any locks in this section but there are numerous swing bridges with a variety of controls; some are all manual, some have electric road barriers but are swung manually and some are the opposite.  Unfortunately not many are all electric.  Chris and I were kept busy taking it in turns to jump off and open up the bridges.  

During the winter months passage down the Bingley 5 Rise Locks has to be pre-booked and as we arrived a day early, on Sunday, we had a day off.  

Bingley 5 Rise in the sun on Sunday.  Each lock empties into the lock below forming a staircase.

Monday morning was bitterly cold with freezing fog hanging in the air.  The lock-keeper had to thaw out the padlocks before we could begin our descent but he prepared the locks and it only took 50 minutes from top to bottom.  We sailed the short distance round to the Bingley 3 Rise where the lock-keeper again assisted our passage down.  All was well until the last lock which was almost empty when Kev noticed something was holding one side of Brent III up and she was starting to list in the lock.  We immediately shut down the sluices and the lock-keeper steadily reflooded the lock until Brent III floated off the obstruction.  Kev was able to push her away from the lock wall and the hidden obstruction so we could then empty the lock.  There was no harm done but it was a reminder to be alert in the locks. 

We descended another staircase lock at Dowley Gap before sailing into Shipley, a useful town for shops and a haircut.  The next morning Kev noticed a mink looking out from a gap in the opposite bank.  It obviously wasn't concerned by the people and cars in the car park above its lair.  

The mink looking out from its lair at Shipley

After taking the photo we set off, more swing bridges and another 2 staircase locks. We pulled up for the day after the Dobson Locks at Apperley Bridge. 

Moored up at the bottom of Dobson Locks

From our moorings we could see the next swing bridge, it was electrically operated but had manual barriers and the road was very busy.  We waited until after 9 before Chris and I walked down to open the bridge.  I turned the key in the control panel, we closed the road barriers and I pressed the 'open bridge' button.  The motor started and then stopped.  Traffic was building up but the control panel was dead.  We rang CRT and were surprised when a chap appeared almost immediately.  He hadn't received the call out that quickly; he just happened to be walking down the road to the workshops.  He quickly reset the bridge controls and opened it up.  Apparently the cold weather affects the hydraulic fluid and it's a common problem.  

At the next swing bridge a rubber sheet wrapped itself around our prop and it took a while for Kev and Geoff to cut it free.  We were glad to moor up at Rodley and all went for a meal at the Rodley Barge.  Rodley is the recommended last place to moor before Leeds.  We'd had to book our passage through the next notorious section because the locks are padlocked to prevent the canal being drained by vandals.  

The next day a lock-keeper met us at Newlay Locks and we descended the staircase of 3.  As Kev pulled out of the last lock the prop made a now familiar noise and Brent III came to a halt, something else was round our prop.  When we looked in the weedhatch we were confronted with a mass of canvas and stainless steel strips, all knotted around the prop and its shaft.  Kev and Geoff spent sometime with bolt croppers and knives but they couldn't remove the tangled mass.  Aware we were in the 'no stopping at night' zone we decided to continue travelling and complete the journey into Leeds.  Brent III was tied up to Geordie Spirit and Geoff brought both boats along the 4 miles and down 9 locks into Leeds city centre.  Kev had another go at cutting the canvas and because it was tight I had a snip at it with my embroidery scissors; they were never intended for that sort of work but they did a good job.  Eventually Kev used a stanley knife to slice through the last of the canvas and the whole mass fell away, straight into the deep water of Granary Wharf where it had to stay because we couldn't reach it to pull it out.  

After the problems of the last few days it was a relief to reach Leeds and although we were near the railway station and not far from the city centre, the moorings were very quiet.  It was an ideal place to stop.

Old and new buildings in this view across the canal at Leeds.  Brent III is near the bottom right hand corner

Our journey from Skipton to Leeds

Foulridge to Skipton

On Thursday morning we awoke to frozen ropes and a bitterly cold wind.  The canal took us north passed Barnoldswick before turning north-east to Greenberfield where we descended 3 locks which took us off the summit level.  We stopped at the bottom of the locks with a good view across the moors over the county boundary into North Yorkshire. 

Our view into Yorkshire from the moorings at Greenberfield.  The next bridge over the canal is also visible as the canal turns sharply to the left.

The next day was also very cold and we hadn't been travelling long when Kev spotted a sheep stranded in the canal.  It only needed to walk 50 yards to a lower section of the bank where it could climb out but it couldn't be encourage to move.  Kev steered Brent III's bow into the bank and jumped off to noose the sheep with a rope; he was then able to walk it to the lower section of the bank and out of the canal.   

Kev walking the sheep out of the canal.  The photo also shows Geoff's bow and the dog he carved from a log.  

The canal continued to twist and turn as it followed the contours and we sailed under an unusual bridge at East Marton.

The unusual double arched bridge at East Marton

The 6 Bank Newton Locks took us down 56 feet after which we decided to continue on to Gargrave.  There we discovered the Anchor Lock is next to the Anchor Pub and it didn't take long to find a mooring so we could call in for lunch. 

On Saturday we waited until the heavy rain had stopped before setting off.  After the second lock we pulled over at a coal merchant's yard and stocked up at a good price.  Loading the coal was easy, a forklift brought it down to the canalside.   After descending the last Gargrave Lock the rain set in again so we called it a day and our ritual post-cruise cup of tea was drunk on board Geordie Spirit.

Sunday was a bright clear day and we had just 4 miles sailing into Skipton with no locks. There were however 4 swing bridges which will now be a feature of the canal all the way into Leeds.   In Skipton we moored up outside 2 grand old mill buildings with a Morrisons conveniently close by. 

The renovated old mill buildings towered over our mooring.

Skipton is a small market town and one of our favourite places to return to.  The interesting old mills in their mellow stone are in good condition; there is a good variety of shops with a street market on most days and plenty of places to eat and drink including the excellent Bizzie Lizzies fish and chips.   

The sunshine shows the old mill buildings at their best

During our stay at Skipton my friend Kris came over to see us, we used to work together many years ago but haven't seen each other since we started cruising.  It was good to see each other again and as you can imagine we had plenty to talk about. 


Our journey from Foulridge to Skipton