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