Skipton
Posted: June 20, 2014 Filed under: Bobbing about, Dry land, Geeky facts | Tags: Leeds and Liverpool canal, narrowboat blog, Skipton, Skipton Castle, Skipton Castle Woods, Springs Branch Leeds and Liverpool canal Leave a comment
Standard narrowboat hire is one thing but wide beams churned out after ten 
minutes training create heavy weight fear. The beastly mass of burgundy smacked us once, then again and again before careering off into every other moored boat, eventually disappearing out of sight. We have plan. Next one that crunches it’s way along us gets the knock out blow of a toilet flush…no inline carbon filters fitted here. This boat bites back.
The 
wharf is a continual stream of activity from morning until dusk, there’s always something going on.
Marke
t day in Skipton, so we stocked up on a few essentials working from stall to stall until arriving at the top of the town where Nick found himself in pork pie heaven.
Murk raced his way round Skipton Castle Woods, sending Chihuahuas 
flying, skittling oldies and crashing through buggies he was in his element. Skipton Castle – one of the finest examples of a Medieval castle (y
aaaaaawn Sar), is partly surrounded by the Springs Branch of The Leeds and Liverpool canal. Built in 1797 for Lord Thanet who lived
in Skipton Castle, owned potentially lucrative limestone quarries but who needed to create a link to the main network in order to transport stone to Leeds.The branch is open to boats up to 35ft.
Moorings are chock, Skiptonites are making the most of Friday night.
Jaune
Posted: June 19, 2014 Filed under: Dry land, Geeky facts, Moving on | Tags: Leeds and Liverpool canal, narrowboat blog, Skipton, swingbridges, Tour de France, water Leave a comment
Only four swing bridges stood between us and Skipton but with the first hung beyond unbalanced and needing
boat power to budge it, Skipton seemed to be getting further away. The next three were easier and we had the hose on the 
first of the waterpoints by midday.
Originating from the Anglo Saxon words ‘sceap’ (sheep) and ‘tun’ (town) there is an 
underlying touristy sheep theme going on in Skipton, but for now it’s been blown in oblivion by yellow. ‘Le Tour’ is coming and the town has gone all out to prepare: window boxes are all plants yellow; bakery windows crammed with lemon cupcakes; bikes are knitted, carved, sculpted, painted; charity shoppers face a wall of yellow; antique centres have dug out 
worn wheels – it’s never e
nding and if you somehow manage to miss the Tour de France angle, it would feel a curiously cultish yellow obsessed market town.
The town is a great combination of traditional and quirky with a reassuring dose of Poundland. Everything is done nicely – Bodycare is tucked inside a pretty arcade and other than the logo looked more like an olde worlde apothecary than a shampoo/wax strip bargain bucket.
Bridges slice the moorings into three sections, all w
ith their own character and different appeal. This seems to be the jewel in the crown of The Leeds and Liverpool canal and having never been before, it’s hard to imagine Skipton without miles and miles of yellow bunting.
A Ramble
Posted: June 18, 2014 Filed under: Bobbing about, Dry land, Moving on | Tags: Flasby Fell, Gargrave, Leeds and Liverpool canal, Yorkshire Dales Leave a comment
With bedroom temperatures topping 30c, today was a hot one. Walked into Gargrave thinking we might find some foody shops, finding none we ventured into the Co-op.
I looked down at my worn out Converse and then up at Nick: trainers, rucksack,
litre of water, sandwiches, milk for Murk, iPad (maps saved to photos), iPhone and BULLET proof sun glasses… set for a serious ramble. To be fair we needed all that technology and could have done with a 
good old-fashioned Ordnance Survey too. Thinking we were
headed up onto Flasby Fell we followed the route, around three miles in we agreed the walk was misleadingly named and a few miles after that, figured the route planner had lost the will to live midway through – throwing in vague instructions like zig zig, turn back on yourself, cross a ‘few’ fields….we were lost.
Four hours later, having enjoyed feeling quite lost we finished the walk wi
th a homemade ending and were back at the boat. Far lusher than moorland, The Dales are precision
farmed, every stone wall still does a job, the farms are immaculately kept and the hay meadows are beautiful.
We moved one lock on for a view upgrade, a less wonky boat and better barbecue position. The barbecue was a bit of a non starter, keeping the charcoal in the gas hatch isn’t such a good idea over the Leeds and Liverpool where water frequently cascades over the front of a 60ft boat.
Marble Run
Posted: June 17, 2014 Filed under: Moving on | Tags: Bank Newton locks, Flasby Fell, Gargrave, Leeds and Liverpool canal, narrowboat blog 2 Comments
Farmy smells hung heavy in the air, wafting under the mushrooms it was the first thing that registered this morning. The scenery was breath-taking at times today and would have been even more spectacular if the su
n had put in an appearance a bit earlier. Stone walls and countless hairpin bends give the feeling of shuttling along a marble run.
Since everything prettied up, the hire boats have reappeared. It’s definitely beautiful but the locks are no walk in the park and we met a few holidayers just starting out who were in a state of shock, shaking their heads disbelieving how heavy the gates are – realising the Leeds and Liverpool narrowboat dream isn’t for feeble weebles.
Leeds and Liverpool ground paddles
Bank Newton locks lead down into Gargrave, we passed on by the visitor moorings as they were fairly pac
ked out and shady which does the solar panel no favours. A couple of locks on, the trees have disappeared and Flasby Fell rises high above the water. Moored on the edge of The Yorkshire Dales National Park, Murk has some heavy weight walking heading his way.
Off The Top
Posted: June 16, 2014 Filed under: Dry land, Geeky facts, Moving on | Tags: Barnoldswick, Foulridge Tunnel, Greenberfield Locks, Leeds and Liverpool canal, Lower Park Marina, summit Leeds and Liverpool canal, water 2 Comments
The traffic lig
hts on Foulridge Tunnel are only green for ten minutes every hour, we waited a while then headed
into the mass of stalactites. In 19
12 a cow called Buttercup fell in at the tunnel entrance, rather than clambering out she decided to swim the entire 1640 yards before being hauled out the other end and revived with a drink at the local pub. Nothing so dramatic kicking off today.
A water stop before
continuing on thr
ough the green hills of Salterforth. A diesel top up at Lower Park Marina where we pulled over for lunch and walked up into Barnoldswick. The town is set up on the hill, nobody seems to be in that much of a rush and there are plenty of traditional shops.
Arriving at Greenberfield Lock we be
gan to drop from the summit. It feels high and there are mountains in the distance but reality is that the summit of The Leeds and Liverpool is only 34ft higher than Gas St Basin, Birmingham. The rolling hills, winding roads, humpback bridges and twisty water all looks lifted from Postman Pat. Unbelievably quiet with hardly any boats on the move, just a dry stone wall for a neighbour tonight.
Weaver’s Triangle
Posted: June 15, 2014 Filed under: Geeky facts, Moving on, Waterway wonders! | Tags: Barrowford Locks, Burnley, Burnley straight mile, Leeds and Liverpool canal, Nelson, Weaver's Tiangle Leave a comment
Perhaps it was recovering from Saturday night but Burnley was a ghost town. Weaver’s Triangle boasts mill upon mill, mainly derelict, encased by razor wire and spiked fencing but beneath the tangle of security the buildings
are magnificent. Eerie stillness aside, it’s not so hard to believe that Burnley’s 99,000 power looms made the to
wn one of the world’s largest producers of cotton cloth at the beginning of the 20th century.
Leaving Weaver’s Triangle the straight mile stretches out ahead, regarded as o
ne of the original seven wonders of the British waterways, it was built between 1796 and 1801 – the embankment provided boats with a 60ft high route overlooking Burnley, avoiding the need for locks. Good good. A combination of neat terraced roof tops, grand town halls and the odd TK Maxx here and there make up the view.
On through more old mills, Nelson showed little sign of life. It’s probably fair to say that some of the last few towns don’t embrace the 
canal in the way other places do.
We found some lock budd
ies for Barrowford Locks, happy to have shared them as the paddles seemed quite sharp and probably had great arm yanking potential for the roper. Canal and River Trust were around
about, trying to sort the shallow pounds towards the top of the flight.
Top of the locks is a whole new world compared to what lies below. Open fields, sheep, boats (!) and gongoozlers. We’re on a hay chaser, all moorings come with a tractor cutting or turning at the moment, evenings smell lovely.
Round The Corner
Posted: June 14, 2014 Filed under: Bobbing about, Dry land, Moving on | Tags: Altham, Leeds and Liverpool canal, narrowboat blog, Shuttleworth farm shop, Shuttleworth Hall Leave a comment
Just a mile of travelling this morning before pitching up. Pendle Hill is still
out the window just from a slightly different angle now. The geohound had his legs walked off, a loop ending at Shuttleworth Hall and farmshop.
Some boat washing, general tidying this afternoon when no more than three or four boats chugged by.
T
he water pump keeps firing up, a wretched 
battery draining gurgle at the best of times and even more so when the shower tray is slowly, needlessly filling. Time to sort the bathroom taps…
Blackburn And On
Posted: June 13, 2014 Filed under: Geeky facts, Moving on | Tags: Blackburn, Leeds and Liverpool canal, narrowobat blog, Pendle Hills Leave a comment
Clusters of boats moored either side of Blackburn over night made early starts resulting in a wave of activity passing through the flight around mid morning, and judging by the fact we didn’t see another boat heading into Blackburn all day the locks were probably quiet from lunchtime onwards. Everyone knows the score.
It’s not the prettiest of flights, there’s a load of rubbish clogging the water plus a mountain of 
weed but even the bench drinkers helpfully directed us round the shopping trolley islands. In fact there was some decent looking junk submerged which got us thinking of a canal dipped Christmas this year – SFR?! Even a shiny Micro Sprite Scooter poked from the water but sadly the mountain of bikes, trolleys, fridges blocked our path to it.
A one crew dash to the canal side Asda at top lock seems a Blackburn boater ritual – 
one holding the boat while the other struggles wit
h as many bags as they can handle. The old Granada Studios and Imperial Cotton Mill (1901-1980) mark the end of the town. A brief glimpse of hilly greenness lasts next to no time: Norden
, Church, Clayton-Le-Moors arrive back to back, almost overlapping one another.
The day lasted a bit longer than we’d planned but we finally tied up with far-reaching views over Pendle Hill.
Daylight
Posted: June 12, 2014 Filed under: Geeky facts, Moving on | Tags: Leeds and Liverpool canal, narrowboat blog, sunshine, Withnell Fold, Withnell Fold paper mill Leave a comment
old paper mill at Withnell Fold
It’s pretty up North. The Leeds and Liverpool winds round long forgotten chimneys and worn out mills, skimming fields of cows and rows of cut hay.
Withnell Fold paper mill workers 1875
Withnell Fold’s paper mill opened in 1843, expanding quickly it soon had three machines producing various widths of tissue, writing and cartridge paper. Worker’s cottages were built and the area prospered thanks to a reputation for producing the finest writing paper and supplying newsprint for Preston, Bolto
n and Liverpool newspapers. Things eventually took a dip when the old machines struggled to 
keep up with the speed of modern day production. The last sheet settled at 1pm on 23rd Dec 1967.
Aside from the beautiful scenery, everyone talks… they’re not shy in telling you they ‘Don’t like Brighton’ or that you’re a ‘Soft Southerner’, they mean it too bu
t in a nice enough way. The roses are still warring, one a guy reluctantly agreed that ‘Skipton should be a good stop off…just shame it’s in Yorkshire but there’s nowt much we can do about that.’
A flight of seven today, following a widebeam we took our time and met a lovely couple from The Lakes, they chipped in with a bit of windlass work before climbing on for a ride up through a lock.
One thing that everyone seems to agree on is that we don’t want to stop in Blackburn…in fact it’s the first thing most people say. Can’t be that bad surely? Moored two miles out we’ll find out soon enough.
Daylight lasts longer up North…it really does.
Botany Bay
Posted: June 11, 2014 Filed under: Dry land, Geeky facts, Moving on | Tags: Botany Bay, Chorley, Frederick's ice cream, Leeds and Liverpool canal, narrowboat blog Leave a comment
A beautiful morning and barely a boat on the move we wound round to Chorley. In new waters we’re back to pulling over and doing whatever there is to do or see. A brown sign
with ice cream parlour was the first hit of the day – Frederick’s has been making ice cream for 120 years and was pretty packed out with people.
On through leafy stretches, passing only the odd boat here and there we got our first glimpse of the Pennines in the distance.
Botany Bay was next
up. An enormous mill converted into a shopping centre come play park. Happily posing for photos under the entrance sign Nick wandered in. Boasting shopping on five levels, the first floor started in the usual much much more than a garden centre kind of a way, second morphed into fashion, the third eerily quiet and packed with furniture, forth an eclectic mix of disturbing Victorian penny slot machines, spookily real looking do
lls and other ran
domness and the fifth had Nick running for the lift reminding himself to breathe whilst praying for daylight. An interesting experience, there’s probably something for everyon
e, somewhere. Opened in 1856 and eventually closed in the 1950’s due to decline in the cotton industry it’s fascinating to see inside and great that it found another life.
Perhaps it’s the warm still evening but there’s a bit of a seaside feel going outside.
Marpessa2 