Catching Up - Part 3

Our original plan had been go up the Rochdale 9, then up the Ashton flight, and then go onto the Macclesfield Canal - but the weather forecast put us off.  So instead we headed back along the Bridgewater Canal, through the outskirts of Manchester and the suburbs of Sale and Altrincham.  The advice has always been to cruise through Sale and Altricham, don't stop.  Some people do choose to moor along this stretch . . . some I think forget they have left their boats here.

But after a few miles, the Bridgewater leaves the industrial past behind and into the countryside.

In the distance is Dunham Massey Hall, now owned by the National Trust, which dates back to 1616.

Before we reached Lymn, then Stockton Heath and the end of the Bridgewater Canal and the start of the Trent & Mersey Canal, and went through to Anderton (Northwich) where we took a few days off.

Catching up - Part 2 - Manchester

Leaving the Leeds & Liverpool Canal behind us, we cruised along the Bridgewater Canal.  The canal has no locks or lift or swing bridges, and goes through some of the more industrial areas around Manchester.

For a fair stretch of the way, The Bridgewater Canal runs parallel to the Manchester Ship Canal.  The Manchester Ship Canal is still an important waterway for commercial traffic.  Unlike the majority of British canals, the Manchester Ship Canal was never nationalised, and since 1993 the Ship Canal has been owned by Peel Holdings, who also own the Port of Liverpool.  The Ship canal is used to bring freight through to the distribution centre at the Port of Salford (on the out skirts of Manchester).

Just some of the freight containers seen from the Bridgewater Canal

 Whilst it is possible for a narrowboat to cruise the Manchester Ship Canal, it is not a waterway we have any desire to cruise due to the ships that cruise it and the inevitable wash that could drown us.  But for those daring enough to go onto the Manchester Ship Canal, access from the Bridgewater Canal to the Ship canal via Pomona Lock (below).

Also running along side the Manchester Ship Canal and the Bridgewater Canal is the Manchester Metro.

On the other side of the Bridgewater Canal the landscape is dominated by Trafford Park - Manchester United's football stadium.

Before long we were approaching the Castlefield Basin, passing the old warehouses now converted to offices and appartments.

As we reached Castlefield Basin (one of the best mooring places in Manchester), the Bridgewater Canal comes to an end, marked by the start of a flight of 9 locks - "The Rochdale Nine".

Rather than start up the Rochdale 9, we went round to the right and into Castlefield Basin, for a few days in Manchester.

Whilst in Manchester we visited the Museum of Science and Industry - which was very interesting.  We also found a superb patisserie,

And Tonni liked their bag . . .

Catching Up - Part One

Well my last entry was on 1st July, and left you in Burnley and Blackburn on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal.  Yes we have travelled quite a bit since then, but rather than write one very long entry, I'll try to catch up in more manageable chunks.

Blackburn
The canal through Blackburn, like many cities, is not very attractive.  The remains of an industrial past still border the canal.

However, Blackburn also hosts a flight of 6 broad locks which we descended with another boat.  Whilst there is nothing particularly unusual about these locks per se, we have never before done locks that are in flood.

Under the bridge to the left is the previous lock, which when emptied caused this flood.

 A bit of guess work was involved as it was impossible to see the canal edge.

We found out afterwards that these locks are well known for flooding, that the side weirs that are supposed to take the excess water frequently get blocked and that in theory there should be a a BW lock keeper on duty to monitor this problem as the flooding tends to go down over a main road.  What made us laugh most was upon reading Nicholson's Waterways Guide - was the statement "the lock keeper maintains a tidy flight" - a well washed flight maybe??

After that we carried on through gradually improving scenery and weather, and had a very pleasant carvery at the Boatyard Inn at Riley Green.  After a night there we cruised through Chorley (and another 7 locks) and then spent a pleasant few days at White Bear Marina.

Wigan Flight
 The best laid plans as they say . . . we had planned for Smurf (a good friend) to join us to do the Wigan Flight on Friday 6th July.  The weather had other ideas.  24 hours of rain put an end to that plan and Smurf had to return home without doing a lock.

Saturday however brought sunshine, (the weather forecast being right for once), and an early start for us.  Left White Bear Marina at 7am, and reached the top of the Wigan Flight at 9am, and found at least 4 boats in front of us.

The Wigan Flight consists of 21 broad and heavy locks, and on a good day takes 5 hours to go down.  Ominously the paddle gear on one of the top gates for the first lock was out of action, and had been so since 1st March 2010.

 We were fortunate enough to be able to share the experience of the flight with another boat, which makes the whole trip far easier.

The entire flight lowers the canal 214' 7" and covers about 3 miles.

Like a lot of the Leeds & Liverpool canal, the Wigan flight has its share of unusual lock gear.

 The one above had a chain with a weight hanging down from the gate - it made opening the gate very easy but was a b****r to close!

And this one had its own gears to be wound to open the gate - and was in need of some lubrication!

It wasn't an unpleasant flight of locks, but it was hard work.  At the bottom of the flight, we left the  main Leeds & Liverpool for the Leigh Branch and headed towards Manchester.

After Bingley and its two staircases, the canal proceeds in a north westerly direction through 17 swing bridges (across 12 miles) to Skipton, where we decided to have a couple of days off.  Skipton is a market town (market on Mondays) and is listed in the Doomsday Book.  Skipton Castle dates back to the 1100s.  During the English Civil War it was the only Royalist stronghold in the north of England until December 1645. After a three year siege, a surrender was negotiated in 1645 between Oliver Cromwell and the Royalists.  Today it stands as a well preserved medieval castle and is a tourist attraction and private residence.

 At Skipton, a short branch of canal called Thanet Canal (or Springs Canal) leaves the Leeds Liverpool.  Lord Thanet, who was the owner of Skipton Castle in the late 18th Century, owned some limestone quarries near to the castle. When the Leeds and Liverpool Canal were building their main line, he petitioned them to alter its route to better serve his quarries. This they refused to do, and so on 10 May 1773 he obtained an act of Parliament which authorised the construction of a branch canal to serve this purpose. The Act did not authorise the raising of capital, as Lord Thanet financed the canal himself, and it was constructed mainly on his own land.

 Skipton Castle seen from the Thanet Canal.

The branch was built quickly, as it was only about one third of a mile (0.5 km) long. It left the Leeds and Liverpool canal in the centre of Skipton, and ran around the back of the castle to some loading chutes, into which limestone from the quarries was tipped. In 1785, the Leeds and Liverpool Canal Company took over the lease of the canal. In 1794, a 240 yd (220m) extension was constructed, to a new loading dock, which was linked to quarries by a tramway. Much of the limestone went to Low Moor Ironworks in Bradford, where it was used in the smelting of iron. It was also used as road stone, and some of it was burnt to produce lime, for use as a fertiliser and in the production of mortar.
As built, the tramway terminus was a lot higher than the canal, and long chutes were used to load the limestone into boats. Because this caused damage to the boats and the noise disturbed the occupants of the castle, a steeper tramway was constructed, which resulted in shorter chutes, less noise and less damage. The shorter metal shoots are still visible on the canal bank, below the castle walls.

These days the Thanet Canal is only really used by a shallow drafted trip boat, which takes passengers along the canal and back to the junction with the Leeds Liverpool.

Leaving Skipton behind we continued to Gargrave on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, and has both the canal and the River Aire running through the village.  We spent a pleasant hour or so in the lovely tea rooms/sweet shop called the Dalesman where we enjoyed  "Yorkshire Ginger Moggy" - a very naughty, but satisfying pudding.

The Dalesman

 From Gargave we started up 12 locks, reaching the summit of the canal - 487 feet above sea level - the views were lovely...

Such a pity we didn't have sunshine though....

Inevitably we reached more locks, this time going downhill.  So far the locks have been in flights - groups of locks close together, mainly 6s and 7s, but with miles between the flights.  The canal passes through Burnley and Blackburn, and we had no desires to stop at either.  Like in many cities the canal has been used as a dumping ground for all sorts of rubbish.  Yesterday we picked up a load of plastic bags and cartons which managed to get itself round our propellar shaft (thereby stopping the engine).

And whilst we didn't get anything today around the prop we did encounter numerous shopping trolleys, plastic chairs, bottles, carrier bags, umbrellas (not good news) and a TV and bed ....

But one brave morehen decided that a polastirien take-away tray might make a good nest...

Recent Weather

We have been very lucky.  We had 3 options of routes to take:-
1. The Leeds & Liverpool Canal
2. The Rochdale Canal
3. The Huddersfield Canals

We choose the L&L route - and we are very glad we did.  In the last few days we have seen on the news how the village of Hebdon Bridge on the Rochdale canal has suffered greatly from flooding.  As a rule canals don't flood, there are overflow weirs which take away excess water from the canal, depositing the water in local rivers.  However if the river is in flood and the canal is full, that is when problems occur.

Where we are cruising at present, the L&L looks down to the River Aire, and as can be seen from the  photos below, it too breached its banks.

Bingley Locks

Not far from Saltaire we came to the locks at Bingley.  The locks there are formed of a pair of staircase flights of locks, one formed on 3 locks and the other (& more famous) of 5 locks.  With staircase locks the upper gate of one lock is also the lower gate of the one above it - so in the 5 Rise there are five chambers, and six gates (the top and bottom gates and four intermediate gates).  The Photo to the left gives some idea of the scale of the locks.  From the bottom of the 3 Rise to the top of the 5 Rise the canal rises a total of 69 '11".

Both the 3 Rise and the 5 Rise are manned by BW lock keepers and the locks are closed outside their working hours  (8am to 4pm).

To the right, the photo is looking at the 3 Rise before starting up the flight.

Both the 3 and 5 Rises opened on 12 March 1774 and was a major feat of engineering at the time.

More recently in January 2012 the locks in the 5 Rise were drained for new gates to be installed.  The new gates are made of English Green Oak and with the balance bean weigh approximately 5 tons.









The view from the top of the Bingley 5 Rise (below) is quite spectacular, even though it was quite cloudy.   The dark chimney marks the Damart factory.

Now for something different

Leaving Castleford and its odd shaped flood lock behind, we proceeded along the River Aire.  The navigable rivers of England have warning boards indicating whether or not the river is in (1) normal conditions (green), (2) caution to be taken (orange) or (3) in flood, do not proceed (red).  At Castleford Lock (below) the measuring board is behind the lock gate, whilst the explanation board can be seen beside the lock.

When we did manage to see the measuring board, we were already committed to cruising the River Aire despite seeing that the water level was well within the orange sector.  We continued on the basis that it was one of British Waterways' staff that had actually opened the lock and let us proceed - still we were glad we were only on the river section for two miles before we rejoined the canal at Lemonroyd Lock.  Lemonroyd Lock is one seriously BIG lock - its 13' 6" deep, its over 200 foot in length, and 20 foot wide.  It takes a lot of water to fill this long lock - poor little Domino looks a bit lost in the lock . . .

Before long we reached Leeds, and we were fortunate enough to be able to moor in Clarence Dock, a short walk from the city centre.

To the left of the photo is the  Royal Armouries Leeds - a fascinating museum of arms and armour, which is also free to enter.  All wars are represented from pre-Roman to the present day - well worth a visit.  As part of the building, there is a four storey tower called the Hall of Steel.  Displayed on the inside walls of the tower are a wide variety of swords, armour and weapons.  The inside of the tower can be viewed from each floor, but is best viewed using the clever mirror prism at the base of the tower giving a 360 degree view.

After a couple of pleasant days exploring Leeds, we started up the Leeds & Liverpool Canal.  We were fortunate enough to be able to pair up with another boat and were able to share the locks with them.

An additional benefit of sharing the locks was that we had extra muscle when it came to opening the lock gates, which on a few occasions needed three of us to shift them open.

The lock and paddle gear on these locks was nothing liked anything we have experienced before -

 The above photo is of one of the different gate paddles.

This is one of the ground paddles - some like this one just have a spindle to put your windlass on, others like the one below have a permanent "T" bar to be turned.

The chain is locked as an anti-vandal mechanism, an attempt to stop pranksters emptying the pounds between locks.  This only works of course if firstly boaters relock the mechanism after use, and that the lock is in working order to begin with.  There are many broken chains.  The wooden box encasing the ground paddle is as rickety as it looks, they are very heavy to turn (except on locks where a lock keeper is on duty, funny that) and when winding the paddle down - they can be lethal if you let go - the paddle gear goes down fast and that "T" swings round very fast - I was lucky to get away with bruising.  I am defiantly not a fan of these ground paddles - give me the reduction gears of the Hatton Flight please!

So the locks are hard work, and so are most of the swing bridges.  The majority require unchaining with a handcuff/anti-vandal key and then just pushing open, and pulling close.  Only they don't want to open, or close.  The main problem is that the balance isn't set right and they aren't maintained.   Most of these swing bridges are to allow access for a farmer to his field or to a house, but where the swing bridge carries more traffic, they tend to be electrically operated.  However, we did encounter one rouge bridge - it required a BW key to lower each of the road barriers, and then a windless to first unlock the bridge and then on another spindle more winding to open the bridge, which started moving whilst I was on the bridge.

Whilst this was a road bridge, it didn't get much traffic - only delayed one car.

I'll leave you with a photo of the mill at Saltaire.  Saltaire was founded in 1851 by Sir Titus Salt, a leading industrialist in the Yorkshire woollen industry.  Sir Salt built neat stone houses (much better than the slums of Bradford), wash-houses with tap water, bath-houses, a hospital and an institute for recreation and education, with a library, a reading room, a concert hall, billiard room, science laboratory and a gymnasium. The village had a school for the children of the workers, almshouses, allotments, a park and a boathouse.   This combination of houses, employment and social services the original town is often seen as an important development in the history of 19th century urban planning.