M Goes Home.

 Tuesday 31st May 2022 at Bank Newton Bends.

As we woke up, there was definitely a rich agricultural scent in the air. The source turned out to be a procession of muck spreaders heading across the large field opposite. Thankfully, where they were actually spreading was on the far side of the field on the other side of the hill, so it was not that bad.

We set off early to walk the half mile to the bus stop, where M caught the bus to Colne, which was right on time. M said that the station at Colne was a single tack and tiny platform with buffers at the end. Thanks to Beeching the line, that used to continue the 11 miles to Skipton, was closed, so now to go from Colne to Skipton you have to go via Accrington and Leeds, which takes 3 hours 48 minutes, instead of 15 minutes! Progress?

R returned to MM and set off back towards the Bank Newton bends. As he rounded the corner of the field opposite, he saw where the tractors had been muck spreading.

M had qustioned why they were not actually spreading when we saw the tractors drive across the field. In case M thought that they weren't doing anything, R took this photograph of them in the process!

An hour or so later, and after stopping at East Marton for water, MM was back moored up on the Bank Newton bends.

With M at home, R and MM will stay here until the weekend, when R will take MM as far as Colne to meet M off the train there on Monday, if all goes according to plan.

So, the next post should be at the weekend. Until then, keep safe.

Today: 3 miles, 0 locks and 1.1 hours.

Trip: 166 miles, 115 locks and 94.8 hours.

Malcolm and Kathleen in Barnoldswick

 Monday 30th May 2022 near Barnoldswick.

For nearly the end of May, it was very cold this morning, just 6 deg., but the views were still beautiful across the valley.

M decided to walk the first part to make the best of the views, while R, wrapped up against the cold, set off with MM.

As we approached Barnoldswick there were many huge fields on either side of the canal that had been cut for hay. No sign of cattle, so either it was a cash crop or they are zero-grazing cattle indoors.

The easiest way for M to get home tomorrow is to catch the "Wizz" bus that goes through Barnoldswick and Colne on its way to Burnley. There is a bus stop just half a mile from the canal next to the Rolls Royce works, so the idea was to moor here and check out the footpath to the bus stop. Unfortunately, the canal side here was so shallow that it was not possible to get MM anywhere near the side. There is a winding hole, so R turned MM round with some difficulty as it really was a "60ft max" turning point. MM only just made it round!

We set off back north again to try to find a place where we could moor, which we did after half a mile when a local moorer very kindly pointed out where it was just possible to get into the side. Then we walked back the half mile to the footpath stile.

The footpath takes you round behind the Rolls Royce Barnoldswick facility, made famous by the fact that the RB211 engine was developped here. The "RB" in the name stands for "Rolls Barnoldswick".

Having checked out the bus stop, we walked the mile into Barnoldswick to visit our friends Malcolm and Kathleen, who live there on the outskirts of the town.

Malcolm very kindly drove us back to where MM was moored. It was lovely to see them again. Unfortunately, we will miss them as we get going south again as they will be away when we pass.

Today: 3 miles, 0 locks and 2.2 hours.

TRip: 162 miles, 115 locks and 93.7 hours.

Stern Out of the Water!

Sunday 29th May 2022 at Bank Newton.

It was very clear when we woke up that something was not right. Poor MM was at a very strange angle.

Overnight, the water level had dropped by about 10 inches and MM's stern was well out of the water. You could even see the propellor! Without more water, we were not going anywhere.

Steve, the C&RT lock keeper, arrived at 10:00 to unlock the lock and, after seeing a pair of boats down through the lock, took his bicycle up by the next three locks and started letting some extra water down into the pound. Dave, on nb "Legend" very kindly offered to give us a tow to get us off the bottom. Dave took our bow rope and attached it to Legend's stern.

On the second attempt, MM floated free at last. Many thanks to Steve for his help and to Dave and Legend - or we would be there still.

With nine locks ahead of us, we went through them with Dave, Anne-Marie and Legend.

With two boats and four "crew", the nine locks went very quickly.

Half way up, we met nb "Carleton", that Richard and Annette had hired last week, coming down the locks from the area that we would have taken them to last week if the lock hadn't been closed. So frustrating!

Dave had what is traditionally called a "Keb", otherwise known these days as a Manure Rake, which is used to haul reeds etc out of the canal. 

Dave and Anne-Marie were delightful companions and we had a lot of laughs together. They moored up at the start of the Bank Newton bends while we went on a bit further.

After we moored up, we heard music that sounded like an accordion, but turned out to be a melodeon being played by a lady on a neighbouring boat. Beautiful!

High up here on the Yorkshire Dales, the views are spectacular and sunrises and sunsets can be seen right down to the horizon. Sadly we will only spend tonight here as M has to go home on Tuesday for a while. However, R will stay with MM as there are no suitable marinas up here where we could leave her and he plans to come back up here while M is away.

Note: R is writing this as M is now at home, so M has not been able to do her usual excellent editing (and improvement) job. As a result, all spelling and grammar errors, are down to R!

Today: 2 miles, 9 locks and 1.5 hours.

Trip: 159 miles, 115 locks and 91.5 hours.

A Sad Farewell to The Dalesman

 Saturday 28th May 2022 in Gargrave.

Early morning sunshine and the regular visitors arrive. Sadly we had no food to give them.

Pennine Cruisers had six day boats going out today, so Adam was very busy. After they had all gone on their way, Adam waved us across to the service bay so we could top up with Diesel and empty our waste tank, which was getting quite full. That is Adam on the right waiting for us as R backs MM into the service bay.

On the opposite bank is the brilliant statue to Freddie Truman, the famous son of Skipton, in a typical dynamic pose.

We set off to start on our way back west, heading for Gargrave tonight. Luck was with us as another boat going in the same direction helped us to get through the five swing bridges very quickly. At the bottom lock of the three locks into Gargrave, we teamed up with nb "Legend" with Dave and Anne-Marie and went through all three locks with them.

At the top, we stopped for water. There were a lot of boats moored up, including three trading boats. There was even one boat moored in the winding hole and another blocking the water point, so we had to moor on the lock mooring to get water.

Steve, the lock keeper, told us that there were a couple of moorings at the end of the visitor's moorings and we moored up there next to Legend. 

 

First order of the day was a final visit to The Dalesman for afternoon tea. We sat in the little side room under an old indoor washing line like the one both of our parents had. The bloomers, however, were not M's!

After tea, coffee and toasted tea cakes, we said a sad farewell to Linda and her wonderful staff. We shall miss them and The Dalesman.

Today: 5 miles, 3 locks and 4.7 hours.

Trip: 157 miles, 106 locks and 90.0 hours

We Say Goodbye to Richard and Annette.

 Friday 27th May 2022 in Skipton.

 After the rain and wind of yesterday, the morning promised a much better day, although the clouds were still dark above. Skipton has many very handsome former mill buildings, most of which have been converted mainly to residential use.

As Richard and Annette had taken "Carleton" back to the Pennine Cruiser base last night, they were very quick at transferring all their stuff off the boat and into their  car. We agreed to meet for a coffee and a snack in "The Three Sheep" café before they set off for home.

The week certainly hadn't turned out as we had hoped and it probably didn't leave them enthralled with the idea of narrowboating, but we do hope that their experience was like the "curate's egg", i.e. good in parts! We very much enjoyed spending time with them and getting to know them, and Bella and Zak, better. We certainly had a lot of laughs together! We shall miss them and hope to see them again soon.

Skipton truly is a lovely town. This is "Sheep Street" and typical of the small cobbled streets and yards.

Another real find! Lunch was at a small café called "The Flip Side" that made excellent crêpes. Delicious! What a pity we are leaving tomorrow!

In the early afternoon we watched as the new hirers for "Carleton" were briefed and then set off for their week's hire. It is always strange to see the same boat with different people on it!

Being steam train "nuts", we have always wanted to see the renowned Ribblehead Viaduct. It is not that far from Skipton, so later in the afternoon, we took the train to Ribblehead station. It was worth the effort even for the journey itself, which was through spectacular Dales scenery, with both Pen-y-Ghent and Whernside in view.

The viaduct really is impressive close up. The red arrow is pointing to R standing underneath it to give an idea of scale!  It's HUGE!!! Construction started in 1869 with a workforce of 2,300 men and it opened to rail traffic on 1st May 1876. How on earth did they get those massive stone blocks up there?

The Pennine Way does not go under the viaduct but there are still footpaths going off in all directions. . Lots of walkers passed us, bearing huge rucksacks.

There are few facilities at Ribblehead with the exception of the "Station Inn". Feeling somewhat battered by the fierce wind, on the way back to the station we dropped in for a drink, only to be greeted by a familiar figure standing just inside the entrance. HM must have got word of our visit! (she declined to share our packet of crisps!).

Back at Skipton, after picking up a "few bits" at Morrisons next to the station, we settled down in MM for the night. The bar adjacent to the hire base was busy until after dark but never loud or noisy.

MM had another day off.

Skipton at Last!

 Thursday 26th May 2022 in Skipton.

The weather did not look promising (one could even say a trifle threatening!), so we treated ourselves to a leisurely breakfast in the Dalesman Café. As it looked like the rain and wind was set in for the day, we thought we might as well get going. To get to Skipton involves three locks, five swing bridges and about five miles, but we need to be there tonight as Richard and Annette have to return their hire boat "Carleton" early tomorrow morning.

Luckily, there were still C&RT volunteers on the first two locks, which made life much easier. Finally, after six days, both boats side by side in the locks!

The three locks were soon dealt with and we set off towards the first of the five swing bridges. The rain was a drizzle on and off but the real problem became the wind, which made manoeuvring the boats extremely difficult. M got off to do each swing bridge (no photographs on account of the rain). A couple of times, Richard got pinned to the offside and on one occasion it was all that R could do to get MM back to the towpath side against the wind. M, while on the far bank operating one of the swing bridges, saw to her horror, that the wind had taken Robin's favourite boating hat and blown it into the canal! With her on the far side, and Richard being on a different boat, there wasn't a lot either one of them could do to help. Fortunately, Robin managed to retrieve the hat with the long handled boat hook!

On thing M did photograph was a line of traditional horse drawn Gypsy Caravans going slowly down the main road, followed by a very long line of crawling traffic!

After being battered by the wind, we finally arrived in Skipton to find that almost all the moorings (which had been empty yesterday) were now taken. Richard moored up Carleton on the last available space and R moored MM alongside him.

Later, Pennine Cruisers told Richard that he could bring Carleton in tonight, which he did, so MM moored up in Carleton's space.

After Richard had moored Carleton in the Pennine Cruiser moorings, Richard and Annette invited us for a drink in the pub next to their mooring. On the way there, we passed two of Pennine Cruiser's day boats with famous names.

We spent a very pleasant evening with Richard and Annette before returning to MM.

Today:5 miles, 3 locks (plus 5 swing bridges) and 14.0 hours, which includes 7 days power only.

Trip: 152 miles, 103 locks and 85.3 hours.

The Broken Lock re-opens and the Two Boats get together at Last.

 Wednesday 25th May 2022 in Gargrave.

The Big Day!!  It was raining heavily. We sat and waited to see which boat would jostle for first place at the lock. Just after eight in the morning, the wide beam working boat "Kennet" came past and approached the lock, which was manned by a number of waiting C&RT personnel. One of the chaps crewing "Kennet" waved a piece of paper cheerily at M as they went past; we assumed it was a permit of some kind. It turned out that it was a publicity event for the re-opening.

The boat went down through our lock and on to the broken lock, where officials, reporters and photographers were all gathered to record the re-opening of the rebuilt lock after eight months.Unfortunately, the rain rather deterred M from going down to watch - and the fact that she was still in her nightie!!

The three locks had re-opened to normal traffic by 9:30. We decided that we wouldn't move before the afternoon as we anticipated a rush of boats trying to get through at last - and by now the rain was very heavy.

R did walk down to the broken lock to photograph the first two normal narrowboats to go through in the rain.

The new wall looks nice but it was already leaking at the end, as were the top gates! R joked with the C&RT people that there are lots of notices on the canals encouraging boaters to report leaking gates and asked if they would like him to report this one? They took it very well, much to their credit. One thing we have learned is that both the salaried staff and the volunteers don't always approve of the C&RT's approach or the use of funds.

After lunch, when the rain had stopped, we walked down to Richard and Annette, who were moored below the three locks and helped them up through the locks, with M, Annette and the dogs walking alongside. Richard then turned Carleton expertly and moored up behind us.

Our reward was a trip to The Dalesman for tea and cakes, although M ended up having her favourite - egg and chips!

Back at MM it was lovely to see Carleton moored behind us.

Finaly, after five days of travelling by bus to spend the day with Richard and Annette, we had the two boats together at last. Hooray!!

Tomorrow, we will go back down the three locks, five swing bridges and four miles to get back to Skipton in preparation for Richard and Annette to return their boat on Friday morning.

A Gathering in Gargrave.

 Tuesday 24th May 2022 in Gargrave.

We were a tad late arriving at the"Dalesman" this morning so our planned breakfast ended up being a "take away" on the bus! We called in at M&S in Skipton for the usual "few bits" then joined Richard and Annette on their boat moored next to the bus station.

The sky looked ominous as we set off but the forecast was only for an occasional shower, so fingers crossed...

These old mills in Skipton have been converted into very attractive aparments overlooking the canal. There was also plenty of available mooring alongside on rings for when we come back into Skipton on Thursday.

Richard was in his element at the helm and the sky was brightening up. Will the rain hold off???

R opened and closed the interminable swing bridges; five in just four miles!

But it seems that we spoke too soon; the heavens opened and it started to pour with rain. The really heavy rain arrived just as R was on the other side of the canal opening a swing bridge, so he couldn't get back to the shelter of the boat until Richard had gone through and R had closed the bridge. He got very wet indeed!  R had lent Richard his waterproof and so had don M's "girlie" waterproof! M was a bit miffed as, based on the weather forecast, she had pegged out the washing on MM before we left. Two rather drenched figures still managed a wave to M on the front of the boat...You can see the next band of rain sweeping in from behind.

As we approached the first of the three closed locks, the sun finally came out and we moored up just behind  this boat. The plan was to walk into Gargrave from here, a distance of about a mile. It was a lovely walk and we saw curlews in the fields beside us.

As we started to walk into Gargrave, we passed this notice, presumably from the "Anal & River Trust"? Says it all!!!!

The two dogs, Bella and Zak led the way as we walked down the towpath towards the broken lock. Zak was particularly enthusiastic!

At the broken lock, the workmen were laying turf along the lockside. This is now just the cosmetic finishing touches, which bodes well for tomorrow morning and they assured us that it will indeed open tomorrow..

In Gargrave, the four of us went into the Dalesman for some lunch - and to warm up and dry out! Later, we were joined there by Jenni, Ed and Jenni's friend Liz who had all driven up from Huddersfield to see us. It was really lovely to see Jenni and Ed after so very long and to meet Liz for the first time.

Jenni very kindly drove Richard, Annette and the dogs back to their boat then returned to MM to collect Ed and Liz for the drive back home.

Tomorrow, we anticipate quite a traffc jam as the locks finally re-open after eight months and everyone tries to get through in each directon. We shall sit, watch with interest and wait. It may turn out to be quite a pantomime!!