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