 |
| Our new mooring for Friday night – all our mini sunflowers are out now |
On our way to visit Mum in
Airedale hospital on Friday morning we popped into Skipton for a spot of
shopping. It was raining when we left
the boat to walk to the car at Bank Newton, but we couldn’t complain as rain is
needed and it still felt warm. Although
it was only forecast to last a couple of hours it looked to be set in for the
day. To make up for getting wet we
popped into a coffee shop for a cuppa and a cream cake (for me!) treat.
The rain did stop and
everywhere looked as dry as a bone again by the time we got to the
hospital. Mum has been pronounced
medically fit, and we now have the family task of finding a care home for her
until a place becomes available at Dad’s care home in Gargrave.
We needed to top up with
water so, once we were back on the boat, we waited for another boat to come
along so we could share the locks and do our bit to help conserve water. We had lunch whilst we waited but, after an
hour or so, no boat appeared, so we set off on our own.
 |
| Leaving our mooring for the last nine days and heading for Scarland lock, our first of the day |
Whilst we took on water
another boat appeared, Amelia May, and moored up with us to take on water
too. Time was getting on and we soon
realised we weren’t going to get down the final three locks before the bottom
one was padlocked for the day at 4.00pm.
We agreed to wait for each other to fill up with water and share the
next two locks and then moor up for the night just above the closed lock.
We would then leave
together when the lock opened at 10.00am on Saturday and cruise into Skipton
together. We needed to get into Skipton for
a pump out and talk with the boatyard about the works we want done whilst we
are away on holiday and they wanted to cruise on towards Leeds as they were
nearing the end of their holiday.
Cruising together between
Gargrave and Skipton would be efficient as there are five swing bridges to
operate and we could take turns doing them.
 |
| Amelia May, with its unusual looking front end, exiting Higherland lock behind me |
When we were in Eshton
lock, a lockie appeared and reminded us that the locks would be closed at
4.00pm because of the water shortages.
It turned out he was Nigel, a fellow member of a closed group of water
dwellers 😉
We were soon approaching Eshton
lock, the last lock of the day, and could see Sharp Haw in the distance. Although it’s not a particularly high hill
(1,171 feet), it stands out as there are no other hills close by. The last time
I went up it was with my parents on Xmas Day 2000. Being a hill on its own it does offer some
fantastic views on a clear day making it well worth the walk up.
 |
| Approaching Eshton lock with Sharp Haw in the background |
John, who lives near
Foulridge, made a comment on the blog yesterday listing various places of
interest in the area that we should visit.
One of the suggestions was the Hoffman Kiln at Langcliffe near
Settle. This is a massive lime kiln that
is still intact bar its chimney stack.
As it is built on the Hoffman principle it is like a circular cave and
it is open to the public to walk around.
It really is a stunning place and well worth the visit.
We have been several times,
but John’s comment reminded me of one particular visit. Karen and I were there
with my eldest son, Chris, and his wife Laura and my dad was giving the guided
tour as was his wont. Because of the
nature of the building, every sound was magnified and also repeated many times
through echoing around the chamber.
During his commentary, Dad unfortunately let rip rather loudly, with the
noise reverberating and echoing around.
To our surprise he carried on talking as if nothing had happened. I don’t think there have been many times
where we have collapsed as full-grown adults unable to explain why we were
giggling so much 😊
I do have to add that Dad
is still able to read the blog on his iPad, so it’ll be interesting to see how
he reacts to the above when we next see him.
Back to the cruise. Once we were through Eshton lock, Peter (? –
I’m still crap with names) and Linda moored for the night on the lock
landing. None of us thought that would
be an issue as no boats would be coming along until the flight opened in the
morning. As it happened one boat did
pass us later in the evening – the one we had been moored next to for the last
week or so. As is often the case we
never met but he did leave for work extraordinarily early each morning. His two weeks were probably up, and he ended
up mooring just in front of us once again.
 |
| Amelia May mooring up for the night with Karen looking on |
There is also a winding
hole just below the lock that will be closed from 28th July for at
least a month, so we will avoid being caught in the closed section between Gargrave
and Wigan. The closed section is about
58 miles long with nearly as many locks so it’s going to be rather strange for towpath
walkers not to see boats on the move during the normally busy holiday season ☹
No comments:
Post a Comment