With Judith & Nigel
joining us over the weekend to help in the search for a care home for Mum, we
decided to cruise into Skipton on Saturday morning to get a pump out and fill
up with water.
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| Moored for lunch at the top end of the Springs Branch in Skipton |
On Friday night we had
moored above the bottom lock in Gargrave with Amelia May and had agreed to go
down to Skipton with them on Saturday morning, so we could share the lock and
the five swing bridges on the 4 ½ mile journey.
We couldn’t leave until
10am as the lock was padlocked until then, so Buddy and I walked into Gargrave
to do a couple of things at Mum’s house whilst we waited.
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| A very low River Aire in Gargrave but at least it’s keeping the undergrowth, that’s encroaching over the dry river bed, green |
It was a pleasant cruise
into Skipton and the cut was very wide most of the way so no worrying about
meeting the large widebeams that seem to frequent this area.
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We did meet a widebeam
hotel boat at Niffany moorings. A couple
of guys were trying to get back onto their mooring and were obviously having
difficulty. We stopped to avoid creating
any water movement, but the hotel boat decided to carry on towards us thus
dragging out the boat as it went past; the poor guys had to start all over
again.
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| Old mill chimney (without a mill) on the outskirts of Skipton |
We were soon in the middle
of Skipton which always seems to be full of moored boats on both sides of the
cut. There are a lot of permanent moorings
on the offside and the visitors’ moorings are always popular as it’s such a
tourist destination.
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| Heading for the centre – it’s lovely to still see the hills when in a town |
The boatyard we were
heading for was at the junction of the Springs branch. This ½ mile long branch was built to transport
limestone blocks that were quarried from the hill above and brought down by
tramways. There is a turning point at
the end but only wide enough for 35’ long boats so most boats venturing down
the branch would have to reverse back.
The branch is cut into the
rock as runs past Skipton castle and a huge rock fall in January 2016 blocked the
branch. It has still not been cleared so
even 35’ boats cannot reach the winding hole to turn. Next time we’re in Skipton we’ll wander down
and have a look.
We reversed into the
branch and moored the opposite side to the boatyard. Amelia May were needing to get pump out and
diesel too and, as they were carrying on cruising for the day, we let them go
first.
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| We’re moored on the right and Amelia May is getting services in front of the little trip boat on the left |
After they went, we pulled
across to get serviced and then pulled back over again to moor up for lunch.
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| Buddy dead to the world (and passing dogs) |
Whilst we were having
lunch two restored Leeds & Liverpool ‘short’ boats arrived for services too,
making it very busy at the junction. The
canal was built with 60’ locks rather than the c75’ locks found in most of the
rest of the country. This was because
the Leeds end of the canal was designed to carry the 60’ Yorkshire Keel barges
that travelled on the Aire, Calder and Humber rivers. The Liverpool end does accommodate the longer
boats but transit across the entire canal is limited to 60 footers only. This is why we have only just started
travelling on this canal – our previous boat was 70’ long.
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| Leaving the junction with short boat Kennet on the left and another short boat behind it |
Most people are aware of
the roses and castles paintwork that typifies canal boats but maybe not so many
are aware that the Leeds & Liverpool boats were decorated quite differently
in a style called brightwork. The water
barrel at the front of Kennet in the picture above sports brightwork.
We were heading back the
way we came as we wanted to moor midway between Gargrave and Skipton for a
while. It will be ideal to get the bikes
out, so we can cycle into either place.
As I said before there are
several swing bridges that we had to pass through and I had a little trouble at
the swing bridge at Victoria Mill. I was
hovering in the centre of the channel waiting for Karen to open the bridge and the
breeze started moving me up against the side.
I corrected it and kept in the middle again and, just as I was going
through, a boat appeared coming the other way.
He was going quite fast, so I waved him through; I would have waved him
through anyway as Karen would be closing the bridge. Unfortunately, I got hemmed onto the side again,
so I had to reverse back quite a way before I could move forwards in the centre
of the channel.
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| Hmmm… I didn’t mean to be here |
After cruising for six
hours we moored up by Thorlby swing bridge, coincidentally, next to Dave the guy
we had been moored with above Gargrave for 10 days. Judith and Nigel also arrived just as we
finished mooring up.
The four of us spent
Sunday visiting local care homes for Mum and found one that we were all happy
with. It was one that Mum and Dad both
know well from visiting friends there and they were happy with our choice so
didn’t have to visit.
This week will be spent moving
Mum into the home and getting her set up there whilst she waits for a room to
become free at Milton House where my dad is.
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| Our new mooring at Thorlby |
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