Thorlby (will the storm arrive on Friday?)

Six of the eight guard geese opposite our new mooring

After a leisurely morning we were ready to move out of Gargrave but as we had three locks to descend we waited until another boat arrived, so we could help save water.  A hire boat turned up and agreed to go down with us. 

We both took on water first

On board were a lovely couple with two young children.  The 12-year-old son had really enjoyed their holiday and was now driving the boat.  He was able to recount the locks they had been through and was so excited even though the three locks we did together were marking the end of their holiday.  He did say that his younger brother probably hadn’t enjoyed it as much 😉

Going down Holme lock – next to where Buddy and I watched the sheepdog trials last Sunday

We carried on cruising with the hire boat, so we could share the lift bridges.  We moored up after Thorlby swing bridge at the spot we left eight days ago and Dave was still there on his boat.

Moored back at Thorlby swing bridge with Sharp Haw in the background

We wandered down to the farm by the bridge and stocked up on eggs and noticed a strange noise.  It turned out to be a tanker that was taking on water at a standpipe on the A65.  The lady we bought the eggs from told us that the tanker had been taking water from there for the last few days, but she didn’t know why.  We went down to talk to the tanker driver and it transpired that he was shipping drinking water to the Food Festival – a week long outdoor event being held just outside Skipton.

I used the word ‘lady’ in the previous paragraph and that is because I couldn’t really use 'farmer' as that is still a word that has no feminine equivalent such as shepherdess.  Even in today’s PC world I expect most people still think of farmers and farmers’ wives.  Mentioning shepherdess reminds me that I know two female shepherds and they both refer to themselves as shepherds rather than sheherdesses. 

Thunderstorms were forecast for Thursday afternoon, but none arrived although we heard thunder and had a few drops of rain during the evening.

Our evening view: what's on the way - rain or sun?

So, on Thursday we travelled two miles, down three locks and through two swing bridges.