For the last six days we’ve enjoyed the company of my sister Diane (‘Dan’ – because I couldn’t pronounce Diane at the age of two and a half !), and brother-in-law Tim. The cruising, wine, and beer sampling unfortunately didn’t allow much time for blogging !
Tim and Dan enjoying rare Yorkshire sunshine
They joined us in Gargrave, the very northernmost point on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, having travelled from Perth in Australia, via Spain and London.
The good-weather gods looked down upon us for once over several days, and we travelled leisurely to Skipton, which heralds itself as the ‘Gateway to the Dales’, before moving on to Silsden, Keighley, and Bingley.
Seen on a lock gate near Gargrave – just take it easy !
A little history : In the 1700s the towns of Leeds, and Bradford were growing with increasing trade, and whilst the Aire and Calder Navigation improved trading links to the east, links to the west were limited. Bradford merchants wanted to increase the supply of limestone to make lime for mortar and agriculture using coal from Bradford’s collieries and to transport textiles to the port of Liverpool.
A meeting took place in Bradford in 1766 to promote the building of a canal to join east with west, and in an Act of Parliament was passed in 1770 authorising construction.
The canal was built in stages; the first section from Bingley to Skipton in 1773, and on to Gargrave by 1775.
Just east of Gargrave the canal borders the Yorkshire Dales
By 1777 it joined the Aire and Calder Navigation in Leeds. By 1781 Wigan had been reached from the Liverpool end, but the money ran out. A new Act of Parliament in 1790 authorised further fund-raising, and in 1791, construction of the canal recommenced south-westward from Gargrave, heading toward Lancashire, by way of an expensive tunnel at Foulridge.
The completion in 1796 of the 1,640 yards long Foulridge Tunnel and the flight of seven locks at Barrowford enabled the canal to open to eastern Burnley.
It was another 9 years before it reached Blackburn a further 4 miles away, due to construction difficulties of the Gannow tunnel, and Burnley embankment.
After raising yet more funds to connect through to Wigan, the final link was completed in 1816.
It’s the part completed early that is the best in our view – clinging to the side of the River Aire valley (Airedale), with expansive views all around.
The memorial in the photo above is for several Polish airmen who lost their lives when their Wellington bomber lost a wing during WWII,, and crashed near the canal
Bridges crossing canals come in all shapes and sizes, brick arches, stone arches, lifting bridges, and the occasional swing bridge. This canal seems to have more than its fair share of the latter – we’ve not seen so many before. Some you push open by hand, some have electric barriers, but you then push the bridge open, others have manual barriers, but an electric swinging mechanism, others are all electric. Many have roads passing over them, and even if no cars have been over for fifteen minutes previously, you can guarantee a line of impatient motorists each side the minute you start to swing a bridge open !
A couple of hours from Gargrave saw us in to Skipton, and a handy mooring in the sun right in the middle of the town ..
Skipton
We all liked Skipton – cobbled streets, 900 year old castle, attractive stone mills and terraces, and a working waterwheel in an old corn mill, which you can operate yourself by pulling a handle, and a chippy serving gluten-free fish and chips !
We found a specialist malt whiskey shop on one street corner, with so many different varieties it would have been impossible to choose one (apart from the fact that some were rather expensive ! – see below) –
One of the whiskey rooms
A very good year this one. Price not so good though (£ 1,885 ! )
We moved on through Silsden to Keighley.
For those who know their beers, Keighley should ring bells – it’s the home of the Timothy Taylor brewery. Brother-in-law Tim is a fan of their ‘Landlord’ brew . The brewery doesn’t open its doors to the general public, however a little bit of prior twisting of their CEO’s arm by me enabled Tim and I to visit for a private guided tour…
Bingley was the next stop, and we managed to find a super mooring overlooking Airedale again, and just at the top of the ‘Bingley Five Rise’.
This is a staircase flight of five locks, the bottom gate of each is the top gate of the next one down. It drops 60 ft through the five locks – a ‘1 in 5’ drop.
Top of the Bingley Five Rise – deemed one of the seven ‘Wonders of the Waterways’
A quiet River Aire flowing through Bingley
Bingley suffered with floods last year on Boxing Day, when the River Aire burst its banks. Our last night was spent in a Timothy Taylor pub down by the river that was one of many properties that got inundated. It managed to reopen four months after the floods, and the ‘high water’ level was marked on a wall inside …
Deb and Tim (after a bit of celebration !)
We had a great week, however not everyone was excited …….
Poppy
Brutus Maximus on Tour 