We're Off!

Well we've set off on our travels for the summer.

On Wednesday we took the food from home and then shopped at Aldi to finish stocking the boat.  We had lunch on board which made us feel we were home.

Here we having soup and Focacia bread that Ian baked on Monday.  We drove home and put the car away in the garage, taking the precaution of removing the battery and putting this in the house.  We've come back before and found the battery flat.

On Thursday we took the train via Leeds to Skipton and came back on board.  It took us quite a while to say our goodbyes to friends at Snaygill Boat Yard especially as we are not planning on mooring here next winter.  So we finally set off about 3 pm.

Here we are just before setting off.  Unfortunately the weather has turned a lot cloudier and colder than last weekend.

The first of oh so many swing bridges is at Bradley and here we are approaching this, passing a Snaygill hire boat.  The old mill at Bradley has been converted into flats.

By the next swing bridge is the Polish Air Memorial.  This commemorates 7 Polish airmen who lost their lives when a Wellington bomber crashed near here on 23 September 1943.

This is the delightfully named Milking Hill Swing Bridge and you can see Helen on the left pushing the bridge to open it.  So far, touch wood, we have only had a problem with one stiff swing bridge, but I am sure there will be more.

It is the season for young animals.  Here are some new lambs watching the boats go by and there were a lot of boats on Thursday.

Here is a family of Greylag geese.  There are five goslings on the slope down to the canal.  We think that Dad is the one further up the slope as he has brighter coloured legs and feet.










We moored last night by the church in Kildwick.  It was steak night at the White Lion and we could not resist.  At the next table were a couple on a hire boat but who were thinking seriously of buying a boat of their own.  So we showed them around Leo and they were suitably impressed.

Today we cruised on in drizzle and rain through Silsden and moored in Riddlesden.  It has not been a nice day.

The theme of young animals continues.  Here are some ducklings who were being harassed by the swan which exhibited its characteristic bad temper.

After lunch the sun came out for a while and we visited the National Trust property of East Riddlesden Hall.  The house was rebuilt in the 1640s on the site of a medieval hall.  It has some intriguing features including that the side that faces the road is the back of the house as originally visitors arrived by rowing boat up the River Aire.  This was in the days before the canal.

In the grounds is a tithe barn which is huge.  Supporting a stone roof across such a broad structure is an impressive achievement.

The gardens at the Hall are lovely,  and included these fritillaries.













Over the next few days we will be working our way down the locks to Leeds.  We are not going far each day as we want to make sure we do the long descent through Kirkstall after the Bank Holiday weekend.  This stretch has a reputation for drunkards and delinquents causing problems for boaters.  So our aim is to set off from Rodley (just before bandit country) early on Tuesday morning.