Returning over the Leeds and Liverpool - the East side of the Pennines

 As I type this update, we are heading down the locks on the west side of the Pennines on the Leeds and Liverpool, but this update covers the east side of the Pennines. First a recap. We had concluded, having reached Huddersfield, that the state of the canals was such that we would not be able to continue onto the Huddersfield Narrow or the Rochdale, both of which would have taken us back over the Pennines by a shorter route. And the route to the River Trent was affected by the sliding Vazon railway bridge having failed too.

So we decided 10 days ago that our only sensible course was to return the way we had come via the Leeds and Liverpool and preferably before that runs out of water as it does most years. So here is a brief account of the first part of our return.

Here we are leaving Huddersfield by first passing under the Loco Lift Bridge which Helen has partly lifted ready for the boat to pass underneath. It is electric so only finger muscles (to push the buttons) are required for this one.

This railway viaduct over the River Calder is known as the 99 arches, but it was the architecture of the castle-like turrets that took our interest this time.

Returning through Stanley Ferry, where aqueducts cross the River Calder, we took Leo over the modern aqueduct to get a better view of the old one shown in the picture.

Coming up the River Aire from Castleford to Leeds we passed this sunken narrowboat. This can be a dangerous river in winter floods but was quite easy when we passed.

On the mudbank at the edge of the river we spotted this Little Egret.

Closer to Leeds we passed 'Sheaf' a Sheffield size cargo boat. These were built to a length of 60 feet to fit the locks on the Leeds and Liverpool. This boat was built in 1938 and we have shared some of the large locks on the River Aire with her in past years.

Here we are coming into Leeds along the River Aire.

Having the afternoon spare in Leeds we visited the Armouries. This is always interesting and we concentrated on the section about jousting both historic and modern. This special suit of armour is purpose designed for jousting.

We left Leeds on Wednesday 7th August at about 7 am. This is a zoomed picture of Kirkstall Abbey seen from Kirkstall Lock on the canal.

We reached Dobson Two Locks later that day. This is a staircase lock where the first lock leads directly into the second. It is quite steep!

We were able to pass another boat coming down, something that is impossible in an ordinary lock. The other boat on the left had come down in the top lock as we had used the same water to come up in the bottom lock. It was then possible for one boat to pass the other. This is only possible if at least one lock has a single narrowboat in it. Think about it!

Either side coming through Saltaire are the wonderful mills built by Titus Salt.

On our second day out of Leeds we came up the two massive staircases at Bingley. Here is a view from near the top of the Five Rise which raises boats sixty feet through five locks in a staircase. Definitely a wonder of the waterways.

This stretch of the Leeds and Liverpool is famous for its innumerable swing bridges. This one is at Niffany Farm coming out of Skipton heading for Gargrave.

The last three of the 44 locks from Leeds up to the summit of the canal are at Greenberfield and the picture shows Leo between two of the Greenberfield Locks.

And here we are coming out of the top lock at Greenberfield. From this point, for a few miles we were on the summit pound of the canal at 487 feet above sea level.

We passed these cows drinking their fill of canal water.

In this picture taken at Foulridge we are waiting for the traffic light to turn green to tell us that we may proceed through the tunnel you can see beyond the boat in front. The Foulridge Tunnel is just under a mile long and takes boats under the last of the hills before descending the west side of the Leeds and Liverpool.

Here is Ian bringing Leo out of the west side of the tunnel 15 minutes later. Though it was a fine sunny day, tunnels are notoriously wet, hence the waterproof!

So that brings us to the summit of the Leeds and Liverpool. We are in fact now well advanced down the west side but we will update this blog once we are down out of the hills and down the long flight of locks at Wigan. We hope they are working properly!