Returning down the Ouse and Big Barges

25th - Newton-on-Ouse to Selby, River Ouse, 30 miles 3 locks - 26th - Selby to Gateforth Landing, Selby Canal, 4 miles 0 locks - 27th - Gateforth Landing to Castleford, Selby Canal and Aire & Calder Navigations, 14.75 miles 4 locks

A long day on Tuesday covering 30 miles with a break at lunch time to collect provisions and bait in York. With the help of my internet friend Ron using google he found an angling shop for me. I couldn't see it on my 'tourist' map of York and phoned them.. "Oh come round the York wall and go through the Waldergate Bar and we are on the left" Oh through a bar? I put my best togs on, and thought it funny that the angling shop was through the back of a pub.

Tee hee......... A 'Bar' is what those Yorkshire people call the hole in the wall that surrounds York!

Leaving York we headed for Naburn Locks for our 4.30pm booking down the tidal Ouse. The lock keeper sure did put a lot of boats in at once! In the end there were 7 boats packed in.

Once trough the locks we punched the incoming tide for about an hour and a half, there was so much debris in the water, presumably due to the flooding on the east coast last week. It was a bit of an obstacle course, then the tide turned, and suddenly we were speeding up and going very fast. I was told to turn No Problem before reaching the lock, and let her drift down the tide...... sheesh, scarey stuff, but I did as I was told, and then with great difficulty entered the lock sort of sideways upstream under the direction of the super cool Lock Keeper straighted up at the last minute under full power, and slid into the lock without touching the sides next to a boat already in there to the applause from the many people watching lockside, I was really chuffed, but needed a very very stiff drink afterwards!

It was a tremendous experience, very difficult manouver not knowing how the boat would react both going backwards down the tide nor entering a lock with a fast tidal effect, but I learnt a lot.

Yesterday we went up the Selby Canal hoping that our favourite mooring of last week at Gateforth Landing was free, and we were lucky, so we spent the day relaxing in the lovely warm sunshine.

Today we left the Selby Canal and headed for Castleford. We knew we might meet some large barges, and thought we had got away with it, but just as we arrived outside Castleford one came along! I just had to get a photo!

We have decided not to go along the Rochdale Canal this time, for a couple of reasons, one is that we have heard there is a shortage of water along the Canal, and the other is that with the school holidays in full swing, perhaps the younger people of the Lancashire towns will have nothing to do but to intimidate narrowboats, so we shall return southwards via the River Trent, Nottingham and Leicester.

This weekend we are off to a Country Show just outside Wakefield, we will enjoy I am sure, there are sheep dog trials, falconry, fly fishing displays, and all things country. Next week we will turn back from here and head to the Trent.

Ripon and the Start of our return South

Sunday, Oxclose Lock to Ripon Basin and return, 5 miles 4 locks. Today, Oxclose Lock, Ripon Canal to Newton-on-Ouse, 15.5 miles 4 locks

We wandered up the last couple of miles or so of the Ripon Canal yesterday morning, and took the enevitable 'Sue at the end of canal' photo before venturing into the city.

We strolled round the cathederal, even daring to enter the Saxon crypt which was part of the first church on this site called St Winifred's believed to be built in 670. Awesome. Then walked around some of the shops in the centre, a lovely place.

It was noisy by the canal terminus a road ran very close, so we decided to go back to our mooring of the previous night, arriving there albeit late in the evening.

Today we set off early to try and get a mooring outside that pub again! The trip down river was just great, the wind of the past week had gone and the sun was warm, we saw the oyster catchers again and some grey wagtails.

We arrived here about lunch time, and so had a wonderful afternoon of good fishing.

This evening we have had some very sad news from Chas and Ann that their elderly little dog Aly has died, our thoughts are with them. She was a smashing little dog. {hugs} to you both xx

Tomorrow we will leave here and do a quick stop off in York for provisions and some bait, then on to Naburn Locks by 4.30pm for our trip on the outward tide down the River Ouse to Selby.

River Ure and Canal Rage!

Newton-on-Ouse to Oxclose Lock, River Ure and Ripon Canal, 15.5 miles 4 locks

We had a scrumptious meal in the pub last night, we were so pleased we were lucky enough to find that mooring.

Today we left for Ripon, the weather is dry, but very cloudy and extra windy! We had not gone far (Linton Lock) when we encountered our first real 'canal rage' I had to fend off a boat which was moored by the mooring for the lock, and the guy came running out with his friend from another boat and started shouting and screaming at me that I had smashed into his boat. I didn't knock his boat at all, what he felt was me fending off which meant that his boat was pushed against the jetty, that is what he felt! These people got terribly upset, and at one point out came the fists............ dear me, all averted though when I grabbed one of them by the shirt and told them to pack it in..... Here is one guy inspecting his errrr 'smashed up' boat?

I saw some beautiful oyster catchers on the way along the River Ure, there was a lot of wild life along the river, just a pity it was so windy not to be able to study further.

We decided to stop short of Ripon tonight, the wind was really getting to me, and I had had enough for one day, so we moored just above Oxclose Lock, the first one on the Ripon Canal, it is very sheltered here, and I spied some wonderful wild orchids.

Time for fishing I think

York and Onwards

York to Newton-on-Ouse, River Ouse, 9.75 miles 0 locks

A very enjoyable day in York yesterday and did the 'tourist thing', there was so much that we wanted to see as well as doing some window shopping in the market. The Minster was fabulous, although I didn't make the big effort to take THE pic from the top! The Shambles, a very narrow cobbled road, was a delight.

We certainly learned how to tie No Problem up with springers with the large trip boats speeding up and down the waterway! During the evening the trip boats were turned into discos, and just being tied up along the waterway was very exciting, there was plenty going on!

Today we said goodbye to York to make our way towards Ripon, maybe we will spend one more day there on the way back. I enjoyed York very much. .

A lovely trip up the river today in the warm sunshine, although there was quite a high wind, the waterway was wide enough for it not to cause any problems. I was hoping that there would be some space at the mooring at Newton-on-Ouse outside of the Dawnay Arms, and sure enough we were in luck, so after an afternoon of very good fishing I am looking forward to a night out for wine and dine.

Up the River Ouse on a Spring Tide

Selby to York, River Ouse, 20 miles 2 locks

The lockeeper gave me my instructions for the trip up to York, and then told me that we would be going on the incoming spring tide! Had I have known that last night, there would have been no way I would have even thought about going today, but the boat was already in the lock and the lockeeper had closed the doors behind and started to lower us down.

When the bottom gates opened I could see the tide sweeping up the river, my heart was in my mouth I'll tell you! First boat of two out of the lock and a gentle turn left to join the fast incoming tide and we were off!

I even managed a quick wave to the lockeeper. Wow we were travelling fast, round sweeping bends we went, making sure to keep to the outside in case of going aground on the sandbanks on the inside of the bends.

I have never been so fast on a narrowboat before! It was quite exilerating once I had got control of my nerves.

The scenery was really non-existant because of the high banks, but there were a lot of cormorants and herons along the way, and mud flats that would be covered by the high tide in a couple of hours or so. As we neared Naburn Locks the tidal flow almost stopped, well we had been going faster than the tide for most of the way, and the boat slowed easily to enter the lock. Looking at the time, we had covered the 14.75 miles in just 2hrs 10mins, an amazing speed of 6.70mph for a narrowboat!

Above the locks the river was very tranquil with hardly a flow at all, and we had a lovely run up to York in the early afternoon sunshine. This piece of artwork made me chuckle as we approached York

We shall explore tomorrow.

Housework Time!

Gateforth Landing to Selby Basin, Selby Canal, 4 miles 0 locks

Today was washing and housework day, still happy to be at this lovely mooring. We found some wood close to the boat, and got the chainsaw out and stowed away a couple of weeks worth of logs for the autumn. Mind you, we have been lighting the fire at the beginning of July, it has been quite chilly in the evenings!

Left for Selby late this evening after phoning the lockeeper this morning to be told that he would like to lock us through and onto the River Ouse at 9am tomorrow morning...... no lie in for me then!!

We are looking forward to our first trip on a tidal river, I suppose the lockeeper will put us out on the incoming tide to help us upstream.....

Relaxing on the Selby Canal

Moored at Gateforth Landing, north of Paperhouse Bridge, Selby Canal

Just enough room for one boat here, such a delightful mooring. I spent most of the day fishing and caught some nice perch, all between 6 and 10oz, the water is clear but there is a lot of weed. We were lucky to find this spot, the banks so far along this canal have been very high and totally overgrown, it is very river like.

On the opposite bank there are reeds and also a bank of sand, and I watched sand martins diving in and out all day. The picture above was taken very late last night just as the sun was going down, it has a strange autumn look to it, but it's the low sun! I took a long walk this evening with Lucy, the walks round here are absolutely great, I was thinking of my friend Ann on Moore to Life 2 who we had left in Braunston in June, Ann if you are reading this, then it's almost worth the trip to the north here just for this wonderful place and the wonderful walks here. I do miss Ann's company when I am walking, we spent many, many hours walking last winter and spring while travelling together.

Tomorrow we will phone the lockeeper at Selby Lock to see what the best time to arrive will be. We join the River Ouse at the end of this canal, and it is tidal for the first part on the way to York. Hopefully too he will be able to give us some idea where to moor between Selby and York as it is quite a long stretch to do in one day.

River Boating, Bumps and Surprises

Castleford, Aire & Calder Navigation to Gateforth Landing, North of Paperhouse Bridge, Selby Canal, 16 miles 5 locks

A day of rivers today, and after yesterday's worries it was just lovely to be able to relax and zoom off down the river. It is amazing how high the river gets, we could see rubbish and bits of trees and twigs caught in the bridges some 10ft above us, goodness knows what the flow is like when it is that high!

I totally got the angles wrong coming out of one of the locks into the river, the landing stage to pick Vic up was terribly difficult, you almost had to go out of the lock and reverse back up the river to use the landing stage. Anyway after managing to pick him up, I caught the back of the boat on some ironwork jutting out taking off a bit of the paint I had painstaking put on in Braunston in May No harm was done though

We turned off the Aire & Calder on the River Aire itself to link up with the Selby Canal. I couldn't believe my eyes when round the corner came a speed boat! But there was more of a surprise, following the speedboat were two water skiiers!! It's a good job they didn't go wide, or they would have used No Problem as a jumping ramp!

We found a lovely quiet mooring between Paperhouse Bridge and the East Coast Mainline Railway Bridge to the envy of all those that passed. Fishing was excellent in the evening, and because it is so nice, we have decided to say here tomorrow too

Leeds Centre and the River Aire

Granary Basin, Leeds to Castleford, Aire & Calder Navigation, 10 miles 6 locks

We spent two days in Leeds, and I was very impressed indeed. I have never seen so many shops, so many alley ways and more shops, everywhere you looked there were shops! The first day we spent wandering around the main city centre, not bothering if we got lost which we did a few times, had lunch at a very smart Weathersoons pub converted from a bank. On the second day we visited the market, wow, so huge, there were about 700 stalls both inside and out, we had aching legs after a walk round that, and we never got to see it all! We then went to the Victorian Quarter, a couple of really nice indoor arcades with designer shops and little cafes through the middle. The roof was all stained glass, and the shop fronts victorian, quiet superb.

Last night we had some problems with the youths of Leeds, and I chased one lot off before realising that they had untied one of our ropes, they had already untied a lot of the boats in the wharf, then another group attempted to take the bikes off the roof of a hireboat. I screamed at them to pack it in, and that seemed to do the trick, caught in mid air as they ran to grab the bikes! So we decided to leave Leeds this afternoon and make our way to Castleford for an evening stop. On leaving Leeds the heavens opened, and the rain continued steadily for a couple of hours......

I was apprehensive about the River Aire, not being on there before, but after working out how to operate the Leeds Lock, the first mechanical one on the Aire, we were both soon relaxing and enjoying the trip down the river. It was as wide as the Thames, but the levels were very low, and there was little flow, which suited me!

The locks were absolutely huge, and Lemonroyde Lock was 13'6", I felt very lonely in there when we went down! The river banks were covered in wild flowers of all kinds, and there was a lot of wild life on the river, we counted 8 herons on our trip and there were many terns as well as dippers. The rain eased towards the evening, and by the time we went through Castleford Flood Lock for our evening mooring it had turned into a cloudless evening sky.

So This is Leeds

Nr Calverley Lodge Br (215) to Leeds City Basin, Leeds & Liverpool Canal, 7 miles 12 locks

High winds today made everything difficult, and it was a matter of hauling on ropes for me trying to hold the boat into the side while Vic locked through to Leeds. We were going to stop short of Leeds today, and arrive there tomorrow, but the lockeepers advised us not to stop en route before Leeds as there was nowhere secure to moor. The weather forcast for tomorrow is dreadful anyway, so we plodded on to the centre. Once again a lot of swing bridges to do today, we were both very tired by the end of the day, the wind had made the two of us take a paracetamol once we had tied up!

It is surprisingly quiet here in the basin right in the centre of Leeds, it's right by the railway station too. There are a lot of boats moored here, and we couldn't get into granary wharf, the alternative mooring is at the Armoury museum, but is closed, we are told, as they are doing some building work there. Hopefully tomorrow the 4 or 5 hireboats moored in the wharf itself will leave, and we can move round.

Well we are at the end of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal now, and for the most part we have enjoyed it. We didn't enjoy the yobbo element in the larger towns though, but we have learnt a lot about how to deal with them for sure! The part of the canal that goes over the pennines was superb, beautiful open moorland with heathers growing on the canal banks, and of the towns and villages, Gargrave was our most favourite. We very much enjoyed Skipton too, and if ever we were to visit this waterway again we would do so from the Leeds direction, and turn back probably at Foulridge, for sure we enjoyed that stretch very much.

We will certainly stay here tomorrow, but not sure how long we will stay in Leeds, we have mail to collect anyway. Our next cruising daywill take us onto the Aire & Calder Navigation on our way to York.

Shipley and Lisa the Lockie

Scourer Br (205) to Nr. Calverley Lodge Br (215), Leeds & Liverpool Canal, 7 miles 8 locks

At last the sun came out today after a couple of weeks of really cloudy and windy weather. We worked our way through the sets of two and three locks in one staircase and on through Shipley. We were surprised to see a lockeeper at the Field 3 Locks, her name was Lisa, although she says she likes to be known as Lisa the Lockie!

As we approach the outskirts of Leeds, we have seen the end of the wide and open moorlands of further up, but thankfully the canal seems to be following a route that may well be unknown to those close by in the urban areas. We have moored in a delightful spot with woodland on one side, and the water is very clear, fishing time for me now

And So To Bingley

Lodge Hill Bridge (194) to Scourer Bridge (205), Leeds & Liverpool Canal, 6 miles 8 locks

It rained on and off over the weekend, but our mooring was nice, plenty of walks, and really the only thing that disturbed us was a clay pigeon shoot on Sunday down in the Aire valley, but just after 12.30 everything went quiet, and we imagined them all going off to one of the local pubs for sunday lunch!

We were looking forward to Bingley today, not only famous for its thermal underwear, but considered one of the wonders of the waterways, the famous Bingley Five Rise Locks. I had waited just under 30 years to actually 'do the five', ever since I first discovered narrowboat travel back in the 70's. Now was the day!

They were built in 1774, and are all joined together rather than being separated by pounds of water, the top gate of the lowest lock being the bottom gate of the one above and so on. I did find it very daunting, dropping down into the second lock, and looking behind at gates some 20ft high!

Barry Whitlock, the aptly named lock keeper, helped us through, telling us that 28 boats had gone through on Saturday, and 17 yesterday, and that only a few had passed today. It was quiet on the cut today, and even at Bingley there was an absense of the hoards of onlookers that are usually around.

I savoured the occassion passing through one cavernous lock after another until the last gates opened to show the canal wandering off into the distance. It was all over so quickly, but at last I had 'done the five', and I looked back to take a photo to prove it to myself, a photo that is famous throughout the world.

On through Bingley we came to the second staircase here, this time just three locks all in a line...... the lockeeper had the locks ready for us, Barry had telephoned to say we were on our way.

We saw some mink on Sunday, quite surprised really to see them up here in Yorkshire...... but today I saw a weasel, a rare sight now.. so maybe the mink are in smaller numbers in the north. Mind you the weasels and stoats are putting up a fight with the mink, pity it has made our riverside animals more aggressive that they used to be.

We moored up at about 4pm, and for once the fish were biting. There is a nice pub here, but on the door it says "No Dogs". We always take Lucy out with us if we go, tonight she is going to be disappointed, still I'll bring her back half a bag of crisps and hope she forgives me.

Goodbye Skipton

Skipton to Lodge Hill Bridge (194), Leeds & Liverpool Canal, 8.5 miles 0 locks

We had the usual lazy morming before going back into Skipton as it was market day today, we hadn't been to a street market since we were in Devizes on the Kennet & Avon Canal. It was certainly much cheaper than the 'southern' markets, and we came back with quite a few bags!!

We were quite sad to leave Skipton, we had enjoyed it very much, such a lovely town where old factories and mills had been regenerated and turned into fine housing. They certainly are making an effort to smarten up the town, still rife with buildings that the canal served in it's hey day.

We decided that we had better put a few miles under our belts, we have been daudling a bit too much of late, and are a good week and a half behind our rough schedule for the summer months before moving south again to spend winter in more errrrrrrr temperate climbs!

The villages we passed through were a delight, all stone buildings, cobbled streets and very tidy, we noticed no graffitti or rubbish lovely places to live, and the gardens that backed onto the canal were a delight.

There were a lot of swing bridges again today, but we didn't have to do them all, arriving at just the same time as another boat is quite handy!

By 4 o'clock we had had enough and tied up in a lovely wooded area where I think we will spend the weekend before going on to Bingley on Monday

A Day in Skipton

Moored at Skipton, Leeds & Liverpool Canal

We went off into the town this morning, oh what a lovely place and so many ginnels as they say in the north. For the southerners reading this, a ginnel is an alleyway! There were so many little shops in the ginnels, and all cobbled stoned right through. I managed to persuade Vic to stay out for lunch, and this we did at a place called the Cock and Bottle (oh I seem to be going to a lot of pubs called Cock something or other lately!) It was really nice and fully recommended if you are in Skipton, a lovely place and the food was nice and cheap and wholesome.

The high street is super too, although we thought it was market day today, we really enjoyed walking round the town. We heard a couple of people talking about the bad weather down in the South, and even talking about the M27 and something that had happened near Southampton....... presumably a lorry had gone over! I phoned Wendy just in case she had suffered in the winds, and was rest assured that everything was OK.

In the evening I took a walk along the Springs Branch, a canal that goes off at Skipton, only about a quarter of a mile, but it was lovely, almost in a revine with Skipton Castle some 500 feet above. Limestone was loaded at the end, and this only ceased happening in about 1947, and there are still the ramains of that to be seen at the end.

Our friends Chas and Ann visited our shop in Southsea today, and managed to find some fabric for their curtains for their new boat, Wendy promised to have them all made up by Tuesday ready for their return from Chas' parent's home in Winchester back to their boat, which is now on the Ashby Canal at Hinkley. I was really pleased that they managed to find just what they wanted too!!

Sunken Cars and Skipton

Niffany Bridge to Skipton, Leeds & Liverpool Canal, 1.5 miles 0 Locks

We had a very lazy morning today, the Tesco delivery wasn't due until between 12 and 2 o'clock, and we wandered out on the deck around noon to watch for him arriving. It wasn't long before he did though, and I asked him if he found it ok............ I loved the answer.... "Oh yes I know this bridge, my grandfather used to own Tiffany Farm there, and when I was a nipper I drove my car to see him, and didn't notice that the swing bridge was open, and drove the car straight into the canal!" Tee hee, I bet he had a right laugh when he saw where one of his deliveries was to take him today!

We left for Skipton in the afternoon, it was only about a half hour trip right into the centre, and we were really looking forward to seeing the town. We moored up just short so I could go to Morrisons and stock up on meat items, and of course their lovely meat and potato pies, I really have got very fond of Morrisons, not seeing them in the south this was a new supermarket for me, and for sure, I have made it my favourite shop of the north

We moved the boat a little nearer the town, and collected some fish and chips from the famous Bizzy Lizzys fish and chip shop, and oh boy they were just out of this world, I have never tasted fish and chips like it!

We were going out for a drink tonight, but the weather closed in with wind and rain, so we decided to spend the evening in doors with a nice warm fire and a couple of pints.

Tescos and Swing Bridges

Gargrave to Niffany Swing Bridge (175), Leeds & Liverpool Canal, 4 miles 3 locks

We were certainly happy now not to have to worry about leaving Gargrave with that damaged hose, and by late morning we went down to the services to do the rubbish, water and cassettes before setting off towards Skipton.

We needed a Tesco delivery, so we decided to look for a suitable place to pick one up tomorrow, which meant I had to get the order in today (getting tesco to deliver to a narrowboat) sometime. We found the ideal place at Niffany's Swing Bridge, there are so many swing bridges on this part of the canal, no sooner than Vic was on the boat round the corner he was off again and pushing and pulling these stubborn hunks of wood and metal!

Although by Niffany Bridge it was a bit noisy with a main road close by we decided we would put up with that for one night! I spent the afternoon and evening fishing with no luck at all sadly.

Weekend in Gargrave

Moored at Gargrave, Leeds & Liverpool Canal

We had a lazy weekend, I was tired after my trip and adrenalin run of the days previously. One of the hoses in the engine has split, and although it hasn't been too bad, it had become worse over the weekend, and everytime we started the engine we could only run it for about 20 minutes before it was almost out of water, so we were dreading our trip up to Skipton, some 3 hours away to get it fixed. We decided to go out for lunch today at the Old Swan in Gargrave, and we were surprised that it wasn't pack out, and we had a really tastey roast while watching the F1 from France.......... but after Schumacher overtook Alonso we knew it was all over and left the pub before it finished!!

On Monday, my brain suddenly came into gear for once, and I remembered I had taken out a Breakdown Insurance for £25 when I renewed the insurance for the boat last year. So we called them and told them of our plight of the broken hose, and they agreed to pay the labour and travelling for a mechanic to come to the boat from Pennine Cruisers in Skipton. I fished for most of the day, and Vic was enjoying reading John Grisham's new book 'The Last Juror'.

The mechanic turned up at about 2pm and fetched the right hose, phew, ah but we did measure it, pleased of course that we got it right!

We decided to stay another night at Gargrave, the weather was really nice for a change this week, and time was spent between fishing and reading.

Aground at Gargrave

Moored at Gargrave, Leeds & Liverpool Canal

It was great to meet my friend from the internet Jeff before I left London, it has been quite a while since we had met, and although we didnt have a lot of time together, we certainly had a lot to say!

I really enjoyed the train journey back on the GNER to Leeds, the train was very fast and extremely comfortable. I had packed myself a ham bagette at breakfast time at the hotel, and with a flask of coffee and Mark Knopfler to listen to on CD player I really did relax and wind down after the day before.

Vic met me as I was walking back from Gargrave station and Lucy was really delighted to see me as usual............ poor Vic then had to endure a few hours of whoopee all about my trip down to London

I had hoped we could have gone over to the Anchor for a pint in the evening, but suddenly the boat lurched over a bit about 8pm, and I knew we were aground by the towpath. Out we went, and all the rest of the boat crews were off their boats looking at the pound which was dreadfully low. I decided to go to the lock above us and let down a couple of lockfulls of water so we could float all the boats again............. but when I got up there, there were more boats moored directly above the lock. They were floating though unlike us lot!

I knocked on the windows and told the people there what was happening in the next pound, and told them I was going to let a lockfull of water through. One guy in one of the boats wasn't too pleased, errrrr yes he was floating, but only just! So I let one lock through, that raised our pound up about inch and half, thats all it took really to float us all.......... The guy definately didn't want me to let any more through for sure!

We all floated our boats and left long lines out back and front, we were getting near to the centre of the canal by this time!.......... But at least we would be floating in the morning even if other boats couldn't get passed us!

So by the time all that was done, it was far too late to think about a pint.........

An Evening with Elton John

Moored at Gargrave, Leeds & Liverpool Canal

Today I was off to see Elton John in the evening at Wembley, and caught an earlier train to London to meet Wendy for lunch. It took a while for us to meet up as our meeting place was at Cock's near Oxford Circus station which was closed due to an accident I think, so we met initially at Green Park before taking a taxi over to Cock's

It was a fantastic day spent together, and a fantastic evening at the concert. There are more pictures and a post all about it here