Leeds & Liverpool Canal Trip Part

by Paul Simpson

Made it at last! After originally booking for May 2020, before Covid-19 was known about, we had to defer twice because of government restrictions and then a third year because of illness. So, fourth time lucky, in early summer 2023, we arrived at Silsden boatyard to start our 2 week holiday. 'We' being my wife, Jan, our daughter & her husband, Nadine & Rich, and myself. After several trips to load up the boat and going through the handover procedures we were ready for the off in the early afternoon, headed towards Leeds. However, the 57 ft boat was facing the other way and I had the job of winding in a very tight space with one of the staff next to me. Not having steered a narrowboat for 7 years I was a bit rusty but this was accomplished with lots of toing and froing and without bumping into anything. We cruised to Stockbridge for overnight mooring where we found a disappointing fish & chips shop, and the following morning a long since disused water tap.

Ahead of us lay the challenge of Bingley Five-Rise. One of the Seven Wonders of the Waterways, designed by John Longbotham and built in 1774, which raises boats 59 ft 2 ins over a distance of 320 ft. I enquired about the process for descending the locks and a rather grumpy lock keeper told me that passage down had finished for the morning and to go and read the notice board – the rest were as friendly and helpful a bunch as you would wish to meet. There is only one passage down in the morning and one in the afternoon, and similar sessions for going up, all to save precious water. A wait of over 3 hours ensued. I had been receiving closure notices from CRT for over 2 years and knew nothing about such restrictions.

Rich & Nadine had never previously negotiated wide beam locks so this was to be a baptism of fire for them. However, somehow I ended up at the tiller with Rich helping the lock keepers, and the ladies safely ensconced inside. Just as we were about to start our descent of Five-Rise one of the lock keepers suggested I might get a little splashed and should put on some waterproofs. That was an understatement! I was looking forward to taking some photos from inside the staircase but it was too wet from all the leakages, and in any case my hand was firmly welded to the tiller in fear. It certainly was an experience, looking up at the massive gates behind me and wishing there was at least another boat in the chamber with us. After that, Three-Rise didn't seem so bad but I was glad to be out and also glad that I had done it. Despite the delay at Bingley we arrived at Saltaire by late afternoon and saw lots of lovely bollards to moor up against for the evening. However, these turned out to be for day time use only so we got the last useable slot astern a barge. They were moored against the armco so we thought it would be OK for us, but because of the low water levels and rocks we had to stand off and 'walk the plank' to get ashore. Whilst getting ready to go out we had a Canada Goose land on the bow and was trying to get inside until it got shooed away. I got a notification that swing bridge 212 was closed which would impede our progress tomorrow. Our evening venue was The Boathouse Inn, sandwiched between the canal and River Aire, with beautiful views over the river to Roberts Park. A massive improvement on the previous night.

The following morning we decided to explore Saltaire – a UNESCO World Heritage Site, built by Sir Titus Salt in the 1850s and which takes its name from his surname and the name of the river. Apart from the huge fudgecoloured mills lining the canal he built rows of workers houses and provided a church, alms houses, hospital and a school. It even has a railway station still in use. It's a fascinating and attractive place to visit and well worth the time. We walked up the gentle slope of quiet streets and suddenly found ourselves on the main road with traffic and shops, a bit of a shock. We treated ourselves to morning coffee at The Quaffery, a delightful find, before immersing ourselves back into the Victorian landscape and back to the canal.

With the news that swing bridge 212 had been repaired we arrived at Field 3 Rise staircase locks, the first set we had to descend on our own and the first wide beam locks for Rich & Nadine. However, we had trouble draining the middle lock but fortunately Saltaire a UNESCO world Heritage site there was a CRT inspection engineer on site who diagnosed the problem as a ground paddle that had been left open by a previous boater. The towpath along this section of canal seems heavily used by cyclists and runners but we met very few boats. As we approached Rodley, we saw a long line of moored boats so decided to take the last slot available on the end – becoming a theme, but we were able to moor alongside the armco. It was a little walk along the towpath to the town to the Ephesus Restaurant – a popular and outstanding Turkish restaurant which went straight to the top of our favourites list.

As a follow up to my Leeds & Liverpool trip article for Endeavour, I wondered if, through your magazine, your readers might be able to answer a number of queries that have been puzzling me?

What are the upright 'fixings' pictured at Stockbridge, Skipton & Foulridge (amongst a couple of other places)? And what were they used for? This one is at Skipton

What are the triangular-shaped markers fixed to the Foulridge Tunnel roof, positioned every few metres but not all the way through the

Please send your answers to Editor tony.clarke@waterways.org.uk and I will print the answers in November Endeavour when there will be some more questions from Paul.