Bingley and Stocksbridge

Wednesday 23rd August
We had decided to leave Saltaire mid morning today, however it was still raining so we delayed our departure for a couple of hours. We finally agreed to set off just as the rain was easing and by the time we had travelled the short distance to Hirst Wood lock it had stopped and the sun was beginning to break through.
We had just finished our ascent up the lock as a boat pulled up behind us, this was the same boat we had travelled up Field lock with and I let them know that we would wait for them at Dowley Gap locks (about 3/4 of a mile further on). As we arrived at Dowley there was a boat coming down so we waited before resetting them for our passage through, there was a volunteer lock keeper in attendence who was very helpful and I informed him that there was another boat behind us and that we would wait for them.
Almost an hour passed by with no sign of the other boat so we agreed to move on, sure enough just as we had begun to fill the lock the other boat turned up, as we had not put too much water in we decided to empty it again and let the other boat in. Lucia was taking the boat through and remarked upon the strange experience of being lowered in the lock whilst facing the wrong direction!.
Once through the lock we continued our journey on to Bingley, we moored up as we were stopping at the bottom of the 3 rise locks ready for the morning.
We had a walk round Bingley exploring Myrtle Park where preparations were underway for the music festival at the beginning of September, quite a line up here with the Kaiser Chiefs and Manic Street Preachers to name but two.
We then called in to the Potting Shed, somewhere we had heard a lot about but never been, it has a pleasant beer garden with sheds all fitted out with tables and chairs and with the sun shining made a very pleasant break.
Back to the boat and I gathered my stuff together and made my way to Bingley Baths to catch up on my swimming, something I hadn't done since Selby. It's a nice pool but from a different era with a stage at one end so it must have doubled up as a dance hall or theatre at one time.

Thursday 24th August
We had arranged to meet Lucia's Uncle Barry in the morning and he was to join us for our climb up the 3 and 5 rise, he lives locally but had never travelled through the locks although had passed them many times.

First of Five

Uncle Barry

Our ascent began with a rather bumpy rise in the first chamber as only one ground paddle was working, in this situation the boat is pinned to one side of the lock opposite the paddle, however as the water level rises the flow of water passes under the boat causing it to suddenly move across to the other side, this can cause the boat to slam into the opposite side of the lock and there is very little that can be done to stop it. Just after getting to the top of this chamber another boat appeared at the bottom so we waited at the bottom of the 5 rise for them to catch us up.

A leaky second chamber

There were plenty of lock keepers on hand to help us up the flight and with the other boat being with us it made for a very quick ascent.
Once at the top we paused to take on water etc before cruising up to Stocksbridge where we moored up and Uncle Barry left us to return home.

Friday 25th August
Following a quick visit to the very handy launderette we took the bus into Keighley town centre, it is like most other small town centres these days, feeling a little underwhelming and a shadow of its former self, this is Lucia's home town and she felt a little saddened at what has happened to it over the years, we called up to look at where she used to live, and to her relief this hadn't changed much.

Keighley Station

We walked down to the Station and took a ride on the Worth Valley railway, this was another nostalgia trip as I spent a couple of summers working here 46 years earlier.
I worked at Oakworth Station (this was the one featured in The Railway Children), my job was to operate the level crossing and related signals, these were interlocked so the signal could only be set to go once the gates had been set, the interlock comprised of a set of keys, these were used to operate both the gates and signals and could only be used in the correct order, a system that is still in use today.

Oakworth

Haworth Main Street

We remained on the train to Haworth and disembarked here to go and explore the village, we did not have enough time to visit the Bronte museum due to the train times so we walked up the main street, this is full of the usual souvenir shops etc so if your looking for fudge, chutney or a relaxing whale song cd then this is the place to go.

We called into the Kings Arms for lunch , a pub we used to go to during our courting days (40 years ago!!), it was unrecognisable inside and no sign of the Yatze machine we used to enjoy playing!
Returning to the station we made our way back to Keighley then walked back to the boat, I decided to nip back to Horsforth to collect our mail from Dad's. Leeds City Station was crammed with people from the Test Match at Headingley, York Races and Leeds Festival making an amusing spectacle as they staggered around trying to get home.


Saturday 26th August 
Spent the morning dealing with some of the paintwork, before being joined by Jude, Duncan and grand kids Emma and Henry who kindly brought some delicious cake with them.
Great to catch up, and hope to be able to welcome them again when we are moving.

East Riddlesden Hall

We took Scruff for a walk down to East Riddlesden Hall, a 17th century country house reputedly haunted by several ghosts one of whom is that of a young woman  who was starved to death by her husband who claimed she had taken a lover (that old chestnut).
We couldn't go round the house as it was closed for a wedding, ironically, however we have been here before.
The day was nicely rounded off with dinner at Lucia's Aunty Alda and Uncle Barry's, a really enjoyable evening with great company recalling old times.







Sunday 27th August
Sunday was another fine day, it has been good for 4 in a row now! so we did a few more jobs around the boat before being visited by  Aunty Alda, Uncle Barry and their grandson Samuel. We were invited to dinner again and had a second enjoyable evening, before returning to the boat to ready ourselves for moving on tomorrow.

Scruff wanting to taste some more
 of Aunt Alda's cooking