Tuesday 1st August - Happy Yorkshire Day!
We left Kings Road lock in plenty of time to meet the lock keepers at Woodnook Lock. They were due to let us through at 9 a.m. and arrived bang on time. Coincidentally it was the same two guys who came to rescue Lucia from the toilet on Friday!
Below the lock there were three boats waiting to go up, one of which had bravely moored up on a bridge pier, hopefully he had not been there overnight.
The lock keepers got us through in no time and we pressed on down the river to Castleford before turning right and up the River Aire.
An hour or so brought us to Lemonroyd lock; an enormous structure built in the 80's after the river had inundated the nearby St Aidens opencast mine.
Following the flood, which caused the Aire to flow backwards for 3 days, British Coal had no choice but to unite the canal and river and re position it about 500 yds to the west as well as constructing the new lock.
We moored just above the lock and had a walk into Mickletown and Methley, both former mining villages that have now become dormitories for the surrounding large cities.
We left Kings Road lock in plenty of time to meet the lock keepers at Woodnook Lock. They were due to let us through at 9 a.m. and arrived bang on time. Coincidentally it was the same two guys who came to rescue Lucia from the toilet on Friday!
Below the lock there were three boats waiting to go up, one of which had bravely moored up on a bridge pier, hopefully he had not been there overnight.
The lock keepers got us through in no time and we pressed on down the river to Castleford before turning right and up the River Aire.
An hour or so brought us to Lemonroyd lock; an enormous structure built in the 80's after the river had inundated the nearby St Aidens opencast mine.
Following the flood, which caused the Aire to flow backwards for 3 days, British Coal had no choice but to unite the canal and river and re position it about 500 yds to the west as well as constructing the new lock.
We moored just above the lock and had a walk into Mickletown and Methley, both former mining villages that have now become dormitories for the surrounding large cities.
Wednesday 2nd August
We moved on up to Woodlesford, a short run of around a mile and one lock.
We managed to find a spot on the busy moorings and will stop here for a few days until after the weekend as there seemed to be a lot of boats heading up to Leeds, hopefully there will be room for us later.
Thursday 3rd August
Today we took a walk up to the country park created on the site of the old Rothwell mine. Little remains of the mine today but there is a monument marking the site of the old shaft. There are also remains of an old drift mine too.
The soil heaps have been landscaped and it is well worth the walk to the summit to take in the views. We looked across to the site of Pontefract Castle and, in the opposite direction, across the city of Leeds to Rombalds moor.
I noted that I could see the same moors from the castle a week earlier, adding to the imagination as to what an imposing structure the castle must have been and visible for miles around. A walk along the curiously named Pick Pocket Lane past, fields of Rhubarb, brought us back into Woodlesford and our return to the boat.
There were two cruisers, Rouge's Roost and Scandalous, moored just in front of us and their names triggered something in my memory reminding me we had seen them before, a conversation later confirmed that we had shared a mooring with them last year on the Thames, just upstream from Windsor, where we had stopped with Rob and Judith on NB Judith 'n' Me for a BBQ and overnight stay. Small world!
Friday 4th August
A dry day forecast so we decided to walk over to Rothwell to explore the old castle that is marked on the map. We retraced our steps over the site of Rothwell mine then up the old railway line to cross the busy A639 Leeds Road. We continued down the old track into the village close to the church and site of the castle. We later discovered that the castle was really an old manor house and hunting lodge and all that remains is a pillar of stones..
One of its more famous residents was John O' Gaunt one of Edward III's sons, he, reputedly had killed the last Wild Boar in the district and so the Boar was one of the images used an early coat of arms for the village. The village of Rothwell is quite pleasant and its hard to imagine how different it must have looked 35 years ago when the village would have been surrounded by coal mines and other heavy industry.
We continued through the village on into Springwell Park, this was a surprise as it a thriving place with lots of amenities, a cafe and an Aviary. the walk through the park brought us back into Woodlesford.
We are really noticing the countryside around us and the changes occurring as time passes, the rose on the Bramble has now become the Blackberry (seems a bit early though) and there are masses of succulent fruit all around, we collected some and Lucia made a pie for tomorrow.
Saturday 5th August
Dad came to visit today, taking the train from Leeds (a 9 Minute journey).
I met Dad at the station and we walked up into the village to do a bit of shopping and sample the beer in the Midland. Back at the boat we had a BBQ with meat from the local butcher, finished of with pie from the nearby bushes.
We plan to leave Woodlesford on Sunday and make our way into Leeds, we have a few things to sort out so plan to be there for a few days. Alan Brice has offered to come down and do some filming with his drone as we go up through Fishpond Lock, really looking forward to this so I hope the weather holds out and the wind drops a bit. Watch this space!
We moved on up to Woodlesford, a short run of around a mile and one lock.
We managed to find a spot on the busy moorings and will stop here for a few days until after the weekend as there seemed to be a lot of boats heading up to Leeds, hopefully there will be room for us later.
Thursday 3rd August
Today we took a walk up to the country park created on the site of the old Rothwell mine. Little remains of the mine today but there is a monument marking the site of the old shaft. There are also remains of an old drift mine too.
The soil heaps have been landscaped and it is well worth the walk to the summit to take in the views. We looked across to the site of Pontefract Castle and, in the opposite direction, across the city of Leeds to Rombalds moor.
I noted that I could see the same moors from the castle a week earlier, adding to the imagination as to what an imposing structure the castle must have been and visible for miles around. A walk along the curiously named Pick Pocket Lane past, fields of Rhubarb, brought us back into Woodlesford and our return to the boat.
 |
| Looking across Leeds |
 |
| Looking towards Pontefract, the castle is somewhere in the centre of the horizon |
 |
| Pick Pocket Lane |
Friday 4th August
A dry day forecast so we decided to walk over to Rothwell to explore the old castle that is marked on the map. We retraced our steps over the site of Rothwell mine then up the old railway line to cross the busy A639 Leeds Road. We continued down the old track into the village close to the church and site of the castle. We later discovered that the castle was really an old manor house and hunting lodge and all that remains is a pillar of stones..
One of its more famous residents was John O' Gaunt one of Edward III's sons, he, reputedly had killed the last Wild Boar in the district and so the Boar was one of the images used an early coat of arms for the village. The village of Rothwell is quite pleasant and its hard to imagine how different it must have looked 35 years ago when the village would have been surrounded by coal mines and other heavy industry.
We continued through the village on into Springwell Park, this was a surprise as it a thriving place with lots of amenities, a cafe and an Aviary. the walk through the park brought us back into Woodlesford.
We are really noticing the countryside around us and the changes occurring as time passes, the rose on the Bramble has now become the Blackberry (seems a bit early though) and there are masses of succulent fruit all around, we collected some and Lucia made a pie for tomorrow.Saturday 5th August
Dad came to visit today, taking the train from Leeds (a 9 Minute journey).
I met Dad at the station and we walked up into the village to do a bit of shopping and sample the beer in the Midland. Back at the boat we had a BBQ with meat from the local butcher, finished of with pie from the nearby bushes.
We plan to leave Woodlesford on Sunday and make our way into Leeds, we have a few things to sort out so plan to be there for a few days. Alan Brice has offered to come down and do some filming with his drone as we go up through Fishpond Lock, really looking forward to this so I hope the weather holds out and the wind drops a bit. Watch this space!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments: