Yorkshire Canals 2001 (Page 8)

Saturday 13 October - Kildwick to Salterforth

Skipton

Signpost in Skipton shows we have travelled 29 miles in two days. The Bingley 5-Rise marks the eastern end of a 17-mile pound with no locks, which ends on the outskirts of Gargrave, where there are six locks.

Looking up the Springs Branch at Skipton.

Outside Skipton we were joined by Second Attempte, with which we travelled for much of the day, their crew joining with us to make short work of the locks. Here we are working through the Bank Newton locks, another flight of six, which lifts the canal 56 feet.

Looking back from one of the Bank Newton locks.

Between Bank Newton and East Marton, the canal winds extraordinarily to maintain a level as it works its way through the Yorkshire Dales. The canal enters the picture on the right behind the trees, eventually doing a 180° turn.

The canal is just visible on the other side of the valley behind the wall.

Second Attempte, behind us, heads right-to-left as we travel to the right.

Bridge 161 carries the A59 above the canal. At some point the road was improved and the dip down to the canal removed by raising the road and adding a second arch to the original lower one.

Lucy holds Worcester in to the bank while Stephen empties the bottom of the Greenberfield locks. The canal disappears to the right, before executing a right-angle turn to take it under the bridge visible in the middle distance, then turning through 180° to disappear through the trees on the right of the picture.

Lucy walks up to empty the second lock, watched by an astonishing number of birds on the electricity cables.

The painting of the arch is typical of the Leeds & Liverpool - the additional mark shows the centre line (which isn't in the centre of the bridge because of the towpath on the right), particularly useful for wide boats.

The three locks at Greenberfield lift the canal 29 feet to its summit level, 487 feet above sea level. They replace an earlier 3-rise staircase, which ran across the picture here, to the right of the house.

Centre picture used to be a bridge across the old line of the canal. When the canal was diverted with the building of the new locks, the bridge hole was converted into stables.

We continued for a few miles more to Salterforth, where we moored for the night. On Monday morning we travelled a short distance to the entrance to Foulridge tunnel, where we sadly had to leave the boat and return home. All in all, an excellent holiday, though perhaps a route to choose in the summer when there is less danger of flooding! The scenery of the Leeds & Liverpool was wonderful, and this canal is strongly recommended.