Boatmen on the Kennet

 

The theme of the World Heritage Day celebrations this year was 'Water', so there was a particular focus on Saltaire's waterfront.  There were some very interesting talks and displays about the canal and the river and the part they have played in Saltaire's development.  One of the reasons Titus Salt chose this location for his mill was the proximity to water power from the river and transport links on the canal and railway.  The canal was opened in 1777 and the railway in 1847, so both predate the mill which was opened in 1853.

The Leeds and Liverpool Canal Society's boat, the Kennet, was moored in Saltaire over the weekend with an exhibition inside about local waterways.  Built in 1947, the boat is one of the last unconverted boats to have worked on the Leeds-Liverpool Canal and, typically, is a wide-bodied barge and not a narrowboat.  Boats carried all manner of cargo including alpaca wool from the Liverpool docks to Saltaire.  The early examples were towed by horses. (See also my post here).

A tight squeeze

Here's the narrowboat that yesterday's young lady was waiting for.  Once a boat has negotiated the single lock chamber at Hirst Wood (and as you can see it's quite a tight squeeze), it enters a little canal basin.  It then has to pass through the swing bridge, which pivots sideways to allow boats to proceed up the canal.  Unlike some of the locks, Hirst Wood is not 'manned' so boat owners have to do all the running about and winding sluice gates for themselves. It's quite hard work.  But it makes interesting entertainment for passers-by strolling along the towpath.

Below is the same boat going through the swing bridge, which then has to be closed again behind it to allow traffic and pedestrians to cross the canal.

Spring cleaning

Not the best day for a photo (it was raining at the time) but I spotted this dredger at work when I was on my way home one evening.  This is how they go about spring cleaning the Leeds-Liverpool Canal, to make it ready for another busy season of holidaymakers and the small amount of commercial traffic that the canal still supports.  It gets silted up with mud and all sorts of other rubbish (I wonder if anyone missed the road sign you can just see in the skip.)  I wonder what they did before they had these wonderful little crane gadgets?  The canal isn't really very deep so they must have had to clear it out periodically, even in Victorian times.  Men in waders, with shovels, do you think?

Here, there, everywhere...

I passed these narrowboats when I was walking by the Leeds-Liverpool Canal at the weekend enjoying the sunshine.  It's still pretty cold here but there was a promise of spring in the air.   It brought out walkers, joggers, people exercising their dogs - and of course photographers like me.  There is a small marina and boat repair yard a few miles along the canal from Saltaire, and lots of boats moor there for the winter.  On a sunny Sunday, it seemed like quite a few boat-owners had decided it was time to do a bit of preparation for the summer season: cleaning, painting and generally tidying up.

How could I resist taking this picture?  It provides a wonderful introduction to another of my favourite blogs: cieldequimper's Here, There and Everywhere - random pictures.  She's another skilful photographer with a good eye for composition.  Her blog features photos from all over the world, and she also has two more: Versailles Daily Photo and a new one called Artsy Versailles.  You've got to admire someone who can keep three great photo blogs going!

Chilly

Mallard ducks lined up alongside the canal basin in Skipton.  They were fluffed up because of the cold and looked a bit sleepy.  I think we should all be able to hibernate in this weather.

Skipton Canal basin

I think I've mentioned before that the Leeds-Liverpool Canal has a branch off it, in the centre of Skipton.  Called the Springs Branch, it was built in 1797 to transport lime from quarries.  Now it's a sleepy but pretty little backwater.  Where it joins the main canal it provides a spacious basin, where boats can turn.  It's always a busy spot and has a boat shop and chandlery where people can pick up supplies.  Several of the boats moored there were obviously in use and had stoves going full blast.  I like the way the smoke from their chimneys caught the low sunshine.  The Cray is one of Pennine Cruisers' hire boats, and the small boat behind that is, I think, Leo - the one that does short pleasure cruises up the branch behind Skipton Castle.  Beyond that is one of the big barges that were the original working boats on this canal.

Shipley sundown

Another lovely photo taken by my daughter on her recent canal boat trip through Shipley and Saltaire.  I think she has a good eye for composition - perhaps not surprisingly, since she took a degree in the History of Art at university.  I'm sure that studying great paintings helps to develop one's appreciation of form, colour and composition.  I'd recommend any photographer to spend time browsing art galleries.  I can't think of much I'd rather do, given a few hours to spare - especially in company with J, who can teach me a thing or two about art.

Incidentally you can see a church tower in the picture and that is St Paul's Church, Shipley.

Scott has a beautiful picture too, on Sunset Sunday this week.

Dusk, Salts Mill

My lovely daughter came up from London to stay for a few days last week, attending the wedding of one of her best friends.  They met almost 20 years ago, at middle school, and have been firm friends ever since, keeping close even though they went their separate ways to senior school and then uni and V now lives in California.  In traditional fashion, the girls arranged a 'hen do' a couple of days before the wedding.  Thankfully, they didn't all dress like tarts and get drunk!  Instead they had a 'Yorkshire' themed afternoon and evening - complete with flat caps.  (The bride's had a veil attached!)  Part of it involved a trip on a narrowboat along the Leeds-Liverpool Canal through Saltaire, enjoying cakes and champagne as they cruised along.

Being the sweet girl that she is, J took some photos for me..  a boat level view of Saltaire, just as dusk was falling.  I am therefore delighted to present my first guest photographer on SDP - my very talented daughter.  This shot is taken in that narrow stretch of the canal between Salts Mill on the right and the New Mill.

Ice cream Sunday

You probably get the impression from most of my photos that there aren't many people around in Saltaire. Well, that couldn't be further from the truth, especially on a pleasantly warm, dry sunny (lazy!) Sunday afternoon. The ice-cream boat (first spotted in early April) has become a permanent feature on the canal just beside the entrance to Roberts Park. Perhaps the plastic ice cream cones on its roof don't entirely fit with Saltaire's Victorian charm (although the boat is a traditional working barge) but it seems to have a charm of its own, judging by the queues for ice cream and drinks. The canal towpath is also a cycleway but thankfully most weekend cyclists seem content to ride at a fairly leisurely pace, at least along the busy parts of the canal bank. (Being deaf, I don't generally hear them or their warning bells - can be very hazardous for both parties!)

Three Men in a Boat

It seems to me that boating holidays have ample possibilities for fun, frolics and humorous mishaps. Two of my favourite books are based on just such scenarios. 'Three Men in a Boat', written by Jerome K Jerome and first published in 1889, is a classic comedy. More recently I have enjoyed 'Narrow Dog to Carcassone' by Terry Darlington (2006). I was rather reminded of these tales as I was walking home from work. I came across a narrowboat positioned horizontally across the Leeds-Liverpool Canal, apparently grounded on something and listing rather dangerously. The male occupant was trying frantically to push it away from the bank with a long pole, whilst shouting rather hysterically at the hapless lady at the tiller! Meanwhile, an ever-increasing queue of bemused boaters was lining up behind.

As predicted some time ago, from this week the Canal is shut along a large stretch through the Yorkshire/Lancashire border because of the low levels of water in the reservoirs that feed it. (This despite the fact that it has rained A LOT since early July). In consequence the holiday boats that usually potter along westwards from Skipton are now pottering eastwards - through Saltaire. In fact, I have never seen as many boats at one time on the local stretch of canal as there were yesterday - I counted 16! I look forward to many more amusing scenes to enliven my walks!

Shipley Wharf

Another view of Shipley Wharf, which is along the Leeds-Liverpool Canal about half a mile east of Saltaire. You can see Salts Mill chimney in the distance - the one at the far right side.

Shipley Wharf is home to Apollo Canal Cruises and Dream Achievers, who run pleasure cruises along the canal, so there are always several boats moored here. "The Cut Waterside Restaurant" is tucked in behind the boats - you can dine at tables on a covered terrace, with a pretty view of the canal. I've never tried it but it has some recent very good reviews. (Its own website currently seems to be undergoing a remake and is unavailable.)

Shipley - not Venice!

I've been meaning for a while to post a 'Weekend Reflections' photo on my blog. [Click here for more, hosted by James at Newtown Area Photo.]

And now I have the perfect opportunity, as there were some great reflections on the Leeds-Liverpool Canal a couple of mornings ago. This is part of Shipley Wharf, about half a mile outside Saltaire. The old stone warehouses have been renovated into offices, a gym and a restaurant. The white wooden structures overhang the canal and, I guess, goods would have been dropped into the holds of barges from there. But the little boat is more reminiscent of a gondola than a traditional canal narrowboat....

Oh yes, the answer to yesterday's puzzle... on Wednesday afternoon 23 June, England were playing Slovenia in the football World Cup and HAD to win to stay in the tournament. (And we did, just! - phew!) So everyone went home, or to the pub to watch the match. It was only dedicated souls like me who stayed at work... and the streets were deserted when I walked home! Thursday saw things revert back to normal and the usual rush-hour traffic jam on Saltaire Road. You had some creative guesses. Malyss, I'm sure the kids would love to stay home on Wednesdays but sadly go to school like everyday. And yes, Vicki, we do some strange things here, like drive on the wrong side of the road!

Boatmen's cabin

Thanks to an interesting display at the Skipton Festival by the Leeds-Liverpool Canal Society on the barge Kennet, I gleaned quite a lot that I didn't know about working life on the canals. Most of the working boats on the Leeds-Liverpool canal were 14' wide barges and not the narrowboats we are used to seeing. They were crewed by two men - a Captain and his Mate - who lived aboard during the time it took for each journey (about a week for the return trip along the whole length of the canal, 127 miles). Their families mostly had permanent homes, many around Burscough in Lancashire. The barge's living quarters, shown above, were tiny but cosy, with a warm stove. They were only used for eating and sleeping as it was important to keep the boat moving.

Interestingly, to illustrate just how hard it was to get agreement (between Lancastrians and Yorkshiremen!) about the building of the canal, the locks from Liverpool to Wigan are longer than those from Wigan to Leeds so that there were long boats (70') and short boats (60'). The barges could carry 40-50 tons and originally they were pulled by horses. Gradually steam engines took over (from 1871) and then diesel - and the last working horse retired in 1961.

Leo

Whilst I was in Skipton, I met up with some friends and we had a walk along the Springs Canal. This is a short branch attached to the main Leeds-Liverpool canal. It was built in 1797 by Lord Thanet, who lived in Skipton Castle, in order that limestone from the Yorkshire Dales could be brought down by a tramway to load onto barges. It's a quiet, pretty little canal these days (a far cry, I imagine, from its noisy heyday as a working canal). The path goes right behind the walls of Skipton Castle and then on up into Skipton Woods, which is a lovely green oasis full of birds and wildlife.

The narrowboat Leo, in my photo, does regular short trips up the Springs Branch and back to the canal basin - for £3 you can spend a very pleasant half hour watching the world drift past. The boatman is a neighbour of my friends - cue for a certain amount of waving and banter as the boat slid by!

Living next door to Alice

Time flies by - it seems only minutes since I went to the Canal Festival in Skipton but actually it was three weeks ago! Held every year, the three-day Festival is a colourful event, as narrowboats congregate in the canal basin from all over the place. They are all decorated up with flags, flowers and lights and make a cheerful sight. There are various stalls and sideshows, and live music playing most of the day. I haven't stopped singing "Living next door to Alice" since then! Some of you may remember that catchy little song from 1976. It was a hit for Smokie, a local Bradford band. I haven't figured out how to put sound on my blog but click on the Youtube video if you must... (Oh, do check out those amazing flares!) I don't think it was Smokie playing in Skipton, but someone doing a cover version - pretty good though!

Sailing...

Not me sailing...I was walking...but I can still feel the wind in my hair. The Northumbrian coastline has marvellous long sandy beaches, with hardly a body on them. (If you could guarantee the weather, I suppose they'd be covered in sun-loungers, so there is something to be said for British summers).

The Holy Island of Lindisfarne

Day One's walking was Berwick on Tweed to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne (about 13 miles). We deliberately made an early start and did some fairly determined walking to arrive at Holy Island's causeway before the tide covered it over. You can get stuck if you're not careful - and we didn't fancy 4 or 5 hours sitting watching the tide come in and out! Anyway, we made it in good time and were rewarded by a fabulous sunny afternoon to explore the island. I've been several times before and it has to be one of my favourite places of all. It's beautiful and very unspoiled. I just blissed out, wandering around with my camera. The photo shows a fishing boat coming into the lagoon harbour, with Lindisfarne Castle in the background. That's now run by the National Trust and has an interesting history - it's a Tudor (1550) fort that had a makeover into a private house by Edward Lutyens in 1903. There's also a small walled garden designed by Gertrude Jekyll, but I didn't get as far as that on this trip.

We stayed at the Lindisfarne Hotel on Holy Island - a lovely place, where we received a very warm welcome. I highly recommend it. (I had a four-poster bed....all to myself!)

Ice cream boat

Ah...Easter school holidays, a bit of sunshine, blossom suddenly bursting out...must be time for an ice-cream. Well, how fortunate - the ice-cream boat has sailed into town! I have not noticed this in years before, but it looked to be doing a good trade as I passed by on my way home from work. They were selling ice-cream, drinks and cakes. This is generally quite a busy spot in Saltaire, at the entrance to Roberts Park and at the point where you can get down from Victoria Road onto the canal towpath. The boat was called "Arr Gee Bargies" or something similar. It is a wide-bodied barge rather than the traditional narrow-boat.

Monochrome Weekend: Down by the swing bridge

(Best viewed large)
I happened to be down by the Hirst Wood swing bridge, on the Leeds-Liverpool canal near Saltaire, just as a boat was passing through. There is not much traffic along the canal yet; it's only a week or so since the water was frozen solid. But there are a few hardy types who live permanently on their narrowboats; maybe these people do. They had a wood-burning stove going well, judging by the smoke curling from the chimney, and a good pile of logs on the roof to keep it burning.

I decided not to wait whilst they went down through the lock. When I set off from home the sun was shining, though without much warmth. By the time I reached this point, the clouds were gathering so I turned and headed back. Lucky I did, as I was just able to rescue my (almost dry) washing from the line before the heavens opened in a hailstorm.

To see other excellent monochrome images, visit The Monochrome Weekend site.