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.

Heritage Trail 5 - Entrance to Roberts Park

'Turn left down the ramp and follow the path around to the right, to cross the River Aire by the modern footbridge...'  At one time Victoria Road went straight across the river by a road bridge, but the bridge was demolished as unsafe in the 1950s and a metal footbridge now provides access to the park. Saltaire Park, opened by Sir Titus in 1871, was intended to provide leisure space for Saltaire's residents, as most of the open land within the village was given over to allotments.  It contained formal landscaping and flowerbeds with a promenade, bandstand and pavilion, as well as a cricket field and boating area on the river.  The park's name was changed in 1920 when it was gifted to Bradford Corporation by Sir James Roberts, then owner of the mill.  The park underwent a substantial renovation in 2010.  Click the 'Roberts Park' label for more photos.

[No 3 on the plan]

Hebden Bridge's bridge

Hebden Bridge was named after the packhorse bridge in the centre of the town. The stone bridge has just celebrated its 500th anniversary.  Before it was built in 1510, there was a wooden bridge over Hebden Water, which in medieval times was a meeting point of packhorse routes from Halifax to Heptonstall, Burnley and Rochdale, all centres of the handloom cloth trade.  During the English Civil War in 1643, an important battle between the royalist Cavaliers and the Roundheads took place here.  The Roundheads won a significant victory, forcing the Cavaliers, who on horseback were ill-equipped for the steep terrain, down into the valley and back across the bridge.

Nowadays the bridge - only wide enough for pedestrians or horses - forms an attractive focal point in the heart of the town centre.  The town is notable for the number of independent shops: it has lovely cafés, galleries and some interesting craft and clothes shops.  The area also has a rich literary history. The Brontë sisters wrote their famous novels just a few miles away in Haworth, the American poet, Sylvia Plath is buried at Heptonstall on the hill overlooking Hebden Bridge and the late poet laureate, Ted Hughes was born in Mytholmroyd, two miles away. 

For more Sunday Bridges, courtesy of Louis La Vache, please click here.

Utility

Last Sunday I featured a beautiful old packhorse bridge in Bingley, handbuilt by two local masons in 1723 and still standing proudly over Harden Beck.  Fast forward 280+ years and we find this bridge in Shipley, carrying a service road over the Leeds-Liverpool Canal to the office block on the left and the rear entrance of the Salts Mill complex.  It fulfils much the same purpose as a packhorse route, I suppose, but oh, how it lacks the grace and workmanship of the older bridge.... Ah well, the reflections are pretty.

The other side of this bridge (interestingly the other side is clad in stone, out of respect for the view) can just be seen on the left of my competition entry photo....  

Um... have I told you about that?  ;-)   You'll be relieved to know that this is going to be my LAST plea for votes!  The voting closes tomorrow so if you haven't voted yet, please do it quickly!!  See my post for Saturday 30 October or click here to vote.  Thank you!  xx

Another bridge

Since I noted a week or two ago that I didn't have many photos of bridges I seem to have been snapping nothing but bridges!  This is one of my favourites - Beckfoot Bridge.  It's local to where I used to live in Bingley and it was a much-loved and often enjoyed stroll down to the ford and old stone bridge over Harden Beck.

It is a packhorse bridge, just wide enough for one horse or a pedestrian.  Built in 1723 by two local masons at a cost of £10, it replaced an earlier wooden bridge.  The road is an ancient forest trail that developed into a bridle way and packhorse route from Bingley along the Aire Valley.  Beside it is an old farmhouse that once belonged to the Knights Templar.  When I was there the other day the house was shrouded in scaffolding, having roof repairs, so I didn't take a photo - I'll go back another day.

It's a fairly quiet spot now - but I have seen several cars stranded in the middle of the ford, which is much deeper than it looks.  Some sat-navs apparently direct people along this road and some idiots obviously leave their reasoning faculties at home and drive along, ignoring the signs that say 'Unsuitable for Motors'.  The man who lives in the farmhouse has a pair of thigh-high waders, as it is a fairly regular occurrence that he has to rescue people from the beck!

For more Sunday bridges, please visit Louis La Vache's blog.

May I also say a huge thank you to those people who responded to my 'big ask' yesterday for votes for the Photography Competition I've entered.  What lovely, encouraging people you are.  I'll let you know what happens....  If you missed it, please go back and have a look.

Dowley Gap

Crisp, sunny, cold weather at the weekend enticed me out for a couple of walks along the Leeds- Liverpool Canal towpath - though the sun was playing hide-and-seek behind clouds all the way.  We've had a touch of frost but it has not been frosty enough to bring rich colour into the trees.  It all looks rather anaemic this year.  This bridge, about a mile west of Saltaire, doesn't have a name as far as I know, though it is numbered 206.  It seems to exist for the sole purpose of enabling the horses that used to pull the barges to cross from one side of the canal to the other, because the towpath changes sides at this point.  Just behind the bridge you can see the two-rise lock at Dowley Gap.  It's quite a pretty spot and has the added advantage of being near The Fisherman's pub.  Join me in a drink, anyone?

A bridge too far

I was thinking that I've never added a picture to Louis la Vache's 'Sunday Bridges' before - and then thinking that's probably because I don't have that many pictures of bridges - and then thinking that's probably because there aren't many bridges round here... and those that exist are singularly boring and uninspiring.  This footbridge in itself is nothing much.  Kind of standard issue "we need a cheap, functional way of getting from one side of this river/canal/road/ravine to the other" stuff.  There are no doubt many others constructed to an identical design, all over the UK.  This one is called Buck Mill Bridge, crossing the River Aire near Tong Park, Baildon on the path to Buck Woods.  What I did like about it this particular day was the shadows and the way it seems to go on forever.  An 'Alice in Wonderland' kind of bridge!

To see more bridges from around the world, please click here.

River Wharfe at Bolton Abbey

Another contender for Weekend Reflections .... I do love reflections and this is a particularly peaceful image.

Actually, it's a very popular tourist spot and the footbridge and the adjacent stepping stones can sometimes hold a continuous stream of people crossing from one bank of the River Wharfe to the other. But I managed to catch a moment when all was quiet. It's a magical and, I think, very 'English' scene, especially when the cows wander down to drink in the river. When I was there last weekend, the water level in the river was quite low, but it can be deceptive and parts of the river have deep pools and nasty currents. A child sadly drowned here last year.

Happily, nothing spoilt the fun on Saturday and there were lots of families out picnicking, paddling and sampling delicious Yorkshire Dales ice-cream.

The wrong kind of publicity

Sad to say that this area is in the spotlight for the wrong reasons at the moment. A man has been arrested and charged with the murders of three women in Bradford, following the discovery of remains in a rucksack in the River Aire just outside Saltaire. In consequence, the whole area is teeming with police and parts of the river have been cordoned off whilst they conduct methodical underwater searches. There are police support officers stationed at every place where you can access the river bank - hence this police van parked on the Victoria Road bridge across the canal in Saltaire. (There is a path that links the canal towpath with the riverbank, just past the Mill.)

I got talking to the chap on duty by the canal gate. They have had officers there night and day for over a week... pity the poor guys who had to stand on the canal bank all night with nothing to do but watch the night. It's because the river is a 'crime scene'. The search shows little sign of abating - there was a large van labelled 'Specialist and Underwater Search Unit' in Saltaire last night.

On a lovely sunny day, it's hard to believe that evil can exist, just around the corner so to speak. But I am grateful for the meticulous way British police generally operate - I know they sometimes make mistakes under pressure, but on the whole they do a great job.

I'm back!

Well, I'm back! (If you didn't miss me all last week, it's because of Blogger's auto-publishing feature, ensuring a photo a day got posted in absentia. I'm looking forward to catching up on everyone else's posts that I've missed.)

I have been walking the Northumberland Coastal Path with a group of friends. It's been a great week, with fantastic weather, ideal for walking - cool but mostly bright and not a drop of rain. The scenery in Northumberland is stunning and the walking was good. The walk was about 55 miles in total over 5 days - not too demanding, and I survived without blisters, so that was a relief. Even though it's nowhere near Saltaire (it's something like 130 miles north), I shall post a few photos, just because Northumberland is such a lovely part of England and many people aren't familiar with it.

We started our walk in Berwick upon Tweed, which is an ancient port and fortified town, right on the border of Scotland and England. It has inevitably had a turbulent history, but is now a peaceful old place, surrounded by magnificent thick walls and with plenty to explore. My first photo shows the old houses on the Quay Walls. Berwick sits on the north shore of the River Tweed and has three bridges - the oldest, shown above, was built in 1624 to replace an earlier wooden bridge. We enjoyed a lovely evening meal at 1 Sallyport. Sadly we weren't staying there, but at the Castle Hotel which doesn't seem to have changed much since LS Lowry, the artist, stayed there!