Up to Uppermill.

We were moored close to the first lock of the day and so  we were soon into the swing of the gates etc with some close together and some spaced out further.

Sculpture of a shuttle from a cotton spinning mill by the canal near Woodend.

Helen was at the helm for the first few locks and Amy and I trudged up the soggy towpath.

The further we went the more rural the scenery got and the closer the hills seemed to get. There were several places today that we were running along the bottom if we strayed off the centre line by much. Luckily the canal levels were well up with the by washes running well.

The Huddersfield Canal Society were the prime movers in getting the Huddersfield Narrow Canal re-opened in 2001 after almost 60 years, and it is good to see that they have been able to put their name on the bridge numbers and these 'salt pots' by the locks. I have not seen these before and they are covers for the vents from the paddle tunnels. Normally there are just holes in the ground and you have to watch you don't get a blast of spray up your trouser leg.

Passing several terraces in the towns and a few mills too.

Uppermill has the lock right by the main road through the town. The Saddleworth Museum was right next to the canal but we decided to move on to miss the rain.

Approaching the last of nine locks of the day, 23W. It is almost under the railway viaduct where line crosses from one side of the valley to the other. There is also an aqueduct as the canal passes over the River Tame.

A very grumpy looking Heron.

After mooring up we went for a walk round Dobcross. It is a nice little Pennine village that must have been  a very different place when the industrial jobs were still here.

The Square Dobcross with the old Saddleworth Bank on the right and the monument to the local Doctor in the middle. The Swan pub is  just to the right.

Our mooring is just by the services and the Wool Transhipment Warehouse that is the headquarters of the Huddersfield canal Society. I sawed up a bit of timber that I had collected and we then started a jigsaw. Having got to the stage of getting the straight edges all assembled when we realised that it was too big for the table so packed it up and started another!