We slept well and didn't wake up until 0800. I hope that isn't an indication of how tired we are going to be when we get grand kids of our own! (Oh yes it is I hear many saying).
Just round the corner from our moorings, when we finally got on the move, is Whitecote House. It was built in the 1880's and in 1881 was the home of Sam Wescott who was a colliery agent. The post of the swing bridge across the canal, No. 220 linked to the Leeds Quarries that were between the cnal and the river.
And so we come to the first of what will be many over the next few weeks, a swing bridge. This is by Ross Mills and wasn't too difficult. The next few hand-o-matic ones were very stiff and Helen recruited passers by to get them moving for her. It is surprising what blonde hair will achieve.
The tow path was extremely busy with walkers and joggers and the increasing number of cyclists. It is good to see so many people being active, especially this week when we heard that the majority of people between 40 and 60 do less than 10 minutes exercise a month. The canal round Calverley Wood on the level giving views across the valley.
The next first of the trip was our first electric swing bridge. As we approached we could see workers and the box open with the 'guts' of it out. It didn't look good, but they opened it and closed it with no difficulty.
Apperley Bridge is a nice setting for the 2 rise staircase. We waited a while but nobody arrived so we set off up. At the top there were two at the tap saying that it was very slow so we just carried on.
Not much further along is the Field 3 Rise locks. The middle lock has a marker to which you are supposed to fill it. There is a green bar with red above and below, but it doesn't say that at the bottom board, only the top board!
The view to the north shows the ridges above Baildon on the Ilkley Road. I did start humming to myself the Yorkshire Anthem, on Ilkley Moor Baht'at.
At the top of the Field Locks was a way station for the Leeds Liverpool Canal Walk. They were walking the length of it over the weekend. I'm not for if it was for charity or just for the challenge. I must say that the majority of them looked on their last legs, pardon the pun!! I'm not sure if they do the 127 in two days or the majority of the miles on the Saturday/Sunday and polish off the last few on the Monday. I wonder how long it takes them to recover. It certainly didn't look like they were having fun.
This is the site of the branch to Bradford at Shipley. It was opened in 1777 and mainly handled stone cargoes. It was actually closed in 1866 due to it having become a health hazard. As Bradford had grown the canal was used by factories and the new housing used it as a sewer. It was bought by new people and the majority of it reopened four years later. It didn't make any money and was closed again in 1922. There were plans to open it once more when Bradford were bidding for the European City of Culture in 2008, and the Council own 63% of the route, so watch this space.
The Junction is just through the original bridge and to the left are the Junction Mills.
On the approach to Shipley is the footbridge and just to the left is the old wharf which is now visitor moorings. It makes quite a nice scene with the church on the hill.
There are many old warehouses by the canal in Shipley. The first were built in 1875, encouraged by the closure of the Bradford Canal as the warehouses there would have been unreachable. These were gradually extended over the years. Above we can see warehouses that were built in the 1930's. This was again due to the wool stores in Bradford once again been lost on the closure of that canal. They were the main wool storage places for Bradford. Wool was delivered by canal until 1963 and then was brought by road until around 1990. You can see a boat trying to wind in the distance. There is a bit of a basin there but it is silted up and he couldn't get round at all.
We continued on towards Saltaire. for the night.
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