Home for Holderness.

After I had returned from home we headed back down to Calcutt to have the modifications to the Hurricane heating pipework carried out.

We stopped for a night just outside Braunston and had a couple of walks around the area. The view from the high ground near the church gives a great view of the canal and countryside and it must be a great area to live. It is a major junction of the canal system and so everybody seems to pass through and so is a great place to meet up and catch up.

This year has been a great one for fruits and I really enjoy foraging in the hedgerows. Down at Marsworth we were able to collect elderberries, plums, bullaces, damson and hazel nuts and on the Oxford we had plenty of sloes, apples, rose hips, hawthorn haws and blackberries. I also picked pears up the Lea Navigation and near Polesworth. I had never collected haws before but it seems that they are an herbal remedy and good for lowering blood pressure. Mind you I made a jelly out of them so maybe not as healthy as a tea but it tastes very good with meat dishes. I also made jelly out of the rose hips. I ran out of jars in the end so I have been collecting them since we got home. I will have to start giving more stuff away but the jams are going well with my morning porridge everyday.

Heating fixed we retraced our route through Braunston, Hillmorton, Rugby and up to Hawkesbury Junction Where we joined the Coventry Canal. As though the Coventry marks the arrival in the 'North' the weather was variable and we got cold and wet as we passed by the old engine house just past the junction. From 1821 it housed a Newcomen steam engine that had been bought from Griff Colliery where it had already been working 100 years. It pumped water from the local colliery into the canal until 1913 when the depth of the mine was too deep. It was left in place until it was moved to Dartmouth Museum in the 1960's.

We kept moving ever northwards, not doing particularly long days but not stopping over at all. The weather had perked up again when we passed through Hopwas Wood which is really beautiful at any time of the year. It is surprising though that no mater how little traffic you see there is always something coming round the corner at the bridge holes through the narrow Hopwas village stretch where it is further restricted by moored boats. We are just approaching Hopwas Wood Bridge in the photo above.

Despite us not stopping for 'days off' on our passage north Helen had insisted that we time our arrival in Stoke for when we would be able to visit Middleport Pottery. It has not long being opened to the public and is well worth a visit. We spent several hours there with a guided tour of the factory and had to come away with a pot made there too. It is easily accessible from the moorings south of the Harecastle Tunnel at Westport Lake. The red/orange building next to it was originally built for the Anderton Boat Company in 1890 as can be seen at the apex of the roof. It was bought by the Middleport Pottery to use to build a long production line. It never got built and the building is now storage for all the hundreds and thousands of artifacts that were found at the Pottery.

We passed through the Harecastle Tunnel without incident and turned left onto the Macclesfield Canal. We moored out in the country before Bosley Locks with a great view of The Cloud. We didn't set off especially early so expected to have all the locks against as somebody from the moorings at the foot of the locks would have set off before us. But no, we were the first and had a lovely run up the first five or so. After that we met boats coming down so it was nice and easy. It is always a good flight to work as they are out in the country and not too much hard work.

After stopping at Bollington to meet up with a niece and nephew and partners we made it to Marple. It is a bit of a slog down, or up the Marple flight but again they are easily done. They are very varied with houses alongside, parks and pedestrians and then out into countryside again. Once at the bottom you meet up with the railway and pass over the aqueduct alongside the railway bridge like at Chirk on the Llangollen Canal.

We turned right at Ashton and headed up the Huddersfield Narrow Canal. We didn't see another boat on the west side and there is a great variety of views from hills and woods to villages and m,ills along with overhead gantries and through the middle of an electricity pylon. The locks seemed to be a little better maintained than the previous year and we continued upwards to meet our friend Chris who was joining in Uppermill to go over the top and through the Standedge Tunnel to Huddersfield.

We had the usual low pounds on the way to the summit but it didn't take us too long to get to the top and a couple of Grandpa Green's ice creams to replace the lost calories. We moved up to the tunnel entrance the next day. The railway line is a little close for over night moorings here. In fact the original route of the canal was filled in when the railway was built, maybe from the bend and the tunnel in use was extended to facilitate the change. I enjoy the passage of the tunnel but it seems to pass in a flash as you have to concentrate so hard so as not to collide with every bit of rock above and below the water line.

It was more obvious on the Yorkshire side that autumn was upon us so the wooded valleys had some lovely views. The above was west of Slaithwaite about lock 30 or 31 East. I seems to remember that we saw a couple of boats moving and one at Slaithwaite that was heading for London. The couple didn't seem to have done much planning as the winter stoppages were due to start so there was little chance of him getting there in the month he was expecting. In fact I don't think he would have got to Marsden as he had so much fixed stuff on his roof he wouldn't have fitted under the bridge there. I did suggest that he turned round and went via the Trent but he went to find out for himself.

Our friend left us in Huddersfield and we sped on down the Huddersfield Broad Canal and were soon on the Calder and Hebble. Luckily it was behaving itself as the river sections were nice and quiet with all the flood gates open. I enjoy being on these big old working rivers with the evidence of their industrial use all around if you look. While the gates are large we didn't have any trouble and were soon heading towards our destination.

The turn up the Dewsbury Arm from the bottom of the Thornhill Double Locks is very tight for our length boat but with a bit of hauling the bow round with the rope we were soon heading on our last canal of the year to Savile Town Wharf. We soon found a berth and bought an electricity card at the Leggers pub. We also bought some great beer and cider! It is always sad to have to pack up and leave the boat and one day I hope we wont have to and have try all year round. At the present it is impossible to leave the house too long or it will just fall in to dereliction. We call back every now and again to chheck on the boat and to sup at the Leggers and the Station bar etc. We are looking forward now to the new season and that in only 48 days away.