Walk in the Woods.

We decided to go for a walk round the Skipton Castle Woods which we hadn't done before.

To the south of the canal seems to be the working part of the town, and these old warehouse buildings have been converted very nicely. Stone buildings always seem to be more cosy than brick built for some reason.

We walked down the Springs Branch that was built to bring limestone from a quarry to the Leeds Liverpool canal. It was only about a third of a mile long but was later extended a little. There was a tramway from the quarry to the end of the canal. I think that the real name of the canal is Thanet Branch as the castle was owned by Lord Thanet in the 18th Century. The branch was opened very soon after the Act of Parliament was obtained in 1773.

This little causeway has the Eller Beck on the left and the Branch Canal on the right.

This is the rear of Skipton Castle and now the branch is on the left.

The walk is through the woods and is very pleasant, more so as there was hardly anybody about. The stream coming down the side of the bath runs into the Eller Beck a little further down.

The paths were very well made and the sun was trying to come out. It was a great circular walk and took less than an hour.

On the way back to the boat we filled up with pork pies sausages and other pies to see us through the next few days, and Helen found a couple of bargains in the market that was going on. After setting off after a bite to eat we passed Pennine Cruisers at the start of the Springs Branch and saw the statue that we hadn't seen when we walked this way. It is of Fred Truman, the first man to take over 300 Test Match wickets and lived in the town for many years. He died in 2006 and the statue, by Ibberson who also made the statues of Eric Morecambe and Les Dawson, was unveiled in 2010.

Just at the start of the Niffany Moorings the farmer had got his second cut of silage in and the straight lines appealed to me.

On another day this stretch would be good moorings as it is nice and quiet with lovely views. As we approached swing bridge 173 it opened with no boat there. There was a guy painting it and opened it for us.

As we approached Gargrave we came to the first lock of six that take you round the town the sun was glinting on the gold lettering of another poem on a beam at Holme Bridge Lock. The canal crosses over the Aire once more on an aqueduct.

As we got to Higher Land Lock this little rabbit stood his ground as everybody passed by to get his mouthful of grass.

The use of these cloughs or clows as ground paddles seemed to have taken over from the box paddles that are down at the Bingley 5 Rise etc. The far clow is in the open position and the nearest closed. The use of timber made me think of the Calder and Hebble hand spike!

We found a mooring up by the school playing fields as it was in the sun for most of the day. We walked down to the village later and had a couple at the Mason's Arms before tea. I even fixed up the TV for Celebrity Master Chef for Helen.