Climb to the top of the Five Rise locks and you are rewarded with a good view back down the Aire valley towards Bingley. The canal follows the line of trees (or vice versa, I suppose!) but then veers to the right in front of the buildings you can see. At one time that was a mill, now converted, as are so many in this area, to apartments and houses, which have a nice outlook over the canal. You can also see the big black chimney of the Damart factory and, just behind that, the rather ugly (to my mind) 1960s concrete building that used to be the HQ of the Bradford & Bingley Building Society - a casualty of the banking crisis. There's a picture on this page - locals have dubbed it 'the Hanging Gardens of Babylon'. Prince Charles once said it was 'the ugliest building in Britain'!You will note that I took this picture earlier in the spring. Once the trees have leaves you can't see so much.
I love these stepped locks. Every time I see a shot like this I want to find a similar location. I'd love to see it in monochrome and maybe also play with aperture/shutter/ISO combination to get a narrower depth of field so that the nearer lock gates are in focus, but with the focus tailing away so that the mill buildings are out of the depth of field. I would have to drive a long way to find a similar set of locks; envious, great subject with all kinds of potential.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous view! It's amazing. I would love to see how it works in person.
ReplyDeleteyes..beautiful perspective!!
ReplyDeletei think it's the first time that I see a lock with five rise! as you say, the view from here is a real reward!
ReplyDeleteI love watching the canal boats go through the locks here
ReplyDeleteLovely place! Thanks for visiting!
ReplyDeleteFive rises! Very impressive! And great shots!
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