Gearing up to go

After months of lying idle, the Saltaire Trip Boat has restarted its short cruises along the canal. The owner was hard at work washing down paintwork and generally making ready when I passed by one day. For the fairly minor sum of £4 (not much more than the price of a coffee, these days) you can relax and study the grandeur of Saltaire's mills and church from the comfort of the little narrowboat. (The bow end of the boat is open-sided so a ride can be enjoyed safely in the open air.) I keep meaning to sample the trip one day and have never yet done so. Perhaps this is the year to do it. Self-employed entrepreneurs depending largely on tourism must have been very badly hit by the Covid lockdown. It may be a while before tourists return too, so we locals should probably offer our support. Apart from the cars on the bridge, it struck me what a timeless scene this was. A sepia treatment seemed appropriate.

Up the Junction

I rarely actually walk across Junction Bridge on the Leeds-Liverpool Canal, more often simply walking past along the towpath. When I walked down from Dock Lane and had to cross the bridge, it struck me how much more you can see from the bridge, although it's not really that high a structure.

The top photo is looking east, away from Shipley, with the old Junction Mills and Dockfield Mills on the left and newish apartments, Amber Wharf, where a canal dock used to be years ago.  I found some interesting old maps of the area on a blog HERE.

The black and white photo is Junction Bridge itself. The one below is looking south, where a stump - all that remains of the Bradford Branch Canal - forms a pool in front of the flats.

The photo below is looking west towards Shipley. You can just see the modernist clock tower in the town centre, in the distance. There are more boats along this stretch, Gallows Bridge permanent moorings, with the boatyard on the left.

New builds

Looping back round the other side of the scrap yard (see yesterday), you cross over the railway line and then across Bradford Beck. This area used to be where the 3.5 mile long Bradford Branch of the canal ran. It was an offshoot of the Leeds-Liverpool Canal, opened in 1774 to carry goods to and from the centre of Bradford. It was, apparently, plagued with problems, suffering serious pollution that caused a major outbreak of cholera and led to its closure for several years. The canal was eventually closed in the 1920s and subsequently filled in, with only a stump left by Junction Bridge. 

In the early 2000s, a plan was drawn up to recut the canal all the way from Shipley into Bradford as part of an ambitious regeneration scheme... but it came to nothing. Since then a cycle route has been laid (which is where I was walking) and some new townhouses and flats have been built. With a bit more investment and care, the area could become quite attractive but I suspect in the current climate it will be difficult to find the money for an improvement project. 

One of those days!

The rain came, after a spell of hot, sunny weather, and not just rain but wind and thunderstorms too. It wasn't enticing to go out. On top of that I had a few days of feeling rather fatigued and achey - nothing serious and hard to tell if it was actual or simply a result of feeling fed up of the pandemic and the world in general... Anyhow, when I felt a little better and the rain stopped, I decided I should make myself have a walk, just my usual local circuit of river and canal, travelling light with only my phone. 

I read somewhere recently that you can take photos on an iPhone by pressing the volume control. I decided that might be easier in some situations than reaching for the white 'blob', so I tried it. It was only when I got home that I realised I'd taken screen shots and not proper photos. Doh! Never mind, they weren't going to be masterpieces anyway. 

Hirst Weir was in full flow after the rain and a group of kayakers were having a well-earned break after battling the river. I wonder if they carried the boats past the weir or if they tried white-water rafting? I hope not the latter, as it must be quite a dangerous spot with so many rocks and no clear channel through.

My walk threw up a few mildly interesting nature notes: 

a tall and striking plant by the river's edge that I didn't recognise, in appearance not unlike a foxglove but with bell-shaped flowers. It appears (after consulting my wild flower book) to be a giant bellflower. (I might have guessed!)

The local cormorant had taken up a roost in the river by Roberts Park.

The new nature reserve's wildflower meadow is rampant, though hard to tell if there are any interesting species yet. It seemed to be mostly thistles and ox-eye daisies. 

As I was returning along the canal towpath I spotted another tree newly collapsed and blocking much of the width of the waterway;  a victim, perhaps, to the recent drought followed by the strong wind and rain.  The kayakers, by now on their return journey and choosing the canal rather than battling upstream against the fast-flowing river, were having a little difficulty finding a way past the obstruction. 

Boats come in all shapes and sizes!

Silsden is home to a large boat hire business so the canal through the town itself is currently lined with moored hire boats, with their distinctive livery. Silsden Boats have a drum logo and many of the boats have 'Drum' in the name: Hum Drum, Drummer Boy and so on. The lockdown has meant no-one can get away for a canal-cruising holiday. Some miles further on, I came across three boats moored - and they were all very different: one a fairly traditional narrowboat, one adapted with a tall wheelhouse and then the tiniest narrowboat I've ever seen! I don't know if it is a normal one cut down or whether some are built like this. I suppose it would be easier to get through the locks but there can't be much useable space inside. Cute though...

Near Silsden

This is still the Leeds-Liverpool Canal but it's a stretch some ten miles up the valley from Saltaire, near the little town of Silsden. With some shops and services beginning to re-open, I finally managed to get my car booked in for the service that had been cancelled when the coronavirus lockdown was first imposed in late March. My garage is in Silsden so I took the opportunity for a walk whilst I was waiting. I think I've walked this part, from Silsden towards Riddlesden, only once before but it's quite a nice walk. The towpath is tarmac and easy to navigate compared with some of my more local bits that tend to be rough and stony or muddy. The canal winds through farm fields and woodland, with an open aspect giving some nice views of this broad, flat part of the Aire valley. The dry, sunny weather that we've enjoyed right through April and May has finally broken. It was cooler, a very pleasant temperature for a walk, and I only got slightly damp from a brief light shower. It's actually quite a nice change to see some clouds in the sky. Unbroken blue sky isn't really all that great for photos.

I wonder how many herons live on the banks of the canal? Each stretch seems to be patrolled by its own resident bird. This one was huddled up, its neck retracted. I think it had already had its breakfast and was settled down for a snooze.

The Quiet Eye 2

Another meditative walk along the canal bank... I was walking so quietly and calmly that the sleepy heron didn't stir. I have noticed this year, more than usually, when the different plants appear. There was early blossom: blackthorn and cherry, then bluebells, wild garlic, hawthorn blossom. Now the hawthorn blossom has disappeared and we have the lacy white of elderflowers. They make lovely cordial and wine but the smell is so disgusting (cat pee!) that it puts me off picking it. It's pretty though.

Foxgloves are beginning to flower, and I love watching the fat bees crawling into the trumpets.

On the field edges there is red clover, with its attractively marked leaves:

and buttercups. The brown spiky things are, I think, some kind of plantain.

The bracken has grown high, quite suddenly, its curly tendrils unfurling.

I don't think I've ever really bothered to study grasses before but, even in a short stretch along the canal edge, there were lots of different kinds, all rather attractive when you look closely.

I found a discarded downy feather, perhaps from the swan that was gliding alongside me looking hopefully for some food. There had just been a gentle rain shower, leaving droplets of water on the barbs. The way the barbs interlock like zips has always fascinated me.

Cow parsley is in bloom. Some of its alternative names are prettier: lady lace, Queen Anne's lace, fairy lace.

and ox-eye daisies - a favourite of mine.

The spring-born lambs are growing fast and fattening up. There was just one black sheep in a field full of white - the product, I think of a recessive gene even though its parents may both have been white. The wool was (is?) considered less valuable as it can't be dyed, so 'black sheep' has become a derogatory term - someone who is a disappointment or a disgrace in a family. Personally, I thought this one was really cute.

Mono locks

Bright, contrasty sunshine isn't generally the best for photos but it does make for some interesting shadows and details. Here are some that caught my eye around the 5 Rise Locks. 

Far and wide

Once you get to the top of the 5 Rise Locks on the edge of Bingley, you suddenly feel very aware of 'place'. The useful signpost says it's 111 miles (by canal) to the port of Liverpool on the west coast, only 16 or so to Leeds at the eastern end of the Leeds-Liverpool Canal. Then you realise that to get from here to the actual east coast (the North Sea coast itself, not the Humber estuary) that's about 80-90 miles from here, so we are, almost but not quite, in the middle of the country. (By boat, you'd travel onwards along the Aire and Calder Navigation from Leeds to reach the North Sea.) 

I'd only walked 2 and three quarter miles from Saltaire but I'd to do the same on my return leg, so it's near enough a 6 miles round trip from home. 

From the elevated position at the top of the locks, there's a rather good view (below) across the fields and up to the St Ives estate on the hill. It looks very green and rural but that's a bit deceptive. The railway line and two roads are hidden in the valley. There are many more houses and industrial units than those two terraces that you can see. The other buildings to the right are the sprawling site of Bingley Grammar School. 

The top and bottom of it

The Five Rise Locks at Bingley are such a massive structure that you can't really take in the whole thing from any viewpoint. From the top they drop away so steeply that you can't see them. Even from the bottom, you can't really tell that there are five chambers, though they do look quite impressive.  I suppose you'd need a drone to get an aerial viewpoint but I'm never likely to get one of those! The staircase of locks was built in 1774 and has changed little since then, though they obviously have to renew the parts every now and again. The massive oak gates eventually start to rot in the water. 

There are some more photos and information on the Canal Trust's website HERE. 

At the Five Rise

One of my longer walks along the canal took me as far as the Five Rise Locks in Bingley. Normally it's a busy spot, especially on a sunny day. Even in the lockdown there were a few people about but it was much quieter than normal. The café is closed (so I had to take my own coffee!) and there are no boats passing through, though there are permanent moorings along this stretch so there are always plenty of boats to see. The top photo shows the café on the left, which used to be a stable block for the horses that towed the canal boats. The swing bridge at the top of the locks is just beyond the boats, with Lock House alongside, built in 1885 reputedly with stone from a dismantled Liverpool warehouse that was brought by barge along the canal.  I think the rainbow in the water has to do with the fact that I was shooting directly into the sun. 

Swivel 180 degrees and you get a pleasant view looking the other way: 

The picture above is taken from the swing bridge. The moored barge had some interesting sculptural decorations, not 'the owl and the pussycat' but the owl and the... rabbit?

The old cottages opposite Lock House are quite attractive, though they've been altered quite a bit since they were built in the early 19th century.

Nature in the heart of town

It always surprises me just how pretty and natural-looking the canal is through the centre of Bingley. Surprising because it is so urban, cutting right through the centre of the town, and surprising because this is a relatively new stretch. The canal was moved sideways in 2003 to make room for the new, congestion-relieving 'bypass' - a fast dual-carriageway that also slices right through the town! Here there are reedbeds, right beside the old mill buildings, with yellow flag iris blooming and a lone swan gliding serenely.

The cow parsley nods along the water's edge, its lacy white flower heads showing up well against the dark water.

There are wild pink roses:

and some red valerian, a garden escape rather than a native British wildflower, but now naturalised and very common in our urban spaces, flowering in bright drifts and splashes of red and pink.

(All phone pics - not great quality when you zoom in!)

Boat lift

I've not really taken much notice before of the boatyard at Gallows Bridge in Shipley. When I walked past a couple of months ago I noticed they have a huge machine for lifting boats into and out of the water. (That tractor thing with orange loops hanging down.) It is apparently a new initiative. They provide a number of services to boaters, including supplying fuel and gas, visitor moorings and toilet disposal facilities. Now they can lift boats to repair and paint them or put them on/off transport vehicles. If you look at their website HERE you can see pictures of the lift in action but it was idle when I passed by.

Fit for a bride

The double locks at Dowley Gap, a couple of miles up the canal from Saltaire, are in my opinion among the prettier ones, largely due to the planting that has at some time been established around them. There is a fairly modern house right next door that I think might belong to the Canal and River Trust (a lock-keeper's house?), so maybe that explains it. Right now there are two shrubs covered in white blossom that cascade either side of the lock gates. In the sunshine, it reminded me of the flower arrangements that you sometimes see at weddings, on either side of the church door or chancel arch. (Remember the wonderful floral displays at Harry and Meghan's wedding in St Georges' Chapel, Windsor?) 

Roses

Nature marches on whilst we humans remain largely confined. I don't feel I'm 'moving on' at all!  But the roses are starting to come into bloom as June arrives. Those in the allotment garden that borders Victoria Road provide a wonderful display throughout the summer. This pretty lemon variety has a lovely, subtle scent.

In an attempt, perhaps, to brighten the outlook, someone has stencilled a rose on the wall at Hirst Lock. It's red though... that's a mistake, as red roses are symbolically Lancastrian. Yorkshire roses are white!

The canal network has been closed for weeks due to the coronavirus restrictions. At the locks, the gates were padlocked to prevent use. I think the restrictions are in the process of being eased across the country but I've read that the Leeds-Liverpool Canal may not open now due to a water shortage, after two very dry months. It's more bad news for the boat hire companies that rely on summer trade.