We planned to head to live and work in Yorkshire this year, but none of our plans are set in stone. Last week, we decided we wanted to head to join and support family over winter, so we began planning…
The plan was to travel 275 miles and 255 miles on inland waterways to reach Leicestershire. That should get us there before the winter work closures start in November.
Day 1 of the voyage was Wednesday. We started at Selby in North Yorkshire. Because of the high tides, winds and high water because of torrential rain, the tidal route was out of the question. We planned to come across country before heading down the west side via the Rochdale Canal. That’s the waterway we’ve been trying to navigate since 6 July this year. A faulty lock in Manchester meant the Rochdale was not navigable from the south so we took a 97 mile detour to approach it from the east, heading along the Trent and Mersey to the Macclesfield and onto the Peak Forest, arriving there just as a faulty lock on the Marple Flight shut that route.
Nothing daunted we are having another go at making it along the Rochdale approaching this time from the North!
It was a flying start to get us there. From Selby we made it along the Selby Canal, onto the River Aire, then onto the Aire and Calder Navigation, and then onto the Calder and Hebble Navigation. The two Navigations alternate river and canalised sections which means that heavy rain can adversely affect them.
Day 1 went brilliantly- Selby to Castleford Cut, a total of 18 miles and 5 locks. Another early alarm got us up and leaving our mooring at 7.50am on Day 2 in driving rain.
From Castleford we made it through 15 miles and 12 locks to the Dewsbury Arm Junction. On the way we stopped for water at Stanley Ferry and lunched at Wakefield.
Some locks on the Calder and Hebble demand a Hebble spike to operate. It looks a bit like a flattened baseball bat and can be bought from boatyards or chandlery outlets in the area. Ours is a piece of 4×2 from Wickes with a rectangle cut from one end l to give the right size to fit in the lock mechanism. Our planning included getting wood ready although the last minute adjustments to make it fit happened with a saw on the lockside!
Our planning identified a lock that has problems and is available only between 12 noon and 2pm after Dewsbury for assisted passage so we planned a leisurely start for Day 3. What we hadn’t bargained for in our planning was an email meaning Day 3 would be spent not cruising.
How you cope when plans are thrown into disarray is often the mark of a good business person, teacher, boater or individual. We made the most of the day, Steve leapfrogging the car so it is now ahead of us and not stuck up at Selby. I worked and enjoyed a delightful unexpected visit.
By the time you read this, we will know if our plan is back on track with another long day of 12 miles, 18 locks to Salterhebble Bottom Basin.
From there, it’s a short hop to the Rochdale Canal where 32 miles await us, containing 91 locks that take us over the Pennines. I’m looking forward to some hills again!
So for the moment our plans are fluid…in limbo but still plans. There’s no point in getting frustrated or frantic. Safety is paramount. We have faith and confidence with a lot of crossed fingers that we will make our destination – eventually. This won’t be the only hold up en route I’m pretty sure.
Pickingupducks 