Last 24 august

Bingley Locks (again)

We are moored at Bingley in the pound between the 5 and 3 rise locks, with a fantastic view of the 5 rise from our saloon window. We are going to be staying for around 5-6 days until our friends Lyn and Kevin arrive for a few days. I think they will see quite a difference in the boat as they haven’t been aboard since it’s launch 14 months ago. My first narrow boat experience was with Lyn way back in 1980.

I’ve just sorted out all my jam jars and a carafe so I can make some blackberry & plum jam and liqueur. We knocked on the fire station door this morning to see if they would mind if we picked some of their plums, they said yes, as long as we give them a jar of jam and don’t climb the tree.

We had a lovely time when Edmund came to stay while we were moored at Shipley. He had lots to tell us about his emergency ambulance crew training. He did his first ever blue light training drive over Tower Bridge. He brought his training manual with him as the next module was obstetrics. So we happily chatted about normal and breech deliveries, haemorrhages and all the other emergency delights he may stumble across on a daily basis. He chauffeured us over the Pennines to The Overell household for a BBQ for Lance’s first birthday. Lance is such a lovely little crawler, he’s progressing so well after all the worry and concern we had in the last few weeks of Heathers pregnancy because he wasn’t growing.

One of the Bingley lock keepers promised to give us an oak tree sapling. So he cycled to see where we were moored and dropped the pot off while we were out. We looked up some information on oaks and they are around 40 years old before they start to produce acorns. This will mean we’ll be 95 and 98 years old and counting down the years to getting a telegram from the king.

Saltaire on the outskirts of Bingley is a heritage town, similar to Bournville. The mill owner Titus Salt wanted a better environment for his workers as their life expectancy in Bradford was mid 20’s. The mill building is now an art gallery and shops.

We caught the train from Shipley into Leeds on bank holiday Monday for the carnival. It was a lovely hot day and we met up with the people we’d come down the Bingley locks with. It was a short version of the Notting hill Carnival, all Caribbean style mas bands. We were thrilled to chat with our old friends from Rampage Mas Band in Luton, who had taken just a few of their large costumes to the Leeds event. Leeds station was a mud bath and swarming with all the Leeds Music Festival goers as they headed home. We had a stroll around Granary Wharf and helped our Bingley Lock friends by closing the flood lock after they went out onto the River Aire.

We had hoped to moor in Leeds for a good few days, however, there is a 48 hour limit, which is as good as useless really. Plus, the last few locks before you reach Leeds have to be manned by security guards to protect boaters and the volunteer lock keepers from the hoodlums!!! So it was a fairly easy decision not to go further than Apperley Bridge.

We spent a week at Apperley Bridge where we did a good bit of walking, started our first ever home made wine out of blackberries and our step niece Charlotte came for Sunday dinner. After finishing uni she now lives and works in Leeds. 

 

We emailed CRT about a winter mooring near Heather and they confirmed we could stay on the Rufford Arm of the L&L all over winter.