Today was a turning point. Above you see Pete filling the last lock which took our boat up.
We have moved from Yorkshire to Lancashire, and from now on all the locks we enter, we will be going down.

We will miss Yorkshire, as we have been here for 5 weeks, and really enjoyed the hospitality and friendship of the people.

We are moored at Salterforth tonight, which the guide book states has a Post Office, telephone and stores. Well we have walked the length and breadth of the village and found nothing.

The weather has been very good today, overcast but with many sunny spells and no rain.



We woke up this morning and realised we were grounded. The water level in the pound we were in had dropped dramatically overnight. We were literally at an angle of 45 degrees. As we had heavy showers, we loosened our ropes and refloated the boat.

We waited until 11.00am, but decided to go for it. We had showers then bright sunshine followed by more showers.

We had a total of 4 miles and 9 locks to complete.

Wendy opened and closed the first 3 locks. Then we had a flight of 6 locks. Wendy took control of the boat, and Pete worked the locks.

Today has been the only day in our three months of travelling where we have both got really wet. We have had hailstones.

After 2-1/2 miles we decided enough was enough, so we moored up about 40 foot from two other boats. As we dried ourselves out, we saw another boat heading towards us. It moved alongside the boat in front of us. Then we saw the owners carefully manoever the boat between us and the space we had left before the next boat, so as to give them privacy.

A woman on the boat then walked towards us, as we looked on bemused, and said, "We love it here, we only went down to get water and turn around, but as we came around the corner we realised you had taken our place, but don't worry we have got in".

Now we have 2,000 miles of navigatable canals in the UK, why for the life of us, we cannot understand why they had to move in between us, when we had allowed a favourable distance for privacy. Well they do come from Doncaster.

The weather improved, and we are in an idyllic position, so we decided to walk to East Marston (where we were going to moor up for the night originally) As luck would have it, all the visitor moorings were full, so we had made the right decision.

If you ever get the chance to visit East Marston, do it. It is a hamlet, and probably the best place we have visited. The views are stunning. The Cross Keys Inn is so warming and friendly, we have voted it the best so far.

We are still at Gargrave.
Last night we went to the Mason's Arms for a meal, as it was Wendy's Birthday. We then returned to the boat to watch the Olympic opening ceremony.
Today we moved up two locks, but still in Gargrave. The weather is very sunny but heavy winds. Coming out of the second lock the boat was going up the canal sideways, so we moored up.
And glad we are. There are 3 boat hire companies within the area. With the high winds and multiple hire boats returning/setting off, we have seen boats disapearing into ovehanging trees, hitting locks, hitting each other, lock gates being left open, lock paddles being left open and a crew on a hire boat firing a home made missile at the ducks, whilst dressed as pirates.
Better safe than sorry. So we will continue tomorrow, after the mayhem receeds.

Wendy opening the last swingbridge on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal

We left Skipton in bright sunshine this morning. We had 5 miles 5 swingbridges and 3 locks to complete before we reached Gargrave. Our most northern village of our trip.

The scenery and friendship has been fantastic.

As we came into Gargrave we passed this bridge

As we passed the compass pointed West. For the last 3 months we have been heading North. The bridge symbolises our most northern point. Tomorrow we will start our return journey.



As planned, we are still in Skipton today. The town is beautiful.
We set out to take some photographs, and for Peter to buy Wendy a present for her birthday tomorrow.
Well the present was bought.
If you can imagine Moreton In Marsh combined with a Cornish village, then that is Skipton. A long street filled with shops either side, with quirky alleyways leading to more shops.
The trouble with taking photographs is that cars are in every alleyway, satelite dishes are fixed on the most picturesque buildings,which really spoil the feeling.
So, although a lovely town, not very photogenic.
Tomorrow we move to the most northern part of our journey, "Gargrave" Where we hope to spend 2 days as everybody has told us how nice it is. After that we start to head South for the first time in 3 months.

Following a very nice evening in Silsden, we set off this morning. The weather has changed from glorious sunshine to cloudy and overcast. (looking at weather forecasts, we are consistently 5 degrees colder up here)

We had 6 miles and 10 swing bridges to complete before reaching Skipton. Some of the swing bridges are ingenious. For example on one swing bridge the instructions are as follows "Insert BW key and turn clockwise to lower barriers. Once barriers are down turn BW key anti-clockwise to release key.  Using windlass turn left hand key 18 times anti-clockwise to release bridge wedge. Then use windlass and turn right hand key 36 times clockwise to open bridge. To close bridge reverse the procedure" All good fun,but not to the motorists we are holding up.

Out of the 10 swing bridges, Wendy worked 2 whilst Pete managed 1. This is because for the first time since Stone in Staffs in May, we have met traffic. The canals have been that quiet.

Skipton is a really nice town, and we have decided to explore it tomorrow, as it is raining here at the moment. So sorry no pictures today. But we will make up for it tomorrow

We left Riddlestone this morning after visiting Puffa Parts Chandlery. (and spending a small fortune, topping up filters etc etc)

We have had a busy few days catching up since leaving Leeds, so we decided to have an easy day today. In fact we have travelled a total of 4 miles, which included opening/closing 5 swing bridges and topping up the water tank.

We are now in a little village called Silsden. A far cry from the hustle and bustle around Leeds. We are literally surrounded by the Yorkshire Dales  "Proper Emmerdale country" In fact we are not far from the set of Emmerdale. And, the Bronte family estate.

Tonight we are going to listen to a folk/jamming session in a local pub.

Tomorrow we are going to Skipton

Entering the Dales

View from the towpath