The repair, the handspike and the chapel

There was a knock on the boat this morning and when Jan opened the side hatch she discovered blog reader Quaysider (Mark) and his partner each holding a small piece of timber.  Mark had kindly decided to bring us some timber having read yesterday’s post.  One piece of shiplap was the ideal thickness and will be used to make the necessary repair.  We had a good chat with Mark and wish him well with this own boat building project.

Jan and son went into Wakefield whilst I made a start on the repair.  Somehow I’ve hit the shunt connected to the negative battery terminal and broken the securing holes.  The shunt is now loose.  My idea is to glue it to a suitably sized piece of timber and then screw the timber to the original timber mounting.  As you will notice in the next photo, one slight problem.

The only small saw we own is a tiny hacksaw.  Still, with patience and persistence I managed to resize the piece of shiplap.  It was then sanded and drilled before I glued the broken shunt mounting to it.  I’ll leave it overnight and allow the adhesive to set.

We went to the Ruddy Duck for Sunday lunch and enjoyed the meal.

As you can see in the next photo…. It wasn’t much of a walk!

Later in the day I walked to Fall Lng Lock.  This is the last lock on the Calder & Hebble Navigation. 

Downstream from here it’s the Aire & Calder Navigation.  My intention was to check the paddle mechanism to see if a handspike is required to work the lock (it isn’t).  I can now confirm a handspike isn’t essential to work the locks between Huddersfield and Wakefield.  We only wasted £2 on our temporary handspikes so we feel for the boater behind us who had paid £16 for a hardwood handspike at Huddersfield.

My route back to Waiouru was along the riverbank and when I reached Wakefield I noticed the small multi-arched bridge beside Chantry Bridge.  The land on the other side of the arches is higher than the bridge so obviously its no longer a water course.

Then I realised it was quite narrow.  It’s obviously a pack horse bridge.  This makes sense as goods would have been transported around the local area and over the Pennines by horse before the arrival of the canals.

 

Then I noticed the adjacent road bridge was blocked for all but pedestrians and there was a small chapel in the middle of the bridge.

It’s the Chantry Chapel of St Mary the Virgin and was built in the mid 14th century when the stone bridge replaced a wooden one. It is one of only three surviving bridge chapels in England and, with the bridge, is a scheduled ancient monument and a Grade I listed building. The original stonework can be seen at the base, although the upper part, including the west front, was rebuilt in 1847-8

It’s rather dirty, which probably isn’t surprising given its age along with the consequences of the coal mining and industry in the local area.