The Calder and Hebble

Despite there being a pub beside last night’s mooring we had a quiet night.  I walked to the nearby CRT services block and disposed of the rubbish before we headed off at 9.30am on what turned out to be another long day.

We’re starting to get into a routine with our cruising partners and as a consequence making good progress through the locks.  Ray & Leonie run a slick operation and consequentially we’ve been doing some leap-frogging through the locks.

It was an interesting day with a mixture of deep river cruising and canal.  The locks have also been interesting with variations in length and a variety of paddle mechanisms.

Firefly heads off into the distance on a wide stretch of river

Some of the locks were particularly attractive

We discovered that at three of the locks only one boat would fit.  The problem was with Waiouru.  At 58ft 6ins she would only fit on the diagonal. Care had to be taken with some of the paddle gear.  If opened too quickly there was a likelihood the cratch could get flooded.

The Kiwi handspike received a good workout.  The length provides excellent leverage but on the negative side you need to be careful to avoid splinters from the rough sawn portion.

Jan demonstrates how its done.

So I had to have a play

At one location it appeared the bridge across the river was missing.  The approaches existed but the span across the river had gone.  Another of Beeching’s cuts?

At Mirfield we passed a familiar location.  This where we visited Ledgard Boats when we were looking to identify a preferred boat builder.

Gary Peacock from Ledgard Boats told us that Heron Boats had occupied the same premises before going under.  We believe it was here that Gypsy Rover NZ was built whilst Milly M was built by Ledgard at their former premises not far away.  Oh, one of the locals told us that Robin Hood is buried near Mirfield.

One of the lock landings is in dire need of some TLC

I asked Jan to take a photo looking back towards Cooper Bridge.

Go through the flood gates on the left to Castleford whilst the channel to the right will take you onto the Hudderfield Broad Canal.  We headed straight on staying on the Calder & Hebble.

The plan is to reach Sowerby Bridge tomorrow and the start of the Rochdale Canal.