From suevbutler@compuserve.com Sat Apr 17 16:33:58 1999 Date: Sat, 17 Apr 1999 16:30:19 -0400 From: sue butler Reply-To: canals@blacksheep.org To: Messages for newsgroup , jackie lewis , terry and sue , Mike Casswell , Heather Garey Subject: Easter Trip on Jemima D [The following text is in the "ISO-8859-1" character set] [Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set] [Some characters may be displayed incorrectly] Hello all, Just a short trip report of our eventful 24 hours afloat over Easter... Jemima D has been moored at Bingley (just above the 5 rise) for the winter, and has had a bit of a sprucing up - we have repainted both outside and in, and generally tidied her up. Those of you who have seen her will know that this was long overdue! We also have done a number of jobs towards her BSC, and there are still a couple of things outstanding - such as the gas bottles which have been much discussed. (It looks as though we are going for a simple chain and hook arrangement). But when Easter weekend came we felt it was time to ignore the outstanding work and go for a short jaunt, so all was arranged. We took some friends with us - Gerry and Brenda. Now, Gerry has been itching to go on Jemima D ever since we first bought our share. Brenda was not so sure! Still, they had found a babysitter for their two young children, and they were finally joining us. Gerry didn't finish his shift til lunchtime on Friday, so it was 4 o'clock before we cast off to travel up the L&L to Silsden. But the weather was lovely, and we couldn't have wished for a nicer evening to cruise. They were horrified to find that we had to swing the bridges across roads with traffic on - but were soon happy to take their turn once they realised that they weren't subject to abuse by irate motorists! This is a lovely stretch, with beautiful scenery, and we enjoyed seeing the first signs of spring - green shoots on the trees, the lambs in the fields, the golfers on the golf course, and the joggers and dog walkers out in force. Gerry was soon at the tiller, and quickly got the hang of it, Brenda was less sure, and preferred to sit at the bow watching the world go by. We broke open some tinnies to celebrate Easter, and all was right with the world. There are 8 swing bridge in the 6 miles between Bingley and Silsden - some electric with a BW key, some manual needing a handcuff key, so there was never much time to rest! By the time we got to Silsden we had worked up quite a thirst! We passed the Bridge Inn, and winded just beyond. The canal is quite wide here, so plenty of room for us to wind. There is also a row of new houses, with a little terrace down onto the canalside. Outside one of the houses a woman in her dressing gown was obviously concerned for the health of a lady duck... she had clearly not understood the laws of nature and thought that the drake was attacking the female! Throwing stones at him was not cooling his ardour one little bit! We returned to the handy mooring beside the garden of the Bridge Inn, and went to sample the delights of Blacksheep Ales. Nicholsons said they did food, but that wasn't true! So we went into Silsden to find a clutch of takeaways - Indian, Chinese, Fish and Chips, Pizza, Kebabs - all within a short stretch, very handy. We debated and ended up in the Chinese, and it was very good. Back to the Bridge Inn for a pleasant evening, and then a short stagger home to bed. In the morning we breakfasted and set off back to Bingley, where we were due to hand over Jemima to another couple for the rest of the weekend. Back through the swing bridges we went (I prefer locks any day!) It was warm and sunny - T-shirt weather! When we reached Riddlesden we stopped at the excellent Marquis of Granby for lunchtime refreshment, and at the handy little fish shop (just down the hill) for fish and chip butties! (Healthy are we on Jemima D!) Only three more bridges.. it shouldn't take us more than an hour... no hurry... how wrong you can be... The first bridge was fine ( apart from the fact that this stretch is dog walker country YUK), on to the next. Sods law said it was my turn ... I put in my key, I pushed the button, the barriers came down, the bridge began to drop, the bridge stopped dropping, and ... nothing happened! I kept my finger on the button, but it was not budging. I decided to re-open the bridge, so I tried the other button... nothing happened! Neil came to see what was going on, and tried to shift it... nothing happened. Oh dear. The traffic was building up, so we walked up and down the queues telling them the bridge was stuck, and phoned BW. BW said it was a council bridge, but they would contact the council. The scenario was set to match Gerry and Brenda's worst nightmare - but all the motorists were very good tempered about it, and were resigned to their fate of turning round and finding another route. The two buses found it a bit more difficult to turn, and one by one their passengers gave up and set off on foot! Three small boys happily took on traffic duty, and Neil, Gerry and Brenda retired to Jemima D. Meanwhile, I was walking back to the boatyard to explain why we weren't there to Sarah and Pete! Once I had reassured them that Jemima wasn't far away I drove the car back to the bridge only to find them all gone, and an engineer grumpily working the bridge. A lady from one of the houses nearby had come out and was haranging the engineer. Apparently they had had the same trouble the day before and she was fed up with cars turning in her drive! I decided to disappear quietly and return to the boatyard. While I had been away from Jemima, Gerry and Brenda, fretting about their babysitter, and not knowing how long we would be stuck, had also walked back to the boatyard, and collecting their car, had gone home. I returned to the yard, to find their car gone, and no Jemima! I was momentarily confused, but then it clicked... However, once I realised the sequence of events I also realised that Neil had another swing bridge to negotiate, on his own! Sarah, Pete and I were just about to set off to walk to it, when he came into view. Now, Neil has discovered the easy way to manage swing bridges when single handed, he found a willing local, who was also a boater, who also had a BW key, and got them to work it for him! (He told them his crew had abandoned him!) We took our belongings out of Jemima, and helped Sarah and Pete load theirs, had a cup of tea, and set off home. Sue and Neil Swingers are we on Jemima D