From suevbutler@compuserve.com Mon Jul 5 18:54:56 1999 Date: Mon, 5 Jul 1999 18:26:42 -0400 From: sue butler Reply-To: Canals To: Canals Subject: Trip Report - Jemima D goes from Bingley - Sowerby Bridge - Day 2 [ 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. ] Sunday 20th June 99 Rodley - Leeds 12 locks (including two 3 rise and a 2 rise), 2 swing bridges, 7 miles, 5 hours Familiar territories and a flood We are greeted this morning with nice weather and, unexpectedly, two extra crew - Janet's sister Margaret and her granddaughter Leanne. They had walked down to Rodley so that Leanne could see Jemima, but our invitation to join us for a few hours was accepted immediately. Leanne is delighted to be given a lifejacket, and is thrilled with the prospect of a ride on a boat. Rodley was a good mooring - handy pub with good food, and for those of us with only basic facilities on board, a basic but clean public loo! Basic shops nearby too. We set off for Newlay, where we are joining familiar territory, having spent a pleasant weekend last year on Stella from Newlay to Mirfield. This section is very familiar to Janet too, as she grew up in this part of Leeds and played in the by-washes as a child. She remembered jumping onto coal barges and getting a ride from one lock to another. But there was hardly any traffic today. Through Bramley Fall the canal is remote, and Leeds barely impinges on our consciousness. We met a boat between Newlay and Forge 3 rises, and they shouted something to us. At the time we <> they said they had left the gate open for us, but actually we decided later that they must have said that they had left a paddle open! Our progress through Forge Locks was slowed by the fact that the top ground paddle had indeed been left open, and the resulting excess of water flooded the bottom lock. While Neil closed the offending paddle, I quickly waded down, and standing ankle deep in water lifted the paddles up just in time to stop a major flood in Kirkstall! The whole business took longer than it might because of the anti-vandal locks which are a constant feature of this stretch. Hitchhikers At Kirkstall we could see the impressive ruins of Kirkstall Abbey to our left, and we stopped by bridge 222 and emerged blinking like moles into the traffic. Crossing the busy junction we found the 'Bridge Inn' - one of my old haunts when I lived less than a mile from here! This is a nice pub, but I am not sure whether this would make a good overnight mooring, better to stop for lunchtime refreshment as we did. Leanne and Margaret left us here, and the four of us continued on to Leeds. We picked up a couple of hitch-hikers at Oddy 2 rise. Yvette and Mark were travelling down to Leeds basin in a little rubber dinghy, and were so full of questions about narrowboats we put the dinghy on the roof and gave them a ride! Through here we pass within a hundred yards from my office, a fact I chose to ignore! We soon reached office lock and Leeds basin. I know that many people prefer the new Armories mooring, but Leeds basin is much more evocative, with the old warehouse, the dark arches and the station announcements. We were the only boat overnighting here, but it felt very safe and secure. Ray, Janet and I did a quick car shuffle, enabling me to leave my car in our office car park for the week, and they set off for home. Their introduction to boating may have been traumatic, but they appear to have enjoyed their weekend. Janet loved working locks, and Ray was by now very competent on the tiller. They assured us they would happily come again! Leeds City Centre is a strange place on a Sunday evening, but Neil and I found congenial Italian restaurant (La Comida) and finished up in the Grove. The Grove deserves a mention. It is a traditional pub, all that is left of the original streets in this part of Leeds, it now occupies a corner of the car park in the shiny new HQ of Asda supermarkets, just South of Leeds basin. A notable part of the Leeds live music scene, it has live music most nights, except Sunday, and is an old haunt of Mark Knopfler, who is known to just turn up there to play on occasions. It is a warren of little rooms with cosy fireplaces, and always a joy. Those of you who like live bands, good beer and a warm welcome at a really old-fashioned City Pub should visit it. We returned to Jemima at her deserted mooring, and slept peacefully. Day 3 to follow^Å Sue and Neil Contented were we on Jemima D --- The UK Waterways Network - http://www.ukwaterways.net/ * bringing the inland waterways community together * You are currently subscribed to canals as: george@adiva.com To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-canals-407N@ukwaterways.net