From suevbutler@compuserve.com Sun Aug 29 11:30:13 1999 Date: Wed, 18 Aug 1999 18:37:06 -0400 From: suevbutler Reply-To: Canals To: Canals Subject: Trip Report - Bingley to Sowerby Bridge Day 7 [ 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. ] Friday 25th June 99 Beyond Sowerby Bridge 7 locks, 6 miles, 5 hours Well, here we are at journey's end???? Not us! We have another 3 days and so the Rochdale beckons. We have work to do first. Now we have found a friendly spot, with a well-equipped boatyard and lots of local boaters we bravely decide it is time to get our fridge working. Neil stripped it down, and got the jets unblocked or something like that. And then reassembled it under the friendly eye of a Corgi gas expert who will remain nameless! Many thanks to him though. He declined to actually do anything, as he would then have had to look at our whole system, but he was more than willing to oversee the process from a distance. Actually, despite her appearance, Jemima seems to have a very good gas system, and it certainly passed the BSC without a murmur! Now, anyone coming this way will need to know that Tuel Lane lock is closed on a Tuesday and Thursday. As Mike has said, last passage is at 4 pm the rest of the week. Also the Lockie is called Howard, and is partial to a can of beer. If you ever pass through, give him a can and send our regards from Jemima D! We set off about midday, and worked up through the first two Rochdale locks, only to meet Howard, walking down for his lunch. So we moored up and kicked our heels in the sunshine until he returned! Tuel Lane is VERY impressive. Under Howard's watchful eye, Jemima rose almost 19 foot, with barely a movement. After some of the wicked locks we have been through in the last few days this seems gentle and stately. A visit to Howard's kiosk furnished us with a weekend license (6 quid a day), and firm instructions to be back for 4 on Sunday! There is a handy supermarket at the top of the lock, but we are soon leaving Sowerby behind, and enjoying the tranquility of the Pennines. We did not enjoy the wire mesh that wrapped itself around our prop. But as it is our first visit to the weedhatch this holiday we can't complain! It had a strange effect, in that it seemed not to slow us down too much, but it messed up the steering so that I could only veer to the right! This made life a bit awkward as the towpath was on the left! Oh well, that's life. We arrived at Hebden Bridge, and decided to stay, despite Howard's warnings that the entire population are on magic mushrooms and will pull out your mooring pins in the night! We visited the local second hand bookshop (still open at 7 in the evening!) and later, the Indian restaurant opposite it. Do not eat in this establishment! It was the most unpleasant Indian meal I have ever attempted to eat. Neither of us could eat much of it, and we both felt quite ill afterwards. Fortunately the delights of the local hostelries soon cured our ills, and we retired to Jemima D for a mushroom-free night. Day 8 to follow Sue and Neil Hungry 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