Aspley and Battyeford

And so on up the Huddersfield broad canal as far as that fair city which proves, in the form of Aspley Basin, to have a superb boat-friendly, canal-facing centre where we can turn around, moor up, refill with water and buy provisions. There's a stiff breeze blowing, sometimes across the canal, sometimes straight at us down the cut. Dad says this makes helming more interesting as you have to crab down the canal at an angle, and any low speed stuff around locks has you going sideways. Didn't look that difficult to me! Just an excuse to hang onto the helm as far as we could see!

We moor for the night near Battyeford having made our way back down the HBC and then turned right out of the Calder into the eastbound bit of canal. It's here that I allegedly fell in, trying to do a misjudged leap from bank to fore-deck and slipping short, plopping straight in. It is alleged I then swam very professionally forward about 10 feet to a low bit of bank where Dad could haul me out by the collar. As I said, though, no photo's to prove that.

The humans have been enjoying getting into reading chunks of Terry Pratchett books to the girls at bedtime. The girls can, of course, read quite happily for themselves, but this has become a good family entertainment. The humans are taking it in turns and are enjoying the Scottish voices of Pratchett's fictional swearing-fighting-drinking-thieving "pictsies", the Nac Mac Feegles. If that means nothing to you then grab a copy of Terry Pratchett's "Hat Full of Sky" or "Wintersmith". Great fun!

Deefski