Falling Royd Tunnel

Days 2 and 3 of the narrow boating saga and the adventure begins in earnest. Our first choice to do the Pennine Ring of canals clockwise is thwarted by a broken lock cill (more accurately the threshold of the cill) near Huddersfield which will have closed the canal just when we wanted to ascend through it, so we are on plan B, the same route anticlockwise. We must ascend to the summit of the Rochdale canal where we are booked through on Thursday.

But first, let me introduce young Maxwell who readers nwill have only seen as a small ball of white fluff curled up among the cats at Steak Lady's abode. Look at him now - a fine figure of a man at only 7 months old, almost the same size as me. That's him on the right. He's good fun and great company, all be it I have to shout at him now and again when he gets a bit too uppity or tries to take over my Dad's lap or his bit of the seats. Green Eye? Moi?

Here too, we meet two human characters and another dog, who will be very much part of this circumnavigation. "Commander Dave" and his wife Fran, plus collie cross Bonnie are in a baby-sister ship the "Oxford" and are doing the same route as us with the same bookings through pinch points, so the rules are we should pair up through locks to save water. It is brilliant, in these cases, if the paired boat crew are good, nice people as you are going to spend a fair amount of time with them and co-operate. Conversely it is a real pain if they are incompatible, as we have seen in the past but superbly, this time, we get lucky and Dave and Fran are great fun, easy to work with, a lovely couple, and we dogs quickly get on with Bonnie, who is a natural at hopping on and off boats and nipping round locks, bridges, towpaths etc.

So, on Tuesday we leave Brearly and chug gently upwards in good weather through Mytholmroyd (where Dad is proud to have not hit anything in the first big helming challenge, Falling Royd Tunnel - from blazing sun to pitch black just as the canal, in the dark does 4 turns inside the narrow tunnel!) and Hebden Bridge as far as Todmorden, where we moor by the "Great Wall". On Wednesday we move on again up through Gauxholm to the pre-summit pound from where we can walk back to the famous Grandma Pollards chippie (an annual treat).

This pond is very low, with great dry mud banks either side on top of one of which is perched a cruiser completely high and dry. We plough the mud and manage to get our bow against the bank so that we can get on and off, but the stern has to sit out mid channel on a long rope and we all sleep the night at a rather jaunty angle, bows high and listing considerably to port!

At one stage both Maxwell and Bonnie try swimming for a laugh, Max lepping unseen from the back deck into a lock so that Dad, helming, is only aware of his going from the sploosh noise, but can quickly wrangle him back onto the deck, grabbing him by the collar - no harm done. Bonnie does hers trying to leap from boat to boat and we all see her go.

Lucky we brought dog towels

Deefs

Narrow Boating

Yes, readers, You'll know by now that we have been absent for 2 weeks on our standard family holiday, narrow boating round the canals of Yorkshire with the Silverwoods with, this time, two extra passengers.

The Silverwoods brought along their new dog, Maxwell, he of the night time commando raids covered in this blog 6 months ago. This poor little mite has now been bought, rejected and moved on several times in his short life, so the Silverwoods have now adopted him and agreed with everybody involved that this is now for ever and he is now owned by them so that he can have a secure and safe home for ever more. There's no more "Oh, we think we might like to try him back now". Also on the trip came that bl***y gnome. I'm going to have to have words with him. Thinks he can take over my blog, huh? We'll see about that.

So, it was the usual set up. We hire the boat from Shire Cruisers in Sowerby Bridge who are, as always, brilliant. We cannot praise them highly enough for their boats, friendly service, booking all the 'pinchpoints' like access over controlled summits and through restricted tunnels, etc. We hire the 56 foot 8-10 berth job 'Northumberland' because we like the fact that you can see straight down the length of it from the central front door to the central rear companionway, so it's easy for the humans to count children and dogs in a hurry. Other boats have doors to the side of a corridor which moves from port to starboard, but that's just our preference. The picture here shows her in the basin at Sowerby Bridge waiting for us to load.

The first day is all about packing the car, loading dogs and driving North - it's about 4 and a half hour's driving, Kent to Sowerby Bridge and on this occasion we get there before the Silverwoods, who are coming over from Ireland, so we're embarked and stuff stowed, sitting having a coffee and then the pre-flight briefing when they arrive. There is thorough training but now after 6 years we only get the refresher version, sign all the paperwork and take over our boat. We are doing the Pennine Ring anti clockwise, so we're off round through Tuel tunnel lock and on up to Brearly for our first, quite easy day. We moor, as usual by the school playing fields, so that kids can let off stream running round on the grass and paddling in the stream, and we dogs can get to know Maxwell.

Properly under way tomorrow.

Deefs

The Rain Starts

Approaching the end of the holiday now, sad to say, and also one day closer to me having to reveal all on a story my Dad (ahhh... my Hero) maybe'd rather I didn't tell... a tale of muppetry and of failing to take one's own advice. Do as I say, not as I do, and all that, but that's for tomorrow. Tonight I am full of the leavings of an allotments barbeque (dubious lamby kebab things, chicken, burger) and rather sleepy, so I will relate only one day's worth.

We were, you will recall, moored under the big impressive railway viaduct in Gauxholme. We must chug gently down through Todmorden, where the gang all disembark to shop, leaving us tied up under a rather inpressive fishy "muriel" - big stainless steel fish on a wall made from "gambion" baskets (baskets of rocks). You can get to the other side of the canal to photo this wall by a rather nifty horse-tunnel let down through the drop from the guillotine lock (Lock 19, Todmorden Library Lock).

Shopped out, we chug on to Hebden Bridge for another quick halt, where all the Silverwoods vanish in a suspiciously orchestrated exit seeking milk shakes, leaving Mum with baby R and a rather noxious nappy to change. Coincidence? The Bio-hazard squad in their space suits did not think so.

It's mid afternoon by now and the bright sunshine sadly gives up on us. In scenes reminiscent of last year, Dad is in his poncho (still keeps the straw hat on though) and Mr S in his Liverpool FC rainwear, while all the women and we dogs are indoors, as the rain comes down in sheets. We moor up in Brearley just as the boys, all very wet and chilly by now, are starting to lose their senses of humour.

Another good day.

Deefski