Yorkshire - Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day

Thou art more lovely and more temperate.  Well, let's face it, anything is more lovely and more temperate than the current UK summer (and I use that term loosely!!) conditions :( It rained heavily through Thursday night and all day Friday, so I sat like a hermit waiting for my ray of sunshine to return home that evening.  We treated ourselves to a lovely meal in The Bistro in Skipton, where the waiter accidentally put our order in his pocket instead of to the kitchen, so gave us some complimentary wine to make up for our wait.  On Saturday we got a pumpout (must have been the wine) and some diesel and moved onto the 24 hour moorings at the entrance to the Springford Arm

Lovely central mooring in Skipton

 We had booked train tickets for the Saturday to go from Skipton to Carlisle, which takes in the scenic Settle-Carlisle line across the Dales.  However, Pigeon-gate almost scuppered our plans.  Having moored up, as above, the first thing I saw was a wee puffed-up, very uncomfortable looking pigeon.  I went out and it was alive but didn't move when I went close.  I put some seed down to it which it ate, but as the other pigeon's also gathered to feast, they started beating this one up.  Mike phoned the RSPCA and they said someone would come out at 6pm that evening, could we contain it.  Well, this was 12 noon and our train was at half 1.  We said we'd do what we could - realising that we may end up spending the afternoon watching a pigeon in a box instead of lovely scenery from a train window!!  A local couple had appeared to feed the ducks, as they did everyday, and said the Wee Pigeon had been there all week.  It was its feet :(  They were all green and swollen and scabby - some sort of infection I guess - bumblefoot??  So it couldn't walk, so wasn't feeding and was very weak.  The couple on the boat in front found a box and some old towels, so we prepared to 'contain' WP.  She wasn't for going in the box and made a huge effort and flew up, away and landed on the roof of the boathouse across the canal :(  And that was that.  We had to cancel the RSPCA and we never saw Wee again.  I like to think that she made some startling recovery and is currently enjoying being fed in Skipton...... Meanwhile, it was 1.15pm and we ran for the train.
It was worth running for:

Not only was there a trolley service on the train, they were selling local home-made ice cream from it!!!

Out of the right window.

And from the left...

 It was a lovely journey with the sky going from clear blue to stormy black and adding to the beauty of the countryside.  We wish we could have done the journey on a steam train but the one running hadn't worked out timewise for us :(
Sunday we took a short scenic hop to Kildwick, where we met up with Kathleen and John and where the local ducks made themselves at home on the front deck.

Mike's turn to operate one of the many swing bridges.

"You're not allowed bread so you'll have cake and tea and be done with it!"

 We were now on our way to Leeds, very slowly as we didn't want to be there til the end of the week.  It is such a lovely part of the country that it's really easy just to dawdle along.

Monday night's mooring near Riddlesden golf course.

 As we've just been doing short days, we've had a chance to catch up on the boat maintenance and got one side of the boat's blacking touched up (above the water line only!!).  I'd got a coat of varnish on the windows, so we were quite pleased with ourselves, and the weather that had allowed these tasks to be done.  On Monday evening I decided to go for a short run, but when I got back to the boat, my GPS tracker showed I had run 6.49 miles in 49 mins and 42 seconds!!!!  I was really pleased with myself.
Tuesday, the forecast looked dry all day, so I started to rub back the shutters to get a coat of varnish on them.  However, no sooner had I got them sanded back, I felt spots of rain.  Well, it came on, and it stayed on, getting heavier and heavier, and yet, the Met Office App on my phone was still showing No Rain for the rest of the day!!!  Grrrrrr...... we had to close the shutters to protect them as we made our way to the top of the Bingley Five Rise Locks.
Wednesday dawned bright and reasonably warm and we rewarded ourselves (for what?? Getting up before 9??) with a cooked breakfast at the top lock cafe while we filled with water.  Mike's friend Fran was joining us for the day as he was keen to see the locks in action.  By the time we were ready to go, NB Nutmeg and her crew had arrived so we had someone to lockshare with and with three lockies on duty we were down the flight in a blink of an eye.

Locking down the Bingley Five Rise with NB Nutmeg

Bingley Five Rise is a staircase flight, which means you come straight of one lock into the next.  This is a very steep flight so it was good to have the wonderful lockies on hand to assist.

 We continued on through Saltaire, Shipley, Apperley Bridge and moored in the middle of nowhere.  The sunny day had typically turned to rain in the early afternoon, so we were all quite pleased to pull up.

Fran at the helm coming through Saltaire.

 On Thursday (that'll be today!), we decided to come into Leeds.  There were a couple of staircase flights to come through, assisted by some more obliging lockies and some more swing bridges.  As boaters, we are advised not to stop overnight in Kirkstall, and the lock keeper there said the neds usually appear around 1pm, at which point he locks all the anti-vandal locks up again between boats (having left them unlocked in between in the morning).  The thing is, it's a really pretty bit of canal, but apparently a rather rough housing estate is just the other side of the pretty woods.

Coming through Kirkstall

 

Leeds Industrial Museum in a lovely setting on the outskirts of the city.

And suddenly you're out of the woods and into Leeds!!

Our mooring in Leeds at Granary Wharf.

We're planning to be in Leeds over the weekend if anyone is around and fancies a visit?!?! ;)  Then we will  be storing Quaintrelle in a marina for a week or so whilst Mike goes to work and I go to find new tenants for the flat in Edinburgh.  
Meanwhile, if anyone in Skipton sees a Wee Pigeon with sore feet, please look after it ;)