icescream tugboat

[loribear]

Hi all , yesterday we went to skipton, it's a lovely little place , we saw loads of barges what wd thought were holiday ones , but they were actually dayboats, & we thought the broads was the only place to have an icescream boat, but apparently not, we saw this little tugboat selling ices & teas, quite a cute little tug lol, lori

[Hockham Admiral]

Lovely pic, Lori!

 

Nice to see you online again!  

[ranworthbreeze]

I Lori,

 

Skipton is a great place to visit and is perfect for an overnight stay. I hope you called into (well just outside Bingley) to have a look at the five and three rise locks.

 

Here is a couple of pictures from the 2012 open days at the locks.

 

 

 

Regards

Alan

[loribear]

Hi alan , great pics, no we did'nt call there but will do next time, we ERM , went abit further than that , we actually ended up at kendal lol, what a horrible place, it took us 3 attempts to find the damn carpark lol. Lori

[ranworthbreeze]

Hi Lori,

 

At one time the parking used to be in the centre of the town, the last time we went there we parked in the Kay's Centre car park, looked around the shopping centre and then walked back into the town.

 

So are you heading up to the Lakes? or was it just a day trip.

 

Regards

Alan

[loribear]

Hi alan , it erm , was just meant to be abit of a run out for the day lol, but we went too far as usual. It took us about nearly 3 hours to get back, it was a tiring day lol. Lori

[Hylander]

Thank you Loribear for the photos etc.     Yes we stayed this time last year in the Lakes and found exactly the same.    Lots of traffic, but the scenery is wonderful.    

[loribear]

Hi hylander, yes the scenery is beautiful up there, i was very surprised at how many of those barges were just day boats, & they'd not got many out either, here's a pic of them . Lori

[CooWee]

Good evening ladies,

 

There is an alternative if you are ever up this way again, you could try the Dales.  For brevity I'll cut corners, take the A65 past Kirkby Lonsdale(there is a nicer way than that going through a place called Horton) and eventually take a left turn to Thornton-in-Lonsdale.  The church is where Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle got married and a nice pub called The Marston Arms.  Continue up the hill and when you get to the top you'll find Ingleborough to your right and a short distance away the back door to Ingleton Falls, just whisper it though, going that way means you don't have to pay.     On your left is where potholers do their thing. Carry on along a winding road until you arrive at a gate the first of three after the third press on a bit until you get to the head of Rosedale and a really lovely view, particularly if there is white fluffy stuff about.  Carry on and you'll come to an attractive fairy glen type place, keep going until you get to a T junction, left is to Dent and Sedbergh, we are going right, eventually you'll pass below Dent Station, the highest in England and continue to Hawes where you can reward yourselves with some splendid fish and chips.  Follow this with a quick trip to Wensleydale Creamery. Leave Hawes the way you came in but turn left to Ingleton, eventually Ribblehead Viaduct will hove into view and shortly after the Ribblehead Viaduct will be a right turn to the little chapel that Michael Portillo showed in his railway series.

 

If anyone wants a guided tour, we'd be happy to do so if available, it is a nice day out.

 

I'm off now, so sleep well.

 

Keith

[Siddy]

Hi Lori, That good clear day you had. If you were to drive from Leeds to Skipton it's about 1hr but by boat 2 days and a lot of work on the locks, the swingbridges have improved now some electric, I remember years ago there were some green ones and you had to wait for a car to cross to get it rocking to be able to push it.

 

Alan did you get down the lock? I saw the line up then got to the top of the locks and how far it went. The tow path was full. I remember one year Barry the lock keeper was off and another one bottomed our boat in the lock 3. Lets say glad I was at the top.

[ranworthbreeze]

Hi Siddy,

 

We bit the bullet and joined the queue and walked through all of the five locks in the upper staircase (five rise) it was very interesting to see the condition of the stonework on these locks.

 

We had our yearly canal holiday on the Leeds Liverpool Canal the previous year in 2011.

It is a bit different being at the bottom of the lock and thinking of all the water that is above you.

 

Here is a few pictures of us on the canal going through the locks.

 

Regards

Alan

 

 

[Hylander]

Thank you CooWee   for the info.     I assume this is a road trip.    Am not up to walking a lot these days.    If we are up that way at all we will certainly be bringing your info with us.

 

 

Lori -   so you can hire a canal boat for the day?

[ranworthbreeze]

Hello Hylander,

 

Please find the following link for Pennine Cruisers for information and prices on their day boats.

http://www.penninecruisers.com/day_boat_hire.htm

Also information on Snaygill Boats.

http://www.snaygillboats.co.uk/day_boats.htm

Regards

Alan

[loribear]

Hi alan , great pics , looks abit like a narrow version of the cromwell lock, which was my pet hate, it's funny but just looking at that pic brought back the memories of the smell them locks used to have lol , hylander yes you can hire them for the day, there is some small ones you can hire too, lori

[loribear]

Hi coowee, thanks for the info , i'll save it on my phone for when we go up there again, i did'nt know that conan doyle got wed up there , i thought he was a london man, i happen to be a sherlock fan, well benedict cuberbatch fan lol, lori

[Siddy]

I hired `Toby` day boat from Snaygill yard 2 years ago, better boat than Pennine Skipton day boat and a good run heading into the open with easy bridges.

[CooWee]

Good evening 'aitch,

 

One of the points I wanted make in that post was that is little traffic on that route even on Bank Holidays.  Hawes can be busy with motor cyclists gathering, but no horror jobs like elsewhere in the country.  There is very little walking, I am in the same boat (just realised what I wrote, excuse the pun ) in that regard the view at Rosedale is just a walk across the road, you can park at the fairy glen place. Hawes - the fish and shop is down some stairs from the car park, which is above it.  There is parking at Ribblehead Viaduct and park outside the little chapel.

 

Hello Alan and Siddy, thanks for that info, I had a look at those websites Alan and Siddy, Snaygill seems a bit cheaper as well.  I have never helmed a narrow boat and look forward to giving a bash .

 

You are welcome loribear, so Benedict is your man eh!

 

While I am here or heea as my daughter-in-law says; I think it is one of the strengths of this forum that we can talk about subjects and places other than the Norfolk Broads, nice though they are and I have been positive about Norfolk since 1967.

 

Keith

[ranworthbreeze]

Hello Keith,

 

We have hired from Snaygill twice, once in the early 90's and again in 2011 in all we have been on the Leeds Liverpool canal four times over the years.

It is well worth a visit, but for your first visit I would suggest the Trent & Mersey or the Llangollen canal due to the single width locks (7ft) rather than the double locks on some of the other canals.

 

Regards

Alan

[CooWee]

Thanks again Alan, for the info.

 

Too many locks would be a problem.  There is a canal near here, that is a contour canal and doesn't have any locks, The Lancaster Canal, and it runs for fortytwo miles from the centre of Preston to a place called Tewitfield.  It used to run to Kendal apparently, but a certain Lord Prescott messed up I am told and that is why it now stops at Tewitfield.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tewitfield

 

Keith

[ranworthbreeze]

Hi Keith,

He are some links to boat hire companies on the Lancaster Canal, I have never been on this canal but have seen signs of it from the motorways .

http://www.arlen-hireboats.co.uk/

http://www.lancastercanalboathire.com/

http://www.water-babies.co.uk/

http://www.waterfarmboathire.co.uk/

http://www.pintailboats.co.uk/lancaster-canal-holidays/

You may find other dayboat hire companies, but I suspect the above will be the main companies.

Regards

Alan

[Hylander]

The idea of 'no locks' is an attractive one.        Can I just ask are there any of the peskie 'lift bridges' as they have on the Llangollen?       These can be a pain when there is just two of you and two not very agile people at that.    

[CooWee]

Hi Alan,

 

Thanks for all that.

 

Best wishes,

 

Keith

[ranworthbreeze]

Hi Hylander,

 

The Nicholson's guide just shows normal bridges and pipe bridges, but there is a lot of them 138 according to the guide. If you go up the Glasson Branch (2 & 3/4 miles) there is 6 locks.

 

We like a few locks and do not mind the swing and lift bridges, some of the swing bridges on the Leeds Liverpool Canal can be a bit tricky, jumping up and down on the end of the bridge does help, well sometimes.

 

How did you find the electric bridge on the Llangollen?

 

Regards

Alan

[Hylander]

Well as i cannot recall the bridge so it cannot have been a problem.      I had a bad accident one day into our trip , did a very silly thing.  Forgot just how much one of these narrow boats weighs and I tried to stop it as hubby came into moor ,  and having the rope wrapped around my hand (please dont anyone ever do this) of course the rope was through the mooring ring and the rope got tighter and tighter around my hand , boat never stopped and I ended up flying through the air onto the toe path with my hand pouring with blood as the rope had near to cut one of my fingers off.   The Shrop Doc was sent for an I ended up in hospital that night being stitched up.       Of course after that trying to manage lift bridges with practically one hand , no it was no good me steering either, it became a matter of waiting until others came along and they helped us.

 

As I say never ever wrap a rope around your hand, the trouble you just dont think.   I now have one finger that half way up has no feeling in it at all but it is still intact and is my wedding ring finger so that night the first thing they did was take it off, it was either it came off or it was cut off, so all my married life I had never taken it off and that was that gone.     I guess the true meaning of the word accident.

 

However not to be put off,   we have our Broads boat and am seriously looking into a holiday on the Lancaster Canal and thank you for pointing it out.   I have contacted Pintail Boats and they are sending me some literature.     Now that canal looks lovely.   I am not into towns like Birmingham as I have said before but this looks lovely.

[ranworthbreeze]

Hi M,

 

I liked your post but sympathise with your accident.

 

Yes a 20 ton plus boat is hard to stop and coming in to moor is using loads of reverse once you have a line ashore, the second time we went on the Leeds Liverpool Canal when the children were in their early teens I had spent most of the week constantly warning them about the ropes, bollards and mooring rings.

Needless to say I was the one who ended up at the hospital with the dislocated finger. I put it back in place myself, but Tan said off to the hospital, we were in the middle of know where.

So 4 hours plus later, we were back on the boat with my finger taped to the next one.

 

Do you find the none feeling is worse when it is cold?

 

I hope you manage to get on this canal and if you do can you please let us know what it was like and maybe a few pictures.

 

Regards

Alan