A tale of two cities

Thursday, 20 August 2009 15:58

Nearly in Leeds via the Leeds and Liverpool Canal

So we have been right down to Liverpool and now we are at the other end of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in Leeds. Liverpool was so obviously a port, near the Irish Sea, and Leeds, although it has excellent travel links, is very much inland! Of course both are "river cities" - the Mersey is better known than the Aire.

But how was our cruise to get here today?

We left Rodley after our delivery of diesel - not in a wheelbarrow, but a van! We had three swing bridges to negotiate before Newlay 3 Locks. The canal sweeps around the River Aire valley and then Newlay Quarry.

I wondered if this house used to be the Quarry Owner's?

We arrived at Newlay 3 Locks, which are controlled by a BW Lock Keeper. He asked us to wait, as he wanted to lock two boats down together. This stretch is a "sensitive" stretch, as there has been problems in the recent past with a damaged gate, lack of water and vandalism. We were happy to wait for a while, especially as it had begun to rain.

Epiphany at top of Newlay Locks

I wandered down to take some photos -

Looking down the three lock staircase

The repaired gate collar and paddle gear on the bottom gate

We waited for about half an hour and no other boat appeared, so John went to find the Lock Keeper to see if we could proceed. We were off and locked down with no problems and on to the next set of locks: Forge 3 Locks, another staircase of three locks. It was raining again!

One of the Lock Keepers had walked down ahead, but there was no sign of him when we arrived!

Forge top lock

John locked us through and the Lockie appeared for the last 2! It was raining again! Talk about sunshine and showers - we had just about dried off and it started again!

The ruin of Kirstall Abbey is the other side of the River Aire. It is 12th century and one of the best preserved Cistercian Monasteries. Unfortunately I could not spot it (I did, but didn't know what it was! Ed.) and pretty soon we were at Kirstall Lock (7). Wow - only one lock! There is an attractive approach to what was Mackeson's Brewery, now student accomodation. How did the advert go? "Think of a Mackeson - tastes good, looks good and, by golly, it does you good"! Go on, say it in your best  Bernard Miles accent!

There are some unloved visitor moorings here, but it is not conducive to mooring here - at least we wouldn't. Anyway the "recommendation" is that boats should take an "uninterrupted passage between Newlay Locks and Granary Wharf", in Leeds.

Old Mackeson Brewery

Soon Leeds was beginning to encroach on the canal on both sides, but I will leave that for the next blog!