New for this year, on 6 & 7 night cruises, we are now doing an Italian themed night.
So plenty of Italian food, Italian wine and Italian music, I even try to serve the dishes using their Italian names!
It’s fun to have a bit of variation and to challenge Gina with managing to put it all together.
Saluti
What an incredible sky over the Marina.
Starting a few jobs on the boat as we begin to ready her for the new season.
It’s always amazing how quickly the new season comes around.
Stopping for lunch today at a great spot , see picture below, I also did a short bit of video and added it to YouTube follow this link Lady Teal Video to see it. We do have a YouTube channel, just look up Lady Teal and you can subscribe, we will add videos regularly for those who want to follow what we do and generally see the great stuff we pass through. Hopefully they will be interesting, and bear with me because I will get better at it, promise!
We passed this set of cygnets when they were just hatched and were with mum some days later we were going the same way and they were all out and about, lovely.
This is a great time of year with all the babies appearing.
We came up Wigan yesterday, 26 locks in about 3 and a half hours not too shabby!
What is there not to like on a glorious day like today as we pass through Wigan.
Well last night was a lovely sunset and watching all the Black Headed gulls swooping over the flashes catching bugs, gorgeous.
Then one of those great mornings when the mist rises gently over the canal, we’ve not got a bad job!
Happy St Georges day
It really is a lovely day here today, suns out, ducklings appearing and the Bluebells starting in the woods, just lovely!
Well what a day, great weather and the Wigan flight, plus a few round the corner.
We also did it in a record time for us, 3 hours 15 minutes, sorry crew on the last record!
Lovely surprise to meet Kennet, the historic Leeds Liverpool short boat coming up the flight.
She is a great boat , built 1947, and kept in great shape by the Leeds Liverpool canal society.
We do enjoy doing Wigan as it is such a lovely flight, yes some locks are heavy but the views more than make up for it.
What a glorious morning it is here on the Leeds Liverpool.
There may be too many Canada geese around England but it is still fun watching them take off
Well it may be too early to call summer but we have had some great weather.
Coming up out of Leeds on the Leeds Liverpool morning coffee and cookies was had on the roof deck. Next will be the cygnets then the Kingfishers will be back, that’s when it really is summer on a hotel boat!
Following on from an incredible sunset in Leeds we have had a glorious day to climb up the various staircase locks out of Leeds to end up in great countryside. The green route out of Leeds is truly lovely. We are now just past Rodley in the countryside with cows sipping from the canal and Moor Hens making nests, it relly is wondrful, loving being back at work!!
Decorating Lady Teal end to end has begun! All part of the many off season bits of work that have to be done.
Glen and her husband Ian working hard to help us keep the boat looking good, thanks guys.
Gala dinner for Leeds Liverpool Bicentenary last night, great fun.
@LLCanalSociety @CRTNorthWest #Ll200 #Kennet on the Leeds Liverpool with Kennet
Many thanks to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal Society who hosted me on board Kennet for one day of her epic end to end trip to celebrate the bi-centenary of the opening of the full length of the canal in October 1816.
I did the run from Greenberfield to the bottom of Barrowford locks, starting in the sunshine and ending in the rain! Great run and fabulous to go through the tunnel as a passenger this time.
It is a great voyage and has even got coverage in the national press. So many people, school children and others coming out to cheer her through. Also a lot of church bells being rung, which is quite magical. A huge effort of planning and a lot of effort and time undertaking the voyage, well done one and all.
There was also quite a flotilla along with them including two other Leeds Liverpool short boats, including Ribble who has been along the length with a cargoe of sand.
It took from the 1770’s through to 1816 before the canal was completed, I am sure arguments between those in Yorkshire and those in Lancashire had nothing to do with the delay. It actually came down to the problems with finance, the Napoleonic wars and the American war of independence. But after working out how they can use some of the canal already built by the Lancaster canal company and amending the route for new coalfields it was finally completed to much acclimation and helped with the industrial growth in the region and the success of Liverpool docks.
Tonight is the Gala celebration ball, looking forward to it.
Well the day started well with a lovely morning on the curly wurlies, then it was sunshine, showers and rainbows.
I do wonder how much the working boatmen enjoyed the scenery. Whilst they worked hard the environment was quiet for the horse drawn boats and helming, whilst hard work on a big boat does give you time to think and ponder. Though they were probably concerned at getting this load delivered as quickly as possible so they could do the next one. Locks etc are a bit of fun for us but were just a delay for them as they tried to press on. Even more so for the flyboats who frequently left paddles up and bridges open! Also we complain about the state of things sometimes, though since CRT it is much improved, but looking at old pictures and reading stuff things were not always so great then, and certainly the boatmen were not gentle with stuff!
What a gorgeous morning. Lady Teal is moored overlooking the Dales on what are know locally as the curly wurlies. The canal meanders around the high contour avoiding the need for locks, aqueducts or tunnels. Lovely for us but the boatmen hated it as it added a good mile to their journeys. they wanted something done about it but it was just not economic to do anything, thank goodness!
On Lady Teal we love the little flight at Bank Newton. It wends its way up the hill and presents lovely views of the Dales as we go.
So, for this year at least, we wish them a fond farewell as we make our up heading for Lancashire on the penultimate cruise of the season. What a lovely day, between the odd shower or two.
For a few years now some geese, now down to one, have been hanging around with a pair of swans on the Leeds Liverpool near Rodley. Before the swans had young the geese would swim in between the swans like cygnets do. But then the swans had some young and the geese were relegated to the rear! One of the geese has disappeared but the other stills hangs around. The swans tolerate it, but will chase it away from food. I don’t know if the goose thinks it is a swan or not but they all seem quiet happy together, rather cute.
#WTY #HotelBoat
Great for the guests on Lady Teal to see historic Leeds & Liverpool shortboat Ribble doing a loaded run along the L&L for the bi-centenary. 32 tons of sand going from down on the Aire and Caldr across to Liverpool, brilliant. First time we have seen an L&L short loaded up and going along.
Another brilliant overnight mooring for Lay teal on the Lees Liverpool heading down toward Bingley, so down the wonderful Five Rise tomorrow.
A lovely lunch spot on the Leeds Liverpool.
Apply lock is a single deep lock though in the past, to save water two individual locks were put in operation. Unfortunately these are now in disprepair, but it does make a lovely spot for lunch.
A beer, glass of wine and a lovely lunch on Lady Teal, so the guests say!
John Longbotham was the canal engineer put in charge of the building of the Leeds Liverpool. As you can imagine this was a bit of an interesting one given it was necessary to team up Lancastrians and Yorkshiremen! To try and deal with this in a balance way they stare at both side of the country. In Lancashire that , for some reason, was not at Liverpool but was at Haskayne. One of the few cuttings through a hill, maybe they wanted the stone.
We went through Halsall today and we love the memorial to the men who built the canal . The Navvy , by Thomas Dagnall, is in Millstone Grit and is brilliant. Whilst most people believe that the navvies were all Irish this is probably not true, most were local men after a job. It was only later that more Irish men appeared. The work was undertaken by small contractors and few records survive to be absolutely sure.
In the period that little work was happening on the Leeds Liverpool the Lancaster canal company seemed to be building bits of canal and linking them with tramways. Walton summit and the piece across from wigan being examples of the Lancaster tramways. Passing over the Ribble on a large trestle bridge.
This led to the eventual leasing and taking over of the Johnson Hillocks to Wigan section of Lancaster Canal by the Leeds Liverpool, hence the dad end at the top of Wigan Locks, a lovely bridge over a canal that goes nowhere. It was a fascinating time for canal builders and tram roads that would be replaced by railways.
Well those of you who follow this blog, thank you, but you will know I love my sunsets.
Here is a moonscape and a sunset. No photoshop just playing with under exposure whilst taking the picture.
This is a lovely spot toward Wigan by Haigh Hall golf course. Lovely views down toward the direction of Liverpool, where the mighty Wigan flight will take us.
And looking the other way I had this
A lovely overnight mooring for Lady Teal as we approach the fab locks at Johnson Hillocks.
We do enjoy taking Lady Teal through this flight as we meander, down or up. An interesting flight, for geeks like me! They were built as part of the Lancaster canal then leased and bought by the Leeds Liverpool once the final route was decided.
Somewhat disparagingly when in 1904 they were looking at lengthening all the locks to 70 foot a report stated“The worst Lock masonry on the Canal is undoubtedly at Johnson’s Hillock. These Locks were constructed by the Lancaster Canal Authorities, and the fact is rather remarkable, as most of the Lancaster Canal Masonry is extremely good, as may be expected considering that John Rennie, of Waterloo Bridge fame, was the Engineer.”
Oh dear, it was one of the reasons lengthening did not happen as all the locks would have had to be totally rebuilt.
A lovely spot though
A bit of a damp start on the Leeds Liverpool, but now a sunny evening for Lady Teal, at the half way point. The lovely Lancashire views never fail to enthrall me.
Lovely sky and view across the valley. Really is lovely. But just before we got here we watched a pair of swans chasing away some Canada Geese to protect their cygnets. No actual violence, on this occasion but they do look threatening. We have watched them try to drown ducks and Geese but not on this occasion. Urban myth has it that Swans can break your arm , but it seems unlikely as their wings are not that strong. I have separated fighting swans and not suffered even a bruise. The beaks have some sharp bits but they are more uncomfortable than damaging to us.
But onto my other question, just how long is the Leeds Liverpool now? A marker, not an original mile marker is at Eldonian village in Liverpool and shows 127 miles, this is now the end of the canal and their is no distance marker on the original terminus warehouse at Pall Mall, now filled in. So is the canal now only 127 miles long, or even less, there seems to be no definitive answer.
Here is the official half way point, more or less based on the canals original length.
Mile markers, quarter and half, became most important when the toll act was passed in the 1890’s.
The Act of Parliament of 1893 is entitled: ‘Canal Rates Tolls and Charges (Leeds and Liverpool Canal) Order Confirmation Act’. This Act left little room for haggling between the canal company and the owners of the goods to be carried on its canals. Let me quote from the Act to illustrate how detailed was that regulation. It reads: “16. For a fraction of a penny in the gross amount of rates, tolls, and charges for any consignment for the entire distance conveyed, the Company may charge a penny.” And… “18. All stone, when conveyed by the Company, shall be charged by weight when the weight can be conveniently ascertained.
CRT are replacing or repairing all the mile posts for the bicentenary, which is great.
This really is a lovely section of the Leeds Liverpool that we love taking Lady Teal across.
We have small aqueducts, lovely flights of locks and amazing views.
We are so lucky to have all this to go through.
The first picture today is at Stegneck lock first thing in the morning.
What a lovely sky.
Then it was across Priest Holme Aqueduct crossing the River Aire. Not one of the largest or best known aqueducts maybe but nevertheless a lovely one.
Occasionally we get steam trains across the railway bridge as this is the Settle Carlisle
#HotelBoat A lovely morning at Hirst, guests have seen a Kingfisher having its breakfast, brilliant. A couple of pictures of Hirst, one a bit arty effect and one bright colours, I quite like the slightly arty one, I think.
Today we have the amazing Bingley 5 Rise. This is either a staircase lock, the top gates of one lock forming the botttom gates of the next or for the geeks among us it is technically a riser lock.
It rises 59 feet 2 inches over a distance of 320 fet and the intermediate bottom gates are the tallest in the country. It really is amazing, as is its fellow the Bingley Three rise. No windlass needed for the three rise as the ground paddles have the big levers attached and the gate paddles, cloughs (is that how you spell it?) are ones that move across rather than up and down the gate (or door as they say on the L&L) .
We will then be moving off above Keighley (pronounced Keithley) where in 1952 there was a large breach that washed away 4 holes of the golf course and washed a work boat into the gap. Only took 3 weeks to repair, but as they were about to re-open vandals caused more damage delaying the opening by 3 days, it was ever thus. It dropped the Skipton pool , 17 mles long, between Bingley and Gargrave by some 2 foot, a lot of water!
Lovely views along here and we see and here the Keighley and worth railway, super.
