Onto the summit and into Lancashire

After spending Christmas in Skipton I moved on to Gargrave with my friends Mac & Helen Cook as trainee crew.  It turned out to be a difficult trip due to gale force winds which made extremely hard work of navigating the swing bridges an really wasn't much fun. Thankfully the wind eased overnight  and I headed up the canal to Bank Newton which is possibly one of the prettiest stretches of the canal system - particularly as the weather was bright. A keen frost overnight left its white tint the following morning but thankfully the canal wasn't frozen.

Yesterday I continued through the beautiful dales and over the border into Lancashire and moored up above Barrowford locks.  Overnight the temperature fell to -3 and this morning the canal was frozen solid.  While the  boat is capable of breaking through the ice it's not something I enjoy so I chose to stay put and have a days walking.  

As a result I must revise my opinion of Lancashire which I've previously regarded as OK provided you don't stray off the M62.  The area around the canal below Pendle hill is lovely.  I thin Richard III made a mistake and should have kept this bit.  Below is the canal curving around one of the feeder reservoirs which supply water to the canal. 

My mooring above the locks with fantastic views across the valley.

I had a walk to the Pendle Heritage centre and then into Barrowford which is a charming little town with a superb old packhorse bridge.  It looks like another chilly night tonight so I expect I'll be doing more local exploring tomorrow.

As the year draws to a close

As I celebrate Christmas it's time to look back on another year of my retirement spent messing about on a boat and plan the next.  2016 had its ups and downs but on the whole there were more ups which is all any of can hope for.  The year began on the Oxford canal from where I made my way south to London for the Spring and back to home waters on the Nene for Summer.

Annual canal Festival - Little Venice London

Approaching Newark on Trent

As Autumn arrived I turned the bow northwards for my long overdue journey to visit the Yorkshire waterways where I've spent the last three months enjoying the stunning scenery along the L&L using Skipton as a base.

L&L bi-centenery celebrations begin with historic boat Kennet departing Leeds

And so as the year ends I'm looking forward to another great year afloat and will head off across the L&L shortly to get through the Bridgewater canal before it closes in early Jan for 3 months.  I don't have any firm plans for 2017 but it will include a first trip on the Anderson boat lift and the Llangollen canal.  Once the winter works are complete I hope to make a return crossing of the Pennines on the Huddersfield canal.

The famous Bingley 5 rise locks

Limestone pavement above Malham cove - as featured in Harry Potter.