For reasons that we will come to eventually, this blog was not written on the day - we did start on selecting the photos but events then took an unexpected turn. However, leaving a blog until later is not a brilliant idea especially if the intervening time has also been eventful!
We set off just after 9 - it was still rather grey and overcast - and climbed the final lock to the summit. From here onwards the surrounds are much more scenic that on the western side. The summit is one of the shortest and some commentators think that this was a serious design error by John Rennie who was the main overseeing engineer on the project. It had taken some time and debate to get to fruition and it may well be that some compromises had to be made along the way. Certainly, a long summit pound can hold a lot of water and reduce the dependence on separate reservoirs.
Criticism today is also coloured by the experience of the consequences of the ,long period during which navigation was prohibited (the canal was never formally abandoned, thank goodness) Alas, much of the original eater supply to the Rochdale was transferred to others during this time and today we are faced with a long term water supply problem. That said, recent rainfall has meant that reservoirs that are usually rather empty at this time of the year are overflowing and when we passed the inflow to the summit pound there seemed to be plenty coming down and weirs either side ran freely.
The summit pound is under a mile in length but introduces the boater to some of the best high level scenery on any of our canals. However the decent begins all to soon and is just as unremitting as the ascent.
The mile markers on this side are of a specific design and begin just before the swing bridge at Warland.
This swing bridge also marks the boundary between the former counties of Yorkshire and Lancashire.
The scenery continues to speak for itself.
This terrace of houses just before Lock 33 looks strange from the towpath side with the downstairs windows almost at ground level, yet are quite high in the rooms inside. Actually, the houses were built to the road in front which is rather lower than the canal and are conventionally designed on that facade.
Just below Lock 32, contractors for CaRT were unloading a short work boat which, we learnt from some of the staff, will be taken down to Todmorden where there is an extensive project to repair and resurface the towpath for quite some distance. The work boat will probably have heavy excavation machinery to work from the water side rather than on the bank, especially where it is already collapsing.
Lock 32 has some new mechanisms for helping to open the bottom gates which are close to an accommodation bridge. We later had some amusement with comparing this photo with ones taken two years ago when older machinery was in place. The bridge wall has also had a remarkable clean up!
These two neighbours seem to be competing for the more unusual garden structure.
Sadly, Granny Pollards, a well known and popular if eclectic fish and chip shop, closed around Easter this year with no-one to take over the business.
We gradually came down to the Gauxholme set of locks - at the top lock a chap living on a (heavily personalised) boat moored just above and linked with a family living in one of the former lock cottages, leapt out and very keen to help us through. he was decidedly chatty. The hills towered above the flight.
There was definitely no shortage of water here! Very important not to let the boat drift to the back of the lock.
We moored up below the flight but before the main Todmorden lock as we had spotted that this bridge was close to a Morrisons store. However, as we had lunch we came to the conclusion that a visit to the small shops and market stalls was better before the supermarket which would then be used to supply everything else. The guillotine gate behaved itself on this occasions - it can be temperamental, we hear.
Andrew and Christine went shopping, leaving Mike to service the boat and then to dry out the engine bay which had been somewhat filled with rainwater that could not escape via the deckboard drain holes.
As we set off once more we saw the large notice blocking the towpath but promising much more user friendly walking once complete. Everything now has to point towards the 'well being' agenda.
Although a long stretch of towpath has been prepared for its final layer, several sections have been left as bank repairs are needed. We assume that there are where the work boat is headed.
We remember this lock as on our first trip through here it rained extremely heavily! Today, as the photo shows, a bright, warm - even hot - sunny afternoon had now arrived and stayed with us until nightfall.
The towpath works came to an end at Lock 16 but here there is a substantial investigation and we were not clear about what has been happening. The path down the slope at the tail of the lock has been excavated and clearly some material has been washed into the canal. At some points in the ,lock operation, water bubbled up at the bottom, close to the overflow exit. Our guess is that it is taking some time to establish why the erosion took place before deciding how to do the repair. It is not a quick job.
Shortly after this lock we found a good mooring spot and enjoyed the wonderful evening sunshine.
On the hill above our mooring stands these buildings. We could not be sure how many separate dwellings there are but the top floor must enjoy great views on evenings like this.
Mike continued to prepare the evening meal - the featured item was the large hake fillet that Christine and Andrew ad bought earlier. All was going so well until just after 7 when it the cooking was heading to its final denouement. Although he had used it moments earlier, suddenly Mike discovered that there was no water in the kitchen sink tap! We had a similar experience last year when in March but then, after a couple of hours and a fruitless attempt to find technical help, it suddenly cleared itself. This time there was no such luck.
After a quick look, Mike and Andrew came to no real conclusion so the meal would spoil if we did not have it then! In the middle of nowhere there was nothing much we could do but grin and bear it until morning but it would be a shame to waste good food, and the hake was really good.
Later, we disassembled one of the front bunks in order to gain a better access to the water pump. After considerable investigation, including removing the pressure switch, cleaning it and putting it back together we were hopeful. We knew that the pump itself worked and that there did not seem to be a blocked pipe.
Our mutual congratulations when the taps produced water - enough to fill several pans, kettles and jugs - but we were soon deflated with the reappearance of the same problem - no water! After reassembly, the pump pressurised the system, then shut off but would not re-open when the pressure dropped within the opening of a tap (what it should do). Our previous hope had been down to the capacity of the accumulator to deliver water until it was exhausted. We retired to bed, late and disappointed but with a sort of a plan for the morning, with Plan B and C if the first option failed. Dear Reader, you will have to rejoin us in the next instalment to see what happened next.
5.3 Miles - 22 Locks
No comments:
Post a Comment