Pumping out in public!

Kim, Joe and I went for a little excursion into Skipton this morning, leaving poor Barry uploading the blog photos as we’re getting behind and he’d taken so many shots yesterday.

People may think it’s a little strange that we still spend time doing the blog when we have visitors on board, but the problem is that if we don’t keep on track as much as possible we know we’ll miss those moments we want to keep a record of. It’s fabulous to have so many people reading about our experiences, but we’re really just selfish and doing it for ourselves!

The view back down the canal at Skipton

Looking the other way into Skipton

The other piece of information we haven’t yet shared with everyone, is that we made the decision last week not to sell Northern Pride. We've loved it so much we want to come back again next year; we’re not sure when or for how long, it'll depend on how much and how soon we can save up! Although we could wait and see and then buy another boat when we return, we think that for the money we spent we've a splendid boat with lots of extras that we’d be unlikely to find again.

Anyway, moving on to today's adventures ...

We thought we’d have a pump out before we left Skipton as we’ve had so many people on board recently the red light was bound to come on in the near future and we didn't want to get caught out. As there was no BW one available, we went along the canal to Pennine Boats, even though it was more expensive. It turned out to be the most peculiar thing because the pump out was in a drain right in front of a popular tourist spot, on the entrance to the arm of the canal going up to Skipton Castle, close to a café. What a surreal experience it was, having your s--t pumped out in front of a crowd! To be very explicit (sorry!) it apparently stinks out the café every time! The pumper-outer man (in orange below) said it used to be a boat yard before it was a tourist spot, and they’ve just kept it on; hilarious!

Joe keeping an eye on the job(s)!

Left to Leeds, right to Liverpool, from the Springs Branch - a short extension arm from Skipton to the castle if your boat is 35 feet long or less

A very busy little corner as Northern Pride has her business seen to in the background

Looking up the Springs Branch towards the church & castle

Back under way heading westward and upward

Another charming chimney in Skipton

Row upon row of terraced houses in the north of England

Tiny back yards with adjoining alleyways - not a garden in sight

Innovative mooring pin markers

No! Not Barry in the morning

This chap was quite happy on the canalside, the only sign of life for a while!

These purple flowers are everywhere - probably noxious weeds then!!

There were further amazing sights to be seen as we skirted along the Dales, though the weather wasn’t so kind to us today. We had a short stop in Gargrave, a quaint village on the outskirts of the Dales and part of The Pennine Way. Barry and Joe visited the famous sweetie shop and stocked up on blueberry bon-bons, aniseed balls and liquorice bombs!

Group photo in Gargrave

Bridge into town over the River Aire

The main intersection of Gargrave with the sweet shop on the left

Sandra checking out the window display but not tempted to try them out!

Another happy customer??

Brightly coloured window box

One for Neville

These different lock paddle levers made for interesting work on the next set of locks

Many of them were either extremely stiff to move and you felt as though you would fall into the canal on opening them, or else they were broken

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As we got closer to our mooring for the night, the canal meandered snake-like alongside the hillside for a few miles, with stony walls for canal banks. It was a shame the weather wasn’t sunny, rather than a grey and cool evening; but it was impressive nonetheless. There were many boats moored up randomly along this stretch, possibly in order to set off walking in the Dales.

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We stopped at East Marton by 8pm, and Joe and Kim treated us to dinner and a bottle of wine at The Cross Keys – though we only just made it in time as the chef was closing the kitchen! It’s been a tough afternoon, back working the locks again …

The Cross Keys pub