17 Locks and Tuel Lane.
They say that the best laid plans go awry. Last night I realised that we would not have enough time to get to Todmorden, mooch about and then get back to Lemonroyd in time for Thursday.
Cue much discussion and wondering. By the time we’d woken this morning, we felt that it was a good idea to head back down the Rochdale and head towards the Huddersfield; the weather had broken and although sunny and warm, was a lot more manageable than the high temperatures of the last few days.
After traditional “use up all the leftovers” breakfast, we headed out of Hebden. The locks were pleasant in cloudy morning and we whiled a few hours away in the shade of the Rochdale scenery. We caught up with 2 CRT people who were clearing out the overflows. We mentioned the previous days water problems and they said they would pop down and have a look-see.
By the time we reach Lock 6, they had already flushed some water down and we continued without any issues.
Tuel Lane passed without incident and soon enough we were making our way through the last/first 2 locks of the canal. A quick pit stop in Sowerby Bridge to recharge the batteries and we were off again.
By this time, the sun had broken through the clouds and the best end of the Calder and Hebble passed in sun shine and dappled shade glory. Handily the locks were full and we positively whizzed along at a cracking pace, enjoying the evening sun.
By the time Brighouse was close, enough was enough. Just the right amount of space to squeeze in out side Sainsbury’s, albeit with a teensy move of the Scouting boat and a fish and chip dinner rounded of a lovely days cruising.
