As has been the case on many trips just lately, the desire for an early start was nowhere to be seen, so we lazed in bed for a little longer. We finally left our sunny moorings at 10 am and the boys set to getting Harebell through a few locks whilst I waited for the water to heat up in order to get a shower. Needless to say, I got side tracked into steering Harebell though the next lock and past the Huddersfield Junction. However, the sun was shining and it was a great steer.
Breakfast was cooked and eaten in double quick time- just finishing it off whilst on the lock pontoon below BrighouseLower Lock.
We arrived in Brighouse at 12.30 and looked around the town and did some much needed grocery shopping. Well aware of time constraints, we pressed on and enjoyed the trip in what is arguably the best section of the Calder & Hebble- from Brighouse to Sowerby Bridge. The locks were as poorly maintained as ever, but the Autumnal scenery of the Calder valley as spectacular as ever. The work at Elland had come on in leaps and bounds- a new strong bridge was now in place and work was just beginning on replacing the original stone bricks around the modern structure- we are sure that the re-opening of the bridge can’t come soon enough for local Elland residents!!
We stopped at the handily placed Salterhebble sanitary station, but cut short the water filling as we were literally running out of daylight and really needed to be in Sowerby by tonight. As we left Salterhebble top lock – we had ground paddles!!- it was proper dark, street lights and everything! As we had just cruising to do with no locks we decided to press on and arrive in Sowerby in the dark! I set about cooking Spag Bol and timed it to perfection, arriving in Sowerby at 7 pm, just as the spaghetti was cooked! An early-ish night for us all- after all, a huge overdose of fresh air today, with more to come tomorrow.
15 Locks
