Description:
Relatively uncrowded waterway with a good balance between structures of industrial interest and beautiful scenery that penetrates the high Pennine hills. However it also has river sections with flood warnings; intimidating weirs and, in parts, large 180 foot commercial craft.
If you are interested in the historical background of these waterways, please click here
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Brighouse to Sowerby Bridge - (6 miles and 10 locks):
Brighouse's facilities are conveniently located close to the canal and, along with its Yorkshire friendliness and hospitality, it was a perfect place to start our journey.
We said farewell to Stephen Sagar and the lads as we, and friends Olive and Len from Kent, proudly pulled away from his boatyard aboard CJ (CLAIRE JUSTINE ). We quickly found out why getting a 60' boat into a 57' 6" double wide lock was an "interesting" (a word I will use often) maneuver; we could just squeeze in by going corner to corner. We also discovered that it required some muscle power to operate the paddles using the wooden 2" by 4" handspike. Anyway, other than a few close calls, our first day was uneventful and we moored overnight at the Colliers Arms, Ellend and had a Sammy Smith or two. [Photo]
. The next morning I enterered Elland Lock just fine; closed the gates and opened up the paddles. However, I must have only done half a job because, after a while, only the front end of CJ was rising...... Elland Lock has an inside footboard on the bottom gates and the tiller pin had caught under it. After Len and I quickly became experts in opening and closing paddles I noticed the 6" gap in the middle of the footboard, it was cleverly designed to allow the tiller to ascend unobstructed. For the next 1,000 miles we travelled with a unique bend in our tiller pin.
The lower of the three Salterhebble locks has an electrically operated guillotine bottom gate (BW key required) that lets the water out of the lock with some force; don't get too close while waiting to enter. The top lock seemed to be mis-aligned; it was once part of a two flight staircase built by James Brindley and remodeled by William Jessop to save water. After the locks we took a sharp right into Salterhebble Basin; this is all that remains of the Halifax Canal although I understand you can still walk the towing path into town; we didn't do it. Good moorings here, we had a nice lunch at the Calder & Hebble Inn on the way up and stopped off for a drink at the modern Jenny Dee pub on the way back; my preference was the former.
The final stretch along the pretty wooded valley and hillside into Sowerby Bridge basin with its impressive canal warehouses was a fitting end to our maiden voyage. Shire Cruisers were very friendly and appreciated us checking with them before mooring. We purchased an additional long-throw windlass from them; definitely a required piece of equipment for the stubborn paddles on these waterways. That evening we joined the South Pennine Boat Club members for dinner at the Navigation Inn; I highly recommend this pub but the walk back to the boat in the dark along the narrow muddy path was a bit tricky. The next day we walked around this industrial town and checked out the infamous Tuel Lane blockage that separates the C & H from 15 more miles of beautiful cruising on the restored section of the Rochdale Canal; we visited it while on our narrow boat search.
Comment: Today the restoration work is complete and the link is open.
