Lock work

I walked along to Dowley Gap Locks, which is a staircase of two locks on the Leeds-Liverpool Canal, completed around 1773. Not surprisingly, these structures need an increasing amount of maintenance to keep them in working order. It was difficult to see into the locks themselves, but they have been drained. Those blue tarps are holding back the water at either end and there were big pumps and pipes leading down into the lock chambers. It appeared that there was some repair work going on to the walls on either side and I think they are replacing some of the lock gates too. These kinds of scheduled works are mostly done in winter time to minimise inconvenience to boaters and holiday makers. It may be completed by now, as the Canal and Rivers Trust schedule says the waterway would be closed until 27 February. 

And a partridge?

My two favourites trees in their winter plumage, playing host (though you probably can't spot them on a small photo) to:

Eight magpies - 

'One for sorrow, Two for joy, Three for a girl, Four for a boy, Five for silver, Six for gold, Seven for a secret never to be told, Eight for a wish, Nine for a kiss, Ten for a bird you must not miss.'

Four jackdaws and

Four wood pigeons.

(All on the ground.) 

 

I couldn't see a partridge and they're not pear trees, so there the similarity ends! But we can all have a wish...

A linear walk #1

Saltaire to Bingley Five-Rise Locks

You'll perhaps remember me mentioning a project I'm involved in with my camera club, to document the entire length of the Leeds-Liverpool Canal, in black and white photos. As part of my 'patch', I've been intending to do the linear walk from Saltaire to the Bingley Five-Rise Locks for a while, and finally managed it. Some of these photos have converted quite nicely into mono for the project but I'm choosing the colour versions for my blog. 

The first leg is a familiar one, from Hirst Lock to Dowley Gap, and I've shown lots of photos of this stretch before on my blog. The walk through Hirst Woods (above) is the greenest part of the whole route, the reflections in the canal doubling the effect so it's like a green tunnel. It's a popular bit of the towpath but always feels quite peaceful. 

Then you come to the aqueduct that carries the canal over the River Aire. The towpath here has been resurfaced in concrete at some point in its 250 year history, so it's not very attractive as you walk over it. 

At the end of the aqueduct lies Dowley Gap Mill, a former worsted mill and now a residential complex. I wrote more about this a few weeks ago HERE . 

The old mill sits beside the changeline bridge, where the towpath moves from one side of the canal to the other and horses towing barges could pass over.

Looking back from the bridge to the mill complex is, I think, quite an attractive view. (This is the photo I should have had for my previous post about the mill, haha! But not a lot has changed really. ) 

Dowley Gap Mill

A recent walk took me along the little lane from the canal bridge at Dowley Gap towards Hirst Woods. I was rather cheered by all the shasta daisies in flower along the wall beside the building. It seems people have been cutting them; there was a sign asking people not to pick them (as it is actually someone's garden). 

This residential complex was once a small worsted mill and associated cottages, built in 1818. By 1890 the mill was disused - and, I gather, became a brewery for a while. At some point in the 1990s the mill was converted to a dwelling (perhaps apartments?), with a large window inserted into the gable end and a stairwell added. The conversion appears to have been done with care and imagination. The whole site, however, is a bit of a hodge-podge of buildings, some better cared for than others. 

It is accessed by a narrow lane along the canal side from Primrose Lane, past Dowley Gap Locks, which then peters out by the aqueduct. What was until recently a rough scramble up to the aqueduct has recently been made into steps, which makes it much easier walking!  

The 'Seven Arches' aqueduct was, in its day, a substantial engineering feat, built to carry the Leeds-Liverpool Canal over the River Aire. At some point the towpaths have been crudely resurfaced with concrete so that, walking over it, you never appreciate the beauty of the original structure. 

Unfortunately the beauty of this whole small area is somewhat marred by the adjacent sewage works, with paddles slowly rotating in the circular settlement tanks. Depending on the direction of the wind, there is often a nasty odour... so much so that I should not like to live in the mill complex! Perhaps you get used to it. 

I was sure I had, somewhere, several recent photos of the mill complex from the canal side. Can I find them? No. So this picture below is years old and taken in a different season altogether! 

Two favourite trees

Here are my two favourite trees again, in full summer plumage. I took a slightly wider angle on them than I usually do, mainly because the sky was rather wonderful. In the foreground, the hedge that was planted a couple of years ago along the canal side is now beginning to grow strongly. It's good news for wildlife - a healthy, mixed hedge of native species. Bad news, however, for photographers (me) because it will, before long, grow tall enough to obscure this lovely view. I shall have to take a stepladder along with me! 😂

(Click the two trees label below for more pics of them)

Towards Dowley Gap

If I walk along the canal or river about a mile out of Saltaire, I arrive at Dowley Gap, one of the many locks on the Leeds-Liverpool Canal. The lock itself is just beyond the bridge in the picture above. It's all very familiar and yet manages to be different each time I come here. The red creeper on that wall was just stunning in the early morning sunshine. 

The sun was just picking out the South Lodge, once a gatehouse for the Milner Field estate.

My two favourite trees, often photographed, looked just a bit different with the mist swirling around. 

The Seven Arches Aqueduct, which carries the canal over the river, is hardly beautiful but I think it's interesting and quite remarkable. Built in 1773, it has over the years received hefty amounts of concrete on the towpaths. I don't often photograph it from this side. See HERE for a view from the other side and the story of when it was drained for repairs. 

 

Two trees

Here are my two favourite trees again, in glorious technicolour among the buttercups. (The greens really are this bright!) They're in the meadows belonging to Milner Field Farm, adjacent to the canal at Dowley Gap. I've lost count of the number of times I've photographed them, in all seasons and all weathers. Click on the 'two trees' label and you'll see some more images. 

Midsummer dream

High summer 2022 and it's sometimes been overly warm and far too dry. The grassland is parched and yellowing (though not nearly as arid as further south). The foliage has, by and large, adopted that dull, dusty green that isn't especially appealing in photographs  - and, indeed, turns some photographers off completely, so that they don't even venture out with a camera at this time of year. The hedgerows are full of seedheads, parachuting around in the breeze. (Bizarrely, it has often been quite windy. Walking around in it is like being blasted by a hairdryer on its warm setting.) We've had some interesting skies though. Personally, I do like a bit of blue and white fluffiness. I still find beauty in a scene like this. It's my two favourite trees, from a wider angle of view than I sometimes take. You can just about see the cows grazing under the farthest one.

By the way, if anyone is interested, I've started a new, more personal and a little more creative (hopefully) blog, just for fun and to stretch myself in a different way. I shall only post occasionally and it won't accept comments, but you're welcome to view it. It's HERE. 

Dream on

Here's a 'chocolate box' picture if ever I saw one. Doesn't it look idyllic though? Having just descended the Dowley Gap lock (in the company of a larger narrowboat you can just see behind), this boatman looks quite at peace with the world as he steers his craft along the canal - even though it was raining! 

The aqueduct

Repeating the same local walks, with minor variations, for much of this year leaves very little 'new' to photograph though I seek to continue to find things. 

I don't think I've ever shown these two views of the aqueduct that carries the Leeds-Liverpool Canal over the River Aire, about a mile outside of Saltaire. Designed by the famous engineer James Brindley and constructed in 1773, it carries the canal at a height of 9m (30ft) over the river. It has seven arches and, nowadays at least, the river only flows through a few of them. It drops a lot of silt and debris, which has built up over the years and blocked some of the arches.

Now the vegetation on the banks has died back a bit, you can actually get nearer to the river to see the bridge (above). It's quite an amazing piece of engineering. A few years ago they had to drain the canal to do some repairs - see HERE for what that looked like. 

The canal towpath at this point is on the left of the picture below. It takes you across the change-line bridge at Dowley Gap (behind me as I took the photo) and then, taking a little track round the mill buildings at this point, you can access the other side of the canal from below the aqueduct. You can cross the aqueduct bridge on the footway on the right hand side, as you can see from the photo, which means - happily - I can do a circular walk out along the canal and back through Hirst Wood (or vice versa).