Rodley

Our journey to Rodley began early and went smoothly. We were amazed at how rural the canal felt while still so close to Leeds.

We stopped at Kirkstall for shopping and were pleased to discover an electrical recycling bin in Morrison's car park; it's been really difficult finding anywhere to responsibly dispose of such items.

CRT volunteers had advised us not to moor overnight here because of antisocial behaviour so after lunch we began the second leg of our journey. This took us through a single lock, two staircase locks consisting of three seperate pounds and then three swing bridges. Volunteers helped us through the staircases but boy did it feel like a long drag. We were less than thrilled when we found the second swing bridge had recently been replaced by a private construction company who needed a stronger crossing for its machinary. The process of opening it was ridiculously complicated and time consuming. There had been so many delays to construction traffic that the firm now employed someone to greet boaters and guide them through the steps. We heard afterwards that it is called 'heart attack bridge'. Apparently in the face of a huge outcry, the person who commisioned it told the complainers they could open it in 6 minutes (not the speediest of operations). They set about demonstrating this but had a heart attack in the middle of their exertions!

Cool headed Will didn't suffer anything worse than frustration but while Rainboat was waiting to go through she got something wrapped around her propeller so we needed to pull over and check the weed hatch. Luckily Vicky had managed to clear it with a few hard revs in reverse.

The final bump in the road came around 100m from the last swing bridge where we grounded. It only required a push off the bank using our long pole but it was the straw that broke the camel's back and Vicky was in a foul mood when we finally slotted into a line of boats moored on the towpath.

The two nights spent here helped us relax. There were horses over the stone wall bordering the walkway and a lovely outdoor tea room just a few hundred metres away beside some leisure moorings. It served the best vegan flapjacks we'd ever tasted and an indulgent baked caramel cheesecake.

Another treat was being able to walk to the old woolen mill where The Great British Sewing Bee is filmed. Vicky is a fan of the show and on the advice of a nearby greengrocer who delivered to businesses in the building, she walked up to the first floor and had a good nose around. The studio wasn't being used for anything at the time but it still made her day.

Sadly Rodley had no services so we needed to move on, otherwise we would have stayed longer.Læs mere