Bridge 159, nr West Marton

A long journey today, albeit through some of the most beautifully rural surroundings we've had the pleasure of cruising through. We tackled 9 locks, with a little help from a lockie on the last couple.

The sun shone on the grassy hills of the Aire Valley. It's been a particularly good year for hawthorn berries which weigh down the branches in deep red clusters, ready for the fieldfares to feast on when they return from their Scandinavian summer haunts.

Our wild mooring spot was wonderfully unbusy and we were looking forward to spending couple of days here, but we ran out of gas for cooking so needed to move on after one night. (Will has been baking lots of bread and cakes of late).Read more