Lyra's Travels

Monday, Tuesday 29, 30th August

The beautiful River Aire at Gargrave

Ducks for company at East Marton

After spending a lovely relaxing day on Sunday we continued our journey towards Leeds. This side of the tunnel the traffic has increased dramatically and we see moving boats frequently, which is good to see.
We travelled as far as Gargrave today, a pleasant village at the head of Airedale. This gives a clue to the fact that the River Aire runs through the village, close to the canal. The river and canal now follow each other to Leeds where the canal drops onto the river to become The Aire and Caulder Navigation.
It soon becomes apparent why there are more boats on this side of the tunnel. The scenery is stunning. the canal winds its way around the hills and every turn reveals a new vista.

At Gargrave we paired up with another boat for the trip to Skipton. There were 3 locks and 5 swing bridges on our route today (Tuesday) and having a partner makes life much easier. Helping at locks, and then at bridges the first boat opens the bridge letting the second go through and then they are first at the next, and so on. The rain held off while we were moving and we managed a good mooring here in Skipton, but it's raining now. Tomorrow doesn't look too bad on the forecast and we intend to spend it here in this tourist trap in the heart of the dales.