Lyra's Travels

Wednesday 14th September
It's Wednesday, and we finally managed to get going again. The wind had at last decided to abate somewhat, so we cast off, turned around and headed for the Wakefield area.
By the way, we have at last seen the big boats that ply these waters. Last night two huge sand barges came past us into the Castleford flood lock. This morning an oil tanker went through. This is a strange looking lock, it's shaped with a large mooring area within it, and the gates are not in a straight line with each other so that these huge barges must actually turn a corner within the lock in order to go through.The trip to Stanley Ferry, where we have moored up, was marred by frequent showers, but nothing actually torrential. We got here by 12.30 and decided to go the pub for lunch. The Stanley Ferry pub has improved a lot since we were last here 4 years ago and is a pleasant place for a meal.
This afternoon I caught a bus into Wakefield just to have a look at the place. Quite pleasant, large pedestrian areas and what looks like good shopping.
Tomorrow Damon is bringing the car here and I hope we'll be able to go and get some fuel at a garage selling gas oil in Normanton.