From the Calder & Hebble navigation to the Aire & Calder Navigation.

A slightly gentler start to the day as we did not set off until 8am.   Of the 7 locks we went through today, 3 were flood locks and open.  This meant Geoff only had to operate 4 for which he was very thankful.   Some of the gates and paddles are very hard to operate. in fact the last one at Fall Ings nearly crippled him......good job it was the last of the day!

Approaching Wakefield and looking for the entrance to Waklefield Flood Lock, sharp right just beyond the trees.

Some bigger ships around, seen moored in Wakefield

Wakefield Flood Locks

The approach to Fall Ings Lock.  Note the man on the side with his morning bottle of beer!   I hope no one was aboard this boat when it caught fire.

This man continued to sup his ale and try and engage Geoff in conversation whilst he struggled with the extremely recalcitrant paddles.  On emerging from the lock there is an very sharp right turn to the pick up point which was not easy.  It resulted in me having to disturb two fishermen who were ensconced at the far end.........I did apologise for disturbing them! 

Then followed a long straight run until we reached Stanley Ferry.  There are long term moorers here but also plenty of room for visitors.  We stopped part way down to water and found one of the slowest taps on the system!   Had we gone slightly further there were several more taps which might have proved more efficient.

We carried on through Ramsdens swing bridge (open) and found a congenial mooring.   Just behind us is a sani block with all facilities including hot showers.......very welcome.

Just up ahead of us is a boatyard where we were able to purchase two spare handcuff keys for the locks.    We had lost one a few days ago and it would have been disastrous if we lost our last one!

Another afternoon of tennis..........women's semi finals......not as exciting as the men's...........

Total distance:7.10 miles 

Elapsed time:4h33m12s (includes nearly an hour filling the water tank!)

Locks:7

Bridges:20 
Average speed:1.56 mph (3.10 lock/mph)