Long straight wide stretches of water and BIG locks

Departure time getting later and distance travelled getting longer and the locks are certainly getting bigger.
Today we had a role reversal for the first two locks as Barney and I had our morning constitutional. However that was only because the locks were mechanised!   Mind you a certain skill is required...you have to find the right hole to inert your key (Geoff had a bit of trouble with this when he took over) and then decide which button to press and lastly look in vain for the light which is supposed to show before you proceed to the next step.   It is so dim and just a thin band around the buttons themselves that it is invisible.

en route we passed under the busy M62

At Methley Bridge there were signs that there were other boats on this stretch of water.....admittedly today we have passed about 4 boats going the other way which is a 400% increase on yesterday.

and then came Castleford Junction where we were turning left.  Ahead lies the route to Goole.

How about this for a different sort of boat?   I think it is smiling at me...Geoff couldn't see it....

We have been this way before but it is 7 years ago and we were going in the opposite direction so our memories were hazy.   We were expecting a much larger junction but like a lot of canal junctions it was just a quiet and peaceful backwater, albeit a bit more water than some.

Approaching Lemonroyd lock.......a big one at over 13 ft and the now uninhabited lock keepers control house.
The amber light showing it is boater operated.

Although a huge lock it fills very gently so with a line round the slider there was no problem.

Above the lock it looked like lovely mooring but on the basis that it would be a long walk for Sunday Lunch and church on Sunday we decided to carry on to the moorings shown in our guide book just before the next lock at Woodlesford.   When we saw the mooring place we thought we had made an error and I was busy contemplating whether it was wide enough for us to turn and go back.   However we carried on to the lock and Geoff did a recce and discovered that all was well for mooring above the lock.......in fact you could get a couple of dozen boats mooring here!

TV reception good so an exciting Men's semi finals...well one of them.....

Total distance:10.41 miles 

Elapsed time:4h26m6s 

Locks:5

Bridges:14 
Average speed:2.35 mph (3.47 lock/mph)