Stanley Ferry

Today’s the day ....................... for the good and the bad

Good news today that the broken lock (Figure of Three Locks at Healey) had been mended and we could go on our way. 

The bad news was that although our initial plan had been to get to Leeds, there wasn’t enough time now to go there and get back to Sowerby Bridge in our allotted time.  But that meant that the pressure was off and we could just enjoy the journey, wherever it took us.  I haven’t mentioned yet what a wonderful week of weather we were having – so ambling along in the sunshine was just the job.

This is as far as we got – the Stanley Ferry Visitor Moorings, near to the two Stanley Ferry Aqueducts.  The first iron one was built in 1839 and is now designated an ancient monument (see extra).  The second concrete one was built in the 1980s to protect the first one from damage by commercial craft.  And there is quite a lot of commercial craft using this part of the canal because by now it has become the Aire & Calder Navigation and is wide enough to accommodate them.  

The other extra is another bad bit about canals.  They do seem to be the repository of sometimes a large amount of rubbish.  This lot had been retrieved by a man and his son using a powerful magnet .............................