Tuesday 14 May 2019 Day 18: Todmorden to Hebden Bridge

Early morning at Todmorden

Leaving Tod. Would have liked to remain another day, however lack of visitor moorings prevented it. Todmorden not only has an interesting history but also an interesting future. Our 2013 canal guide tells us Todmorden is aiming to become self sufficient in food supply and high in kindness and wellbeing and it would have been interesting to find out how far they have progessed.

 We slipped quietly (as quiet as L and I can be!) away at 7.45am, trying not to disturb our next door neighbours.

Notice the all the contrail reflections in the water. The sky is constantly crisscrossed with them up here in the Pennines.

The hills behind Todmorden

This could only be  lonely bloke's boat!

And a few minutes after passing the ramshackle permanent moorings we get this vista

View from Lock 17, with what turned out to be a burnt out boat in the middle distance

Lobb Mill Bridge

And the old Lobb Mill itself, now rescued, renovated and turned into luxury apartments

I don't know if this is slate. Slate was quarried in various places along this valley. Whatever it overhung the canal in a most ominious way. Ray might know what type of rock it is?

A.Beatha in Lock 16

Railway bridge near lock 16

and looking down from Lock 16.  As you can see, on this part of the Rochdale there is a multiplicity of vistas to gaze upon as I wait for locks to fill or drain, sometimes both.

Further along the valley

Reflections. Try turning your monitor upside down!

Old fence line

Since leaving Tod., the River Calder has been keeping company with the canal as the wend their way through the valley.

The Nicholson's guide describes this section of the canal thus:
"The waterway is now tucked tightly under a steep hillside covered by ancient deciduous woodland as the canal hugs the narrow valley bottom, interspersed with textile mills and dye works."

Lawrence snorted with derision  - "ancient woodland, phh, in its hayday day this valley would have been a hellhole -the air heavily polluted, rivers poisoned and all usable timber would have long since gone, right up to the moorlands. And it wasn't only the mills - there were coal mines and quarries all over the place".

I do know that the CRT (Canal and River Trust) still have serious problems with disposing of polluted and toxic silt from certain parts of the canal system.

Whatever, the recovery of the landscape is amazing, especially when you compare it to Tasmania's Queenstown and the still completely dead King River. Not to mention the recent revelations, due to mining,  of the heavily contaminated silt in some of Tasmania's so called pristine wilderness lakes.

First boat we've seen moving today, and as is usual with narrowboating, we meet on a narrow section.

Rawden Mill Chimney indicates we haven't got far to go

The second moving boat we have seen today. Helmed by a single woman we waited for her to come up from the lock below.  As I helped her work the lock we chatted. She is on her way down to Manchester!!! Brave lady. After I told her of our experience with low water, rubbish and decrepit locks she thinks me might ring CRT for an assisted passage. I hope she does. In turn she gave me heaps of advice on good and bad moorings and tricky locks and passages ahead of us - most of which, by the time I had worked A.Beatha down through the two locks and much to L's disgust, I had forgotten :(

We haven't come very far! It brings to mind the Australian bloke we met somewhere above 'Heartbreak Hill' on the T&M who said when I asked if he was enjoying himself  "a lot of effort for not much progress" - he should try the Rochdale Canal!

Coming into Hebden Bridge

And our mooring, chosen because it 12.00 and there is a cafe on the tow path 4 metres from the back of the boat. However it is a 24 hour only mooring.

The view from our saloon (living room)

The warm evening sun found the local residents bringing out there chairs to sit on the towpath, some even bringing their dinners, to soak up the sun and pass the time of day. The geese who had been patiently peering in the cafe window when not seeing off the local dogs and their walkers (the geese really went on the offensive - it was hilarious to watch especially when instead of hauling their owners off at a run down the towpath, they tried to hide behind their owners legs instead - were eventually rewarded when the cafe owner came out with some bread for them.

I had a long chat with one woman who told me of the saving and restoration of Hebden Bridge. Back in the early 70's HB was very down and out with lots of derelict buildings. Developers had been given the go ahead to move in and raze half the town. Hippies (those layabouts, don't you know) from London heard about it and moved in en masse, squatting in the vacant buildings and preventing the bulldozers moving in. They then set about restoring not only the town, but also the canal which had become one long garbage cesspit. And thanks to them the town is now a tourist hotspot, a very desirable place to live, is famed for its music, theatre and art and most importantly is thriving and abounding in beautful old buildings and converted mills. And most importantly judging from the people walking along the towpath or sitting on their chairs enjoying the last sun of the day, most of them seem happy and contented and welcoming of each other.

I'm rambling. Enough

4 miles, 9 locks, 4 hours