SUNDAY. At East Marton Bends
The 2008 journey thus far: 247 Locks; 357 Miles; 51 Swing\Lift Bridges
Journeys using bus pass: 20
We are very much the short haul boaters at present. We moved away at 8.58am (Sid Sharman please note!) and headed for the Bank Newton flight of locks. Rising in the first, I saw a BW lockie preparing the next lock for us. We were the only boat ascending the flight, but seven were descending including a couple that were wide boats. The lockie was tearing about asking people to wait before letting out a lock full into his carefully balanced pounds. He was not entirely successful and the bywashes were working well. There was a dead sheep above the top lock, which had been afloat for a while by the ‘blown’ nature of the carcass. We moved carefully by and on to one of the best mooring areas on the whole system - the bends at East Marton. The canal twists and turns over 1 1/2 miles, with really good views and deep water to the banks. We had moored up and were chatting to a couple on the towpath, who then joined us for a pot of tea. They live in Kendal, having moved up from Exeter when he retired 14 years ago. He started work on the railway at Weymouth shed just after the 1948 nationalisation; but as he confirmed, the GWR almost ignored it and went their own way with working methods that had stood the test of time. Myra chatted to his wife whilst I listened to his stories of life on the footplate. After a couple of hours they decided to finish their walk, albeit a shorter one than originally planned. In the late afternoon, Myra and I went for a wander along the towpath and chatted to some boaters that we had met at Lemonroyd lock last month. They told us about a new permissive path leading from the towpath down to the Pennine Way which made a good circular walk; we followed the path and had a pleasant walk with great views ending back on the canal a short distance from Martlet.
Weather – Overcast, bright sunny spells, strong wind.
