Hence forward... (I'm sure I read a play called that at school)

So then,

We left Granary Wharf early doors and set off toward Rodley.  As it happened, another boat was leaving at the same time so we shared the first couple of locks with them... they were only going up 2 before they tied up and departed - it being a local hire boat.

I actually got shouted at by a grumpy chap on a scruffy boat (who had 6 staffies running wild on a muddy bit of the offside bank) to Slow down... that annoyed me a bit because I'm ALWAYS considerate - which clearly given the state of his dogs and the shanty town he'd set up, HE isn't.  Hey ho... there's a place for everyone in this world...  ideally, in his case, somewhere else!

Not the nicest of days to be boating, with a fine reoccurring drizzle.  Still quite a few gongoozlers around considering and we all commented how nice it was to be boating rather than using the towpath for a commute to work - like SO many other poor people were doing.  Alan recruited this young chap to help with the lock... with his father's consent so don't go phoning Ester Ransen good people!

Just after that lock we encountered "the piano boat" wed seen a little farther on last year - he's made a bit of progress on it - both geographically and construction wise...  

He's got a little sign on it saying "please offer a tow" as he's pretending to be on a journey somewhere to deliver the piano... although looking at the side wall, who would want it now is any ones guess lol.

We made steady progress and didn't encounter any hostility - a couple of chaps drinking tenants on a bench ... once of whom, offered help with a gate and the lockies were as helpful as ever up the staircases...  We even saw our first "nearly nesting" swans of the year as we approached Rodley.

and we lucky enough to get on the small visitor moorings near the pub.

On leaving Rodley yesterday morning, we encountered lots of joggers and cyclists - presumably because the towpath is in very good condition...    we even spotted on of the Brownlie Brothers - don't know which one he is though... I'll have to watch the Yorkshire Tea adverts again...

Presumably the chap on the bike was his coach as he was ringing his bell and shouting up the towpath for people to "move out of the way please"... which, if I'm honest, I think is a bit cheeky... given CRT's "share the space" mission, they have just as much right as he does to be on the towpath.

As we approached Apperley Bridge, we spotted out 2nd nesting swans - THIS time with the Duck/Goose on guard duty nearby (a "family" we'd seen last year when we passed through in June)

By now the washing machine had about finished so we decided to go on up Dobsons locks and use the water point to replenish the tank...  We'd forgotten how deep that first lock is and because we were on our own, it took a lot of effort to keep the boat steady as the water leaked in was let in from above.

The Services block at the top is immaculate - certainly more so than any other we've encountered although at the moment there doesn't appear to be any dedicated bins for rubbish disposal ... Andy went exploring around the back and found a handy skip however.

Not long after, we came across the next staircase and guess what? - the sun appeared for the first time in weeks...

Even better was the fact it stayed out for a couple of hours ... by which time we'd moored for the night on the out-skirts of Shipley, where we stayed outside greeting the (still busy) towpath users as we drank some wine and chatted.

A lovely way to end  the day - well it would have been, were it not for Andy insisting we play Rummikub again... AND wiping the floor with me again... I wouldn't mind so much but Alan was acting as my wing man and we STILL lost every time... hmmf...  Boaty bed time was about 9 and a side from a local (but luckily brief) fire-work display around 10, we had a peaceful nights sleep.  

That said, I had a weird dream about palpitations/heart attacks and awoke a bit panicky thinking I was having one and trying to work out whether I could defibrillator myself (so as not to disturb Andy or Alan)...  after taking my pulse and noting it was normal, I decided it was just part of the  dream...

Until next time...(I hope 😜)