Day 35 – Elland to Huddersfield

After breakfast we set off into Brighouse and used the same facilities; we also took on water, purchased gas and used the Sainsbury’s. The main purchase was three jars of olives filled with whole cloves of garlic…

At Cooper Bridge Junction we ventured onto another new canal and the last junction before the major turning point which will send us back home. The next junction at Dukinfield will be a turn south and will generally head us back towards Oxford. Shortly beforehand we passed Aqua Roma again!

We were accompanied in the first few locks of the Huddersfield Broad Canal by Brahms. There is dreadful weed problem on this canal. So much so it appears to be carpeted in the green stuff. Brahms soon tied up and we carried on up the nine locks before having another late lunch (around 3.30). We moored just before Aspley Basin and after ablutions walked up the hill to The Grove Inn where we found 13 real ales.

Michael was joined by an old school friend, Robert Goodland, whom he had not seen for between five and nine years. Much conversation ensued, accompanied by beer. En route back to the boat we stopped for rather dreadful fish and chips at the Trinity Fisheries chippy.

The next two days are fairly leisurely: not many miles but a good number of locks. We have to be at lock 24 East (near Slaithwaite) by noon on Thursday ready for passage to the summit of the Huddersfield Narrow (a total of 42 locks) by the end of the day. On Friday we make the 3¼ mile passage through the Standedge Tunnel, the longest, highest and deepest canal tunnel in Britain. We’ll bore you with more detail on Friday no doubt!

Menu: cooked breakfast or cereal and toast; gammon and beef sandwiches; fish and chips (dreadful).

Welcome to Huddersfield…

Lift bridge in Huddersfield

Tags: calder & hebble, huddersfield broad