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Leeds Liverpool Canal


dave83

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Hey everyone,

 

I've browsed for a while as a guest and have finally bought my first boat. A small Viking narrow beam.

 

Its on the aire & calder at the moment.

 

How is the LL for small narrow cruisers? Do many GRP boats use it? What is progress like on the LL with traffic etc? I've checked with canalplan for timings etc but wondered how much the time of year etc had an effect.

 

Lots of questions...

 

Thanks everyone

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There's a stoppage at Knostrop to Leeds at the moment, guess it will be 2 weeks to a month before open.

 

Traffic on L&L isn't really an issue on the Leeds side although it can get busy in summer at Bingley 3&5 rise. Not sure about the Liverpool side.

 

You'll need to book two days in advance for Kirkstall locks at this time if year (until April I think). There's also a stoppage near Shipley until mid March.

Edited by Robbo
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Hi Dave

 

Plenty of GRP boats use the L&L; there are loads with home moorings just above the Bingley Five Rise, for starters. The stretch either side of Skipton can get fairly busy at peak times, with day boats and trip boats heading out and back. But you shouldn't assume that a bit of extra traffic is going to slow down your progress; it could very well speed it up, since it means you're less likely to have to stop and open every swing bridge yourself, or on other stretches, work every lock yourself. And you're certainly not likely to find yourself held up by long queues at locks; if you're unlucky, you might have to endure an enforced tea break now and again, but that should be about it.

 

It's a great canal - you'll love it.

 

Enjoy, and welcome to the forum!

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Hi Dave

 

Plenty of GRP boats use the L&L; there are loads with home moorings just above the Bingley Five Rise, for starters. The stretch either side of Skipton can get fairly busy at peak times, with day boats and trip boats heading out and back. But you shouldn't assume that a bit of extra traffic is going to slow down your progress; it could very well speed it up, since it means you're less likely to have to stop and open every swing bridge yourself, or on other stretches, work every lock yourself. And you're certainly not likely to find yourself held up by long queues at locks; if you're unlucky, you might have to endure an enforced tea break now and again, but that should be about it.

 

It's a great canal - you'll love it.

 

Enjoy, and welcome to the forum!

Yes agreed - I would say that although steel narrow boats are in the majority on the L&L you certainly see a fair number of GRP boats too (both wide and narrow). You will see less than on the A&CN though where GRP boats are much more numerous (not sure why really - depth perhaps??)

Edited by MJG
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Hi everyone,

 

Thank you for the welcome and your responses.

 

We're hoping to spend 10 days or so on the LL in the summer and we're trying to get an idea of potential progress to give us an idea of out potential cruise distance so we can plan places to see/go/visit/eat etc.

 

We're not looking forward to tunnels in our very very zig laggy outboard powered boat lol....the zig laggy is mostly due to inexperience but is certainly a little more difficult only being able to steer under power but hope to add an outboard rudder to assist in this matter....

 

Yes agreed Martin the A&CN seems to have more GRP than steel boats, its like a motorway for some of the larger/more powerful boats that take no notice of moored boats....had my little yoghurt pot bounced a few times last year by a certain salt wind I think it was that doesn't seem to appreciate the effects of big powerful lumps even in the slightly deeper A&CN.

 

Thanks again everyone....might have to do one of those nb style blogs when we make the trip, unfortunately can't get enough time off work to do the whole LL :(

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We're hoping to spend 10 days or so on the LL in the summer and we're trying to get an idea of potential progress to give us an idea of out potential cruise distance so we can plan places to see/go/visit/eat etc.

www.canalplan.eu will give you a pretty good idea of how long it takes to do particular routes.

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If that's 10 days out and back (to Leeds), that'd be pretty much spot on to get as far as Foulridge, turn around before the tunnel, and head back... which would be a fantastic cruise including what must be some of the most scenic stretches on the whole system.

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As ever with planning a trip, how far you go per day is up to you; it will depend on the competence and enthusiasm of you and your crew, although the usual formula recommended is three miles or locks per hour. You need to ask yourself what sort of boaters are you? Some people like to spend a lot of time sightseeing or in the pub, only moving a couple of hours a day, and why not? Some (e.g. me) enjoy the whole process of moving a boat and will happily keep going for most of the daylight hours if that's what the skipper wants. It's possible to go a long way in 12 hours of boating in summer. At the extreme, I read somewhere that in the old commercial days there were some "fly" boats that did the GU from London to Birmingham in 54 hours by moving all round the clock. It would be unwise to try that nowadays, as there are more moored boats to slow down for.

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The canalplan website reckons Leeds to Foulridge is just over four days at seven hours' cruising a day. I suppose they might be slightly underestimating the time needed because although they account for locks, I'm not sure they account for swing bridges, of which there are quite a few on the lock-free pound between Bingley and Gargrave.

 

Still, in the summer months, when you have the option of cruising into the evening to make up time spent sightseeing etc. during the day, Foulridge certainly shouldn't be a challenging target for a five-day cruise; and if you only got as far as Barnoldswick before having to turn back, you wouldn't have missed much.

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The canalplan website reckons Leeds to Foulridge is just over four days at seven hours' cruising a day. I suppose they might be slightly underestimating the time needed because although they account for locks, I'm not sure they account for swing bridges, of which there are quite a few on the lock-free pound between Bingley and Gargrave.

 

Still, in the summer months, when you have the option of cruising into the evening to make up time spent sightseeing etc. during the day, Foulridge certainly shouldn't be a challenging target for a five-day cruise; and if you only got as far as Barnoldswick before having to turn back, you wouldn't have missed much.

There is a setting for swing bridges in canalplan, default is 10 minutes.

  • Greenie 1
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Incidentally, Dave: if you're keen to do the whole L&L, have you considered the possibility of making some headway over 2 or 3 weekends just before your main 10-day cruise? There are lots of places at the eastern end of the L&L, up to and including Gargrave, where you can moor your boat within easy walking distance of a train station. (Edited to add: I mean a train station with a fairly fast, regular and affordable service back to Leeds; I'm sure there are train stations west of Gargrave too!)

 

If you could get as far as Gargrave over 2 or 3 weekends, and take that as your start and end point for your main 10-day cruise, you actually could get all the way to Liverpool (if you didn't mind doing longer days!). Or you could do a partial 'ring' bringing you back towards the A&C from the other direction - heading along the Leigh Branch, Bridgewater, Rochdale and C&H.

 

This is exactly the sort of thing we used to do when we were moored in Shipley - 'local' cruising on weekends between places that were easy to reach by train, but planning ahead so that places at the far end of that local range (e.g. Gargrave, Castleford, Sowerby Bridge) became the start and end points for longer cruises. That enabled us to cover far more ground in a year than we could have done if we'd started from our home mooring every time.

Edited by magictime
  • Greenie 1
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Incidentally, Dave: if you're keen to do the whole L&L, have you considered the possibility of making some headway over 2 or 3 weekends just before your main 10-day cruise? There are lots of places at the eastern end of the L&L, up to and including Gargrave, where you can moor your boat within easy walking distance of a train station. (Edited to add: I mean a train station with a fairly fast, regular and affordable service back to Leeds; I'm sure there are train stations west of Gargrave too!)

 

If you could get as far as Gargrave over 2 or 3 weekends, and take that as your start and end point for your main 10-day cruise, you actually could get all the way to Liverpool (if you didn't mind doing longer days!). Or you could do a partial 'ring' bringing you back towards the A&C from the other direction - heading along the Leigh Branch, Bridgewater, Rochdale and C&H.

 

This is exactly the sort of thing we used to do when we were moored in Shipley - 'local' cruising on weekends between places that were easy to reach by train, but planning ahead so that places at the far end of that local range (e.g. Gargrave, Castleford, Sowerby Bridge) became the start and end points for longer cruises. That enabled us to cover far more ground in a year than we could have done if we'd started from our home mooring every time.

 

I like the sounds of this! I perhaps need to look at some more detail of this.

 

Being quite new to it all I didn't know the timings despite a ver versions of trips on canal plan...and also not sure now if there is safe moorings to leave a boat for a week at a time.

 

thanks again.... :)

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I like the sounds of this! I perhaps need to look at some more detail of this.

 

Being quite new to it all I didn't know the timings despite a ver versions of trips on canal plan...and also not sure now if there is safe moorings to leave a boat for a week at a time.

 

thanks again.... smile.png

 

Some moorings are safer than others, for sure. Our own boat was vandalised when we left it in a secluded spot on the outskirts of Wigan, but then Wigan (as I now realise!) has a bit of a reputation. 'Rough' urban spots like that are the exception rather than the rule; leaving your boat somewhere like Gargrave (or Skipton, or Bingley, etc.) is a completely different proposition, especially as there are always other boats around in those places to add an element of 'safety in numbers'. If you start a thread on here asking about the best places to moor on a particular stretch, maybe in the 'Holidays' forum, you can always get advice from people who know the area.

  • Greenie 1
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Or you could do a partial 'ring' bringing you back towards the A&C from the other direction - heading along the Leigh Branch, Bridgewater, Rochdale and C&H.

 

While the concept is a very good one, note that the Rochdale canal and the Calder and Hebble are both closed to through navigation. This is likely to be the case into July at the earliest.

 

But come along the Leeds Liverpool anyway, and that's from someone who keeps a Nauticus 27 on the canal.

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While the concept is a very good one, note that the Rochdale canal and the Calder and Hebble are both closed to through navigation. This is likely to be the case into July at the earliest.

 

But come along the Leeds Liverpool anyway, and that's from someone who keeps a Nauticus 27 on the canal.

 

Dave will certainly have to keep an eye on the situation, but it's a summer cruise he's planning, so they may well have re-opened by then.

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Incidentally, Dave: if you're keen to do the whole L&L, have you considered the possibility of making some headway over 2 or 3 weekends just before your main 10-day cruise? There are lots of places at the eastern end of the L&L, up to and including Gargrave, where you can moor your boat within easy walking distance of a train station. (Edited to add: I mean a train station with a fairly fast, regular and affordable service back to Leeds; I'm sure there are train stations west of Gargrave too!)

 

If you could get as far as Gargrave over 2 or 3 weekends, and take that as your start and end point for your main 10-day cruise, you actually could get all the way to Liverpool (if you didn't mind doing longer days!). Or you could do a partial 'ring' bringing you back towards the A&C from the other direction - heading along the Leigh Branch, Bridgewater, Rochdale and C&H.

 

This is exactly the sort of thing we used to do when we were moored in Shipley - 'local' cruising on weekends between places that were easy to reach by train, but planning ahead so that places at the far end of that local range (e.g. Gargrave, Castleford, Sowerby Bridge) became the start and end points for longer cruises. That enabled us to cover far more ground in a year than we could have done if we'd started from our home mooring every time.

I wouldnt rely on using the Rochdale to get to Leeds in Summer 2016 from Lancs.

Edited by Darren72
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