The Rochdale Canal

At Sowerby Bridge the Calder & Hebble ends and the Rochdale begins. We are joined by Nb (narrowboat)  Elusive as we make our way through locks 1 and 2 to Tuel Lane Tunnel and lock 3, the deepest inland lock in England.  Thankfully Elusive are mob handed as Adrian and I are nursing horrendous hangovers and progress could have proved extremely slow.

I let the lock keeper know we are on our way and that we are now two boats instead of the one he was expecting, he's delighted as it saves water.

Billy the Lock Keeper is quite simply the loveliest, most helpful lock keeper you are ever going to meet and to be fair, we haven't met a bad one yet. He loves his job, he is able to tell us all about the lock and is really interested in Atticus, he obviously likes facts and figures and thankfully I'm able to answer his questions about Atticus, I don't think he's seen a Sea Otter before and seems genuinely interested, or maybe he's just very polite as I feed his presumed passion for facts.  Above the lock, the landscape changes the valley rises even higher above us and the views are spectacular. Hebden Bridge is in our sights.

Lunchtime sees us arriving in Hebden Bridge, it's like the M1 for boats here. There are boats moored both sides of the canal but we manage to find a little spot just beyond a gate into the park - they've a football field - Lexie can't wait.