Hebden Bridge

Monday 07 July 2014 – Hebden Bridge, Rochdale Canal

As we only have ten locks and 3 miles today we planned to start at 08:00 but as both boats were ready to go by 07:15 we set off from Todmorden.  The first lock had to be set then the next three were in our favour and the wind had blown both the top gates open.  The locks then space themselves out so Beryl got to ride rather than walking between them.  The scenery is beautiful with the valley sides close in to the canal, making it feel that you are in a rugged country.  We had moored up by 11:15.

The ‘Tour de France’ passed through Hebden Bridge and the town has certainly taken the bike thing to heart – bunting is everywhere and all the shops have some form of bicycle theme, the clothes shops have dummies dressed in race gear, most have the obligatory bike in the window and the charity shops have home-made bunting in a bike theme.  Those shops that wish to be discrete (Estate Agents, Solicitors and Banks) all have small plastic yellow bikes on display (?provided by the local chamber of commerce or the council perhaps).  The cake shops have yellow icing and polka dot icing on their wares and even the local Baptist church had a sign outside showing a cyclist with the words “The end is not nigh – only xxx km to go”  I was amused but forget how many km it was!

On the weather front the sun has been out all day – there was one very brief shower but the main cloud missed us although I did see a rainbow.