Hebden Bridge

[Midnight]

Hardly any boats at Hebden Bridge I've never seen it so quiet along the park moorings. Very low water with 2 boats laid over. We found the only deep mooring so okay with wheelbarrow wheels. 

[dmr]

I reckon that boat is either sat on a rock or hooked up on the uneven stone washwall rather than sat on the bottom. There are a few big lumps in the water down that end, they feel like big stones that came out of the washwall to me. Hebden is a popular spot and the level does go up and down so it would be really good if CRT could lift those stones out (one day 😀).

Wheelbarrow wheels ("Rochdale wheels"?) are pretty much essential on the Rochdale as the stone washwall slopes outwards as it goes down, and can be a bit uneven.

[Midnight]

1 hour ago, dmr said:

I reckon that boat is either sat on a rock or hooked up on the uneven stone washwall rather than sat on the bottom. There are a few big lumps in the water down that end, they feel like big stones that came out of the washwall to me. Hebden is a popular spot and the level does go up and down so it would be really good if CRT could lift those stones out (one day 😀).

Wheelbarrow wheels ("Rochdale wheels"?) are pretty much essential on the Rochdale as the stone washwall slopes outwards as it goes down, and can be a bit uneven.

It's very shallow along most of the the moorings which is why many are mooring up at Stubbings. Tuel lockie warned us of depth issues between lock 8 and 10. I found a deeper spot by checking the depth with a pole but we are shallow drafted. Seeing as these are normally very popular VMs CRT should consider dredging but I suspect there's not a hope in hell for that.

 

[dmr]

6 minutes ago, Midnight said:

It's very shallow along most of the the moorings which is why many are mooring up at Stubbings. Tuel lockie warned us of depth issues between lock 8 and 10. I found a deeper spot by checking the depth with a pole but we are shallow drafted. Seeing as these are normally very popular VMs CRT should consider dredging but I suspect there's not a hope in hell for that.

 

 

Its deepest up by the drydock but that does get used as a winding hole so a bit mean to moor right opposite. In many places I believe there is not much silt at the canal edge (towpath side) so dredging would not help. The silt mostly ends up settling where boats don't go.  What is sad is that a lot of very good potential 14 day moorings up towards Tod got lost in the last floods as all the gravel from the part complete cycle racetrack got washed into the canal edge. The cycle path was redone but no attempt was made to get the old cyclepath out of the cut.

At Hebden I think its a case of draining the canal and lifting the rocks. I have heard that a team of volunteers sometimes does this, but in Hebden there are lots of moored boats, and I suspect that the rocks are mostly too big for manual lifting anyway

There are two day boats working out of Hebden, don't know if they are running at the moment, but if they both go downstream then that takes 4 lockfulls out without putting any back in..

[LadyG]

2 hours ago, dmr said:

I reckon that boat is either sat on a rock or hooked up on the uneven stone washwall rather than sat on the bottom. There are a few big lumps in the water down that end, they feel like big stones that came out of the washwall to me. Hebden is a popular spot and the level does go up and down so it would be really good if CRT could lift those stones out (one day 😀).

Wheelbarrow wheels ("Rochdale wheels"?) are pretty much essential on the Rochdale as the stone washwall slopes outwards as it goes down, and can be a bit uneven.

I'm a bit stuck on ideas for my summer cruise, thinking about Ripon, but also Hebden bridge, 

Hebden Bridge

Ripon.

What to do, I'm getting a bit risk averse nowadays,, but that's going to get worse, so is it 

Ripon

 or

Hebden Bridge?

Will I ever leave the L&L?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dmr]

14 minutes ago, LadyG said:

I'm a bit stuck on ideas for my summer cruise, thinking about Ripon, but also Hebden bridge, 

Hebden Bridge

Ripon.

What to do, I'm getting a bit risk averse nowadays,, but that's going to get worse, so is it 

Ripon

 or

Hebden Bridge?

Will I ever leave the L&L?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hebden is a very unique place, and has been for over 50 years, a mixture of old (and young) hippies, lesbians and Yorkshiremen (and boaters), though sadly an increasing number of wealthy city commuters. Not so good on a sunny weekend as its a real tourist hotspot. Very attractive buildings set into the hillside. Excellent and varied hill walking. Todmorden just up the canal is a more down to earth version. If you like this sort of thing then give it a go. Probably best as a "there and back" trip via the Calder and Hebble as the Manchester end can be challenging. A surprising number of boaters, visit, buy a house and never leave, so take care 😀.

How long is your boat?, the Calder and Hebble locks are short and tricky.

[LadyG]

35 minutes ago, dmr said:

Hebden is a very unique place, and has been for over 50 years, a mixture of old (and young) hippies, lesbians and Yorkshiremen (and boaters), though sadly an increasing number of wealthy city commuters. Not so good on a sunny weekend as its a real tourist hotspot. Very attractive buildings set into the hillside. Excellent and varied hill walking. Todmorden just up the canal is a more down to earth version. If you like this sort of thing then give it a go. Probably best as a "there and back" trip via the Calder and Hebble as the Manchester end can be challenging. A surprising number of boaters, visit, buy a house and never leave, so take care 😀.

How long is your boat?, the Calder and Hebble locks are short and tricky.

57ft, which I thought might make things tricky, I do have a CandH paddle .

[IanD]

3 minutes ago, LadyG said:

57ft, which I thought might make things tricky, I do have a CandH paddle .

57' is fine, I've done them several times. Be prepared to get wet though...

[XLD]

11 minutes ago, LadyG said:

57ft, which I thought might make things tricky, I do have a CandH paddle .

You mean a "Handspike".

[David Mack]

57 minutes ago, dmr said:

A surprising number of boaters, visit, buy a house and never leave, so take care 😀.

Yup. Bought a house just outside the town 27 years ago, and still here!

[Midnight]

1 hour ago, LadyG said:

I'm a bit stuck on ideas for my summer cruise, thinking about Ripon, but also Hebden bridge, 

Hebden Bridge

Ripon.

What to do, I'm getting a bit risk averse nowadays,, but that's going to get worse, so is it 

Ripon

 or

Hebden Bridge?

Will I ever leave the L&L?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Both are good destinations. Ripon includes a trip on the tidal Ouse so avoid big spring tides if you've not done it before. York and Boroughbridge are on the way and both great places to stay. 

 

Hebden is nice too. The C & H locks are pretty hard work  - a long handled windlass - but worth the effort with some nice places along the way. Water levels on the Rochdale may be an issue unless we get rain. We are currently at Hebden and apart from the town moorings there was plenty of water and very few boats 

Edited July 14, 2022 by Midnight

[IanD]

12 minutes ago, Midnight said:

Both are good destinations. Ripon includes a trip on the tidal Ouse so avoid big spring tides if you've not done it before. York and Boroughbridge are on the way and both great places to stay. 

 

Hebden is nice too. The C & H locks are pretty hard work  - a long handled windlass - but worth the effort with some nice places along the way. Water levels on the Rochdale may be an issue unless we get rain. We are currently at Hebden and apart from the town moorings there was plenty of water and very few boats 

 

Todmorden is also rather nice and less touristy/posh than Hebden Bridge. A visit to the Golden Lion is highly recommended... 😉

[dmr]

14 minutes ago, Midnight said:

Both are good destinations. Ripon includes a trip on the tidal Ouse so avoid big spring tides if you've not done it before. York and Boroughbridge are on the way and both great places to stay. 

 

Hebden is nice too. The C & H locks are pretty hard work  - a long handled windlass - but worth the effort with some nice places along the way. Water levels on the Rochdale may be an issue unless we get rain. We are currently at Hebden and apart from the town moorings there was plenty of water and very few boats 

 

They are all stacked up at Warland waiting for a chance to get over the summit. Seven boats in a short pound, both lock landings occupied. A couple of days ago boats were even double moored, a bit like a Yorkshire version of London 😀

[dmr]

7 minutes ago, IanD said:

 

Todmorden is also rather nice and less touristy/posh than Hebden Bridge. A visit to the Golden Lion is highly recommended... 😉

 

You have to be careful with the Golden Lion. Sometimes at weekends its full of Manchester yoof if they have a big name DJ on. Mondays its full of local yoof because the pool table is free. Tuesday is dodgy old men night (and boaters)  as all the real ales are £2.00. You really need to visit 7 or 8 times to get a feel for the place. 😀

[IanD]

5 minutes ago, dmr said:

 

You have to be careful with the Golden Lion. Sometimes at weekends its full of Manchester yoof if they have a big name DJ on. Mondays its full of local yoof because the pool table is free. Tuesday is dodgy old men night (and boaters)  as all the real ales are £2.00. You really need to visit 7 or 8 times to get a feel for the place. 😀

 

It was great last time I was there -- lovely (and cheap!) Thai food and beer, buzzing later on 'cos it was a reggae night. Didn't bother us later on the boat though, and we were moored just outside... 😉

 

Certainly aim to visit every time I pass there just to check that this was a statistically valid sample though... 🙂

Edited July 14, 2022 by IanD

[dmr]

4 minutes ago, IanD said:

 

It was great last time I was there -- lovely (and cheap!) Thai food and beer, buzzing later on 'cos it was a reggae night. Didn't bother us later on the boat though, and we were moored just outside... 😉

 

Certainly aim to visit every time I pass there just to check that this was a statistically valid sample though... 🙂

 

We are spending this year on the Rochdale and pop down to Tod every month or so to do the pumpout, and so spend the night (or two) outside the GL. At weekends they don't stop till about 2am and then the hard core crowd just move to the tables on the wharf and carry on till about 7am. Some changes to kitchen staff and I feel food not quite as good, still amazingly good but not quite as amazingly good as before. Still have the good selection of real ales. Did you know that peanuts are free...so always get peanuts rather than crisps 😀.

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

How about the sex party house?

Still going is it?

[Unicorn Stampede]

The biggest issue with staying at Hebden from our experience is it's the main turning point for Shire cruisers - last year they would come up en force to the VM, turn around and go back down, which when coupled with Brontë Boats day hire (and a lack of people coming down) meant there were plenty of evenings with very little water in the pound.

 

I'm surprised to see it so quiet from the picture but seems you picked a good time! 

[Midnight]

Yes very quiet, passed 6 Shires heading towards Brighouse last Tuesday must have been warned about Hebden moorings. 4 boats came up today 3 went up lock 9 and moored near the houses. I vacated my mooring to let the 4th in and pootled down to Brearley. Mytholmroyd top paddles were padlocked (no stoppage notice ?)  but as they leak so bad the gates were ready to be opened.