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Weekend from Silsden to Saltaire


Hannah

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Hi,

 

Looking for a little advice. Planning a weekend in March next year for a 40th Birthday. Plan is for us to pick the boat up at lunch on the Friday from Silsden and then head up towards Saltaire. Where would people recommend to moor on the Friday night? And how does it work, do we book it? It's a surprise weekend so will be picking up the birthday boy enroute so where would be best for this, it would be about 6pm. 

Thanks in advance 

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The first thing to say is that I think the Bingley Five and Three Rise Locks are normally on winter opening hours till mid-March. These haven't been published for 2017/18 as far as I can see, but it might be that last passage commences at 2.00ish rather than 5.00ish, so depending on the dates of your trip you might not get through on the Friday. That's OK though, you can just moor at the top (no need to book, just find a space) and come down in the morning, getting to Saltaire around lunchtime Saturday.

If you're travelling later in March and hit the locks in time to come down on the Friday, I'd guess it'll still be a question of meeting the birthday boy in Bingley, perhaps having moored at the bottom of the locks rather than the top. 

Just to confuse matters, I'll just say that I think you'd have a much more scenic trip if you headed the other way, say to Gargrave or even Barnoldswick. That way you could meet in Skipton, which has plenty of visitor moorings, on the Friday evening and enjoy a very scenic cruise together on the Saturday. 

Silsden to Barnoldswick is an exceptionally scenic stretch, Silsden to Saltaire isn't - although of course the Bingley locks and Saltaire itself are well worth seeing. I guess it all depends whether you see cruising as the focus of your break, or just want to visit Saltaire and fancy doing it by boat.

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Hi, You'll be better off staying at Bingley , at the top of the 5 rise on Friday night, then going down the 5 rise and onto Saltaire on the Saturday, Moorings at Saltaire aren't great but you should go through Saltaire and turn round just before Shipley, come back to Saltaire to moor for the night.  we usually go back towards Hirstwood lock and moor near the cricket club.

I'm sure you'll have a great time, we've done this trip a few times when we used to moor at Kildwick, Any more questions just ask

Dave 

Edited by Titus
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1 hour ago, bearBOATING said:

Bingley 5 does not have winter opening hours

They did last year (8.00 to 2.00, instead of 8.00 to 5.00 currently):

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notice/9587/bingley-five-rise-opening-times-and-booking-information

And they published "Summer Opening Hours" in 2014 (8.00 to 5.00 again):

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notice/626/bingley-five-rise-and-bingley-three-rise-summer-opening-hours

So that doesn't seem to have been a one-off (although Google doesn't turn up anything obvious for other years). Worth checking anyway. Yes, you've also had to book 72 hours in advance in the past and I expect that will be the case this year too, but again I don't think this winter's details have been published yet.

Edited by magictime
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As far as I am aware the locks are not manned during the winter and the opening times stated are only for booked passages. As Robbie Cummings found out in his video at 17 mins

 

Edited by bearBOATING
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6 minutes ago, bearBOATING said:

As far as I am aware the locks are not manned during the winter and the opening times stated are only for booked passages. 

Yes, I think a lock keeper turns up especially to take booked boats through. Still, I think there is usually a restriction on timings as well as a requirement to book (perhaps just because they don't want to take boats through in the dark, which you'd have to do if you started a passage at 5.00 in December).

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From memory, you collect from Silsden at 1pm, and you will not be away before 2pm due to training DVD, walking through boat controls/equipment etc.
Also, in March you're looking at about 6pm sunset, so plan for about 4hrs max cruising. With that in mind i'd agree that the top of the Five Rise is about as far as you'll get.

There's nothing but swing bridges until you hit the Five Rise, so if you've never done locks before it can look a bit daunting. That said, our first ever trip was exactly that route and apart from a few grumbles about us being inexperienced from the old bloke manning the flight we survived and it gives a great sense of accomplishment.

If your heart is set on going that way its worth it, but as others have stated, its a lot nicer the other direction.

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9 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

From memory, you collect from Silsden at 1pm, and you will not be away before 2pm due to training DVD, walking through boat controls/equipment etc.
Also, in March you're looking at about 6pm sunset, so plan for about 4hrs max cruising. With that in mind i'd agree that the top of the Five Rise is about as far as you'll get.

Surely it wouldn't matter if sunset was at 10pm, though; last passage through the locks is going to be 5pm at the latest, and quite probably 2pm if the OP is talking about early March.

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1 hour ago, magictime said:

Surely it wouldn't matter if sunset was at 10pm, though; last passage through the locks is going to be 5pm at the latest, and quite probably 2pm if the OP is talking about early March.

well it does if you're hiring, you can't travel legally in the dark

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2 hours ago, Hudds Lad said:

well it does if you're hiring, you can't travel legally in the dark

I think we must be talking at cross purposes here. All I'm saying is that sunset isn't going to be the thing that stops anyone getting further than the top of the locks, because they're closed before sunset anyway.

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22 hours ago, Hudds Lad said:

well it does if you're hiring, you can't travel legally in the dark

Yes you can. There is nothing illegal about travelling after dark (on CRT waters). On the other hand it may be against the terms and conditions you have signed with the hire boat company. 

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On ‎05‎/‎10‎/‎2017 at 17:59, magictime said:

I think we must be talking at cross purposes here. All I'm saying is that sunset isn't going to be the thing that stops anyone getting further than the top of the locks, because they're closed before sunset anyway.

you're probably right, point taken ;)

On ‎06‎/‎10‎/‎2017 at 13:24, David Mack said:

Yes you can. There is nothing illegal about travelling after dark (on CRT waters). On the other hand it may be against the terms and conditions you have signed with the hire boat company. 

perhaps I wasn't clear, I meant as a hirer as the OP plainly will be, maybe "legally" was the wrong choice of word as well

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