I’ve been involved in a rather special journey over the last week or so — accompanying my friend Duncan Davis on his narrowboat, Pearl Barley, from Skipton to Leeds.
Defiantly imperial, Duncan briefed me ahead of our mission:
“The total distance is 28 miles, 7¾ furlongs and 28 locks. There are at least 32 moveable bridges of which 3 are usually left open and 20 small aqueducts or underbridges.”
The journey took five days, albeit at a leisurely pace. The time taken to travel home to Newcastle by train from Leeds? 90 minutes!
A longer blog post beckons once I have sifted through the hundreds of photographs I’ve made. In the meantime, I’d like to share my favourite Instagrams from the journey with you.
All made with my iPhone 4s and edited with Nik Software’s Snapseed, I view them as a kind of scrapbook for formulating my thoughts whilst also acting as modern day postcards, winging their way into the timelines of my followers…
The 57ft Pearl Barley
Duncan had a surprise for me — we would drive from Frosterley to Skipton in his 1955 Morris 1000…
Before we could go anywhere, the gearbox needed seeing to…
Captain Duncan Davis at the tiller of Pearl Barley
Standing on the roof of Pearl Barley as we pass through a leafy stretch of the Leeds Liverpool Canal…
Entering the first lock at Bingley Five Rise…
Water gushes through the 4220kg gates at Bingley Five Rise…
The stoves keep us warm during a chilly, misty morning at Saltaire…
Duncan Davis at Fanny’s Public House, Saltaire
Jack Lowe 