Reconnoitring the Leeds Liverpool Canal

Last Sunday we made a first attempt at exploring the Leeds Liverpool Canal and its narrowboats on foot starting in Leeds city centre and heading towards Shipley. That's about as elaborate as our plan was. The lovely area around the canal would have been reason enough to go but I had a second agenda. I wanted to look at some narrowboats as living on one is something I’d love to try for several reasons:

1. To see how tidy I can be when limited space forces me to be.
2. To learn what possessions I really need in everyday life.
3. To be more on top of the resources I use to sustain myself. 
4. To stop rushing through life and just take my time. 
5. To get a sun-basking narrowboat dog.

We got into Leeds station at 11am and after a tasty Full English and a strong coffee at Aire Bar we headed to Clarence Dock near the Royal Armouries to take a look at some narrowboats and we began judging. I like the cosy gypsy style boats in purple or green with a herb garden and flowers creatively attached. Living space-savingly could be a challenge for me as I seem to have a knack for making a mess yet I can’t stand my own flat being untidy. I will spend two minutes turning my room upside down to find that one top I really want to wear only to then tidy up after myself for another two hours. I'm not proud.

We followed the river Aire until we hit the Leeds Liverpool canal near the station. It was my favourite walking weather: windy, fresh, cloudy but dry. I like the clash of architecture you find while you’re still in the heart of Leeds: abandoned industrial ruins followed by trendy bars before nature takes over a little more but in the distance modern high-rise office towers keep watch over everything.

I read up a bit on what the canal is all about so here is a super quick summary. While today the canal is mostly used for leisure purposes it was originally intended to move goods between Leeds, Bradford, Skipton and Liverpool. Construction on the canal started in the second half of the 18th century and it took 46 years to complete it. It was mostly a lack of funding that made the construction draw out so much. It also ended up costing five times more than originally planned. I couldn't help but be reminded of Hull's footbridge. But 127 miles of canal and 91 locks later, it was done! A lot of the locks appear in groups of two or three to create stairs. The most fun to get through with a boat should be the five rise lock staircase at Bingley.

We only made it to somewhere near Rodley this time before taking a bus back to Leeds. My excuses: I was wearing skate shoes, we set off quite late and we had a limited supply of water with us so we decided to take it easy. After all, this whole trip was supposed to be a recon mission to see how well suited the area is for a few days of walking. I’m rather excited about it as there are loads of blackberries to forage and woods to explore. This definitely looks like something worth pursuing.