When I told people I was going to spend a week on the Leeds Liverpool Canal most of them looked at me gone-out; this was pretty much the reaction I expected, as it was my initial reaction when the trip was first mooted – sitting one sunny afternoon outside a country pub, obviously.
But if you consider the unique mix of Yorkshire Dales’ views and the rich industrial heritage of what is now the M62 corridor, anyone should agree that there is no shortage of things to see and do. And, travelling at four miles an hour, it’s easy to get off the boat, take a picture and get back on again – in this respect only it is just like taking the train from Mettupalayam to Udhagamandalam.
So, concentrating on the stretch of canal through the valley of the River Aire – from the fresh pork pies of J Stanforth in Skipton to the Hockney exhibition in Salts Mill at Saltaire – the weather wasn’t the best in the world but the beer certainly was.
