Hire we go!

Wednesday and we're on the move again. Only 4 swing bridges today and 2 of them were opened for us. In Skipton a hire boat got into quite a pickle ending up sideways across the canal and then bumping into another boat while I held back trying to guess what his next move would be. 

We travelled through Skipton with the intention of coming back at the weekend to meet Australian friends on Monday. 

We stopped at Low Bradley in a quiet spot. 

Nice and quiet when the 'traffic' stops but we are near to 2 hire boat centres and throughout the day boats keep coming past and then returning later in the day. All very friendly and most pottering past at a reasonable speed. 

We walked up through the village, or rather we climbed up through the village. The contours on the map are really close together. 

In the past, quarrying supplied slate and stone for building materials but most of the villagers were engaged in hand looming and wool combing in their own homes. In the mid-1860s, industry started to develop in Bradley in the form of spinning and weaving mills. Weaving was carried out at Rose Shed Mill, which was redeveloped into 28 homes in the late 1990s. 

The village pub, the Slaters Arms, is very cosy and does a good lunch. 

Here are some of the houses nearby. 

And, the pub itself. 

An old stone horse trough in the High Street. 

And then, back to the boat with friends popping in for tea.