The original plan for our weekend was to head straight to Saltaire for lunch on Saturday, but the mixed messages about Canal and River Trust policy about using Bingley 5 Rise twice in twenty-four hours meant we didn't get there until the evening.
Scott, of the excellent Micropub Adventures had recently visited Saltaire, so we followed his advice, beginning in the Salt Beer Factory.
This began life as a Bradford Tramways depot.
On a sunny Bank Holiday weekend the place was packed, and very loud, although the music was at least from our era. The beer was excellent, and fortunately, the attached pizza restaurant was very quiet, in every way. It was also presided over by a waitress of a certain age who shared our views about the main bar.
We moved on to Fanny's Ale House, which was our kind of pub and not too crowded once you got past the bar.
Oddly, whilst we were in Saltaire, Scott was in Skipton visiting the beer festival and also enjoying The Narrowboat.
As the crew of one of our two boats called it a night, three of us headed off to grice the Shipley Glen Tramway, via the superb Unitarian church.
We moved on to Fanny's Ale House, which was our kind of pub and not too crowded once you got past the bar.
Oddly, whilst we were in Saltaire, Scott was in Skipton visiting the beer festival and also enjoying The Narrowboat.
As the crew of one of our two boats called it a night, three of us headed off to grice the Shipley Glen Tramway, via the superb Unitarian church.
I first came across the Shipley Glen Cable Tramway in one of my father's old tramway magazines, but somehow had never seen it in the flesh. Although it wasn't running, the brief visit did match my expectations of a delightful little line.
Sunday morning began with a quick cruise to a winding hole and back, although , as on our last trip, winding proved difficult, this time because of how shallow the water was.
After that we headed back to Bingley and another very long and hot wait whilst the flights were set for us - the one drawback of staircase locks is when the flow of boats changes direction, and although it was lunchtime, we were the first boat of the day ascending them.
A delayed, but hearty lunch was provided by The Airedale Heifer. It is the sort of main road pub you might not even realise was there, but again it was really good. after that it was plain sailing back to Silsden to hand the boats back the next morning. Sadly, the evening was marred by a local teenager having a serious accident and the arrival of the air ambulance, which meant none of us was in the mood for a late night.
After that we headed back to Bingley and another very long and hot wait whilst the flights were set for us - the one drawback of staircase locks is when the flow of boats changes direction, and although it was lunchtime, we were the first boat of the day ascending them.
A delayed, but hearty lunch was provided by The Airedale Heifer. It is the sort of main road pub you might not even realise was there, but again it was really good. after that it was plain sailing back to Silsden to hand the boats back the next morning. Sadly, the evening was marred by a local teenager having a serious accident and the arrival of the air ambulance, which meant none of us was in the mood for a late night.
