What have I been up to now? I did promise myself that every weekend was going to involve a little adventure after my escape this summer. Well, this was the weekend I almost broke my promise to myself. After my Park Run success last Saturday, a very busy Christmas, lots of running, an horrendous first few weeks back at work, two students still at home (the novelty has worn off and they need to go!), I just wanted a Sunday sofa day. I had a lazy lie in but by 11:00am my conscience got the better of me and I was a bit bored, as I’ve mentioned before I’m not good at being still. My legs were aching though so I was trying to think of something that didn’t involve running, walking or leg work. Then I had a flash of inspiration…………the kayak!
The kayak has not been out this winter as I’m a bit of a fair-weather kayaker. However, it wasn’t too cold, just dull and wet and there’s no such thing as ‘bad weather’ in my house, just the ‘wrong clothing’. So, I decided if I got my waterproofs on and went on flat water it would be fine.
I don’t have sea really close to me, it’s a good two hours away, but there are lots of lakes, rivers and canals. I got the kayak when the boys were little as we used to go all over with it in the school holidays. It’s one of those sit on top ones so if you tip up you are straight in the water. It’s made for two adults but when they were little, I could get one adult and two children on it by perching one of them on the front. I used to put their buoyancy aids on and off we went. We had loads of fun. It’s supposed to be quite sturdy but believe me when I say I am capable of capsizing even the sturdiest of kayaks!
The canals are so well maintained in the UK by the Canal and River Trust and the Environment Agency. They are as pretty as a picture in lovely weather as they are lined with riverside pubs and full of canal barges. A number of the barges are lived on throughout the year, others are just hired out as holiday lets. You can even just hire them for the day and we had great fun on one for the day for my dad’s 70th Birthday.
There are hundreds of miles of navigable waterways in Yorkshire including the Aire and Calder Navigation, Calder and Hebble Navigation, Dearne and Dove Canal, Barnsley Canal, Leeds and Liverpool Canal, Rochdale Canal, Huddersfield Narrow Canal and lots more. They have so much history to them too. Most of them were completed between 1750 and 1830 and were built as part of the industrial revolution. The purpose of most of them was the transportation of goods, and in Yorkshire they linked the textile mills, coal mines, quarries and other key areas of production with the big cities during this time. I think my favourite is the Leeds and Liverpool as it goes all through North Yorkshire and is definitely the prettiest. But one of the closest to me without too many locks is the Calder and Hebble Navigation, so this was where I went. Locks are fine on a barge but when you are in a kayak, without the key to the lock gate, they are a bit of a nightmare as you have to keep getting out, hauling the kayak out and then carrying it around the lock to the other side to set off again.
Other than a few spots of rain it was so pretty. Not as nice as when the sun shines but you still see all sorts of wildlife on the water. Birds, fish and lots of signs of spring, catkins and little buds on the trees. There’s something special about swans too and kayaking with them. They are so majestic and peaceful and I’ve got over the time when one nearly took my thumb off on a family holiday to Bournemouth when I was around seven and decided to hand feed it. That’s a word of advice for you, never hand feed a swan, they have a serrated edge to their beak and it hurts, trust me!
However, on a kayak I really am ‘all the gear no idea’. I am hopeless with a capital ‘H’. I could even be worse at kayaking than skiing, and after one torn medial collateral ligament in 2018, I can safely say I’m pretty bad at that too. I get full marks for trying though and I’ll have a go at absolutely anything. I really enjoy myself kayaking, it’s is just something that I don’t excel at, but I keep going because I love it and that’s what life’s all about, enjoyment! And I love water so I’m always eager to go.
I think the problem is the fact it’s a two-person kayak. When I’m in it on my own there is no problem whatsoever. However, you do not want to be in a kayak with me! It’s a no-win situation really. Firstly, the person at the back steers it and needs to paddle in sync with the person in the front. I don’t mind being at the back because it means I can have a little rest and hope the person on the front does not notice! However, I cannot steer it, I have no co-ordination and end up everywhere except where I should. I’m also that busy looking around and noseying that I’m not concentrating on where I am going, or the paddle stroke of the person at the front. So naturally, I’m usually placed in the front to avoid any collisions or arguments. Apart from the fact that I can’t keep stopping for a rest because I’m easily seen, I like it at the front. However, the issue is then created for the person in the back. No matter how much instruction I get, I don’t know how I manage to do it but I get so much water inside the boat and all over the person sat behind me that it has to be seen to be believed. Whoever comes with me has to wear full waterproofs and today I even had to empty the water out of the boat before the return journey back down the canal in the opposite direction! I just can’t get the hang of it. I get ten out of ten for enthusiasm though.
A lovely afternoon on the water and a bit of Yorkshire canal history for you. Like all my adventures this one ended in a café too, and this week’s treat of choice was a good old Yorkshire Cream Tea otherwise known as a scone, strawberry jam and clotted cream!
