right then [don't know what I'm doing with my hands] the navigation that i'm on right now
(calder and hebble) it's 21.5 miles long and i've almost done it all i'm in a place called
Mirfield and i've got two miles to go before i turn around and can come back the other way why
am i turning round? because i want to go somewhere else that's over on the east side of the network.
Mirfield's claim to fame is that it is the birthplace of sir patrick stewart "make it so
number one" [terrible Picard impression] there's a strong boat building history in the area - in
1776 the first one appeared in Shepley bridge and this is the most recent one, Mirfield boat company
they are producing some incredibly huge wide beams very impressive stuff
but also some narrow boats as well and all fitting them out within their factory here
and it was really interesting to see the different stages of construction
and of course without a washing machine on board there's always
the stop to the local laundrette and this one is one of the best i've been in so far
Des: i've been here 12 years i think we just offer a nice service you know it's just you can drop it
off and pick it up come back and pick it up nice cup of tea some nice music in the background and
then yeah once in a while we'll get celebrities like yourself coming through! it's all good!
Me: yeah no it's just a great great place to come recommend it he's not paying me to say
this by the way - he hasn't given me a free wash or anything rubbish what do i get?!!!
I'm moored next to a lidl so shopping has been really easy and parking as well has
been fantastic i even found some excellent parking on the back of this recovery truck
as my clutch failed right in the middle of the town on the traffic lights had to be
pushed around the corner by some locals and then just called for assistance from there
i'll probably park the truck up for summer but for now it is still quite handy
and there's some great pubs around here some of which you might see later on
one of the most surprising things was that i got my ears syringed i know it's a bit
gross isn't it but um if you're like me you get build up of wax in your ears until the
point which you can't really hear anything it's not good when you're trying to um
yeah make music and things like that makes it very very difficult but yes i managed to have
this girl on board who actually was able - even using the power of my 12 volt batteries - to
power a machine to gently get rid of all the earwax and that was really cool gross but cool
'is this the first time you've done this on a narrowboat?' Nuala: yep Me: how'd you feel was it
a bit wobbly? Nuala: um not particularly it felt fine i really enjoyed it actually i'll do it again
more narrowboat micro suction please! Me: but anyway i think it's time to get
going and looking at my map here i've got two miles um of the navigation to do until
i'm going to turn around i don't need to go any further to say that i've done
all of the or this area of the network and there's other areas that i need to go get on to do
that I really really want to do before it gets too late in the year
so i'm going to turn around at cooper bridge that's in about two miles time and i'm only going
to do about a couple of locks on the way there all it says about mirfield in here is all services
a useful place for supplies that's it. i think it's a little bit more than that
is that going to be pub of the week?
Boater: saw you at magic rock in huddersfield but we didn't know we were sat behind you until you set off
when there has been a little bit of rainfall sometimes this
flood lock is shut whilst others are open on the same level on the same section of the river
so we've been told by the local boaters just to go for it
but yeah it's a very very short section of the river so we're not worried
[sorry bit echoey] this is pretty mad i've never actually been in a flood lock it's a very odd sort of shape
and i've got two gates one on the riverside and one on the canalized section
but yeah it's just going to take a while to fill it up because it is quite a large
large lock a lot of area to fill and it's really difficult to moor sensibly as you can see!
the weir im just passing - it hasn't been there that long some of the boaters can remember when there
wasn't one and they say that has affected the reading on the flood lock there
but i don't know it's the canal and river trust bank staff who will come and shut these locks
so they surely know better don't they..?
this looks like two chimney stacks popping out of the river
like a steam tug boat has sunk
probably one of the saddest things about cruising along the calder and hebble is seeing trees with
plastic bags hanging off them but when you get such varying river levels that is what happens
you know rubbish always blows into the canal or the river
and then it just gets hung up on low hanging branches
at this point i've got to say it's unusual for everything to
work and it has done in it every single paddle has been alright on this one
what's going on i dunno!
all right just going past south pennine boat club
and uh i'm going to leave my fellow boater here he's going to moor up and check out the area
i'm going to crack on because we're almost at the end of my little section that i want to do
that footbridge is incredible the detail on the iron work on it
amazing i want to see a train go underneath it
i love that how it is it's kind of rusty all over pretty much
but still there's green on it as well so it's almost like a shabby chic bridge
this is a wonderfully peaceful stretch of the navigation and not really any signs of industrial
goings on or um or plastic bags hanging on trees so it's gorgeous up here gorgeous!
just about to go through another flood lock this one is open so no issues there
well suddenly we're back in the world of industry with all these pipe bridges train bridges
and foot bridges as well going over the top
so we're back on the river
and seeing all the plastic bags again
the problem that can arise if you've got a long narrow boat - not a long boat that's
the vikings - is that you're too close to lock gates that might be leaking very heavily so
um yeah the water that might rush in into your boat which has happened to a few boaters i know
yeah you just gotta be careful or get a shorter boat don't show off!
it does seem like a bit of a box ticking mission this but um it's fun i'm loving it! although i am
thinking of oh yeah but i've got to turn rounds so got to go through all the bits i've just done
right finally made it back to mirfield took me a while but i'm ready now i'm ready... for [Pub of the Week theme tune[
right no abandon that - it's just far too busy for me honestly i just i don't like it when there's so
many people all squashed in and i couldn't even get my camera out to film anything because it's
just so packed sorry about that! let's uh let's find another one
much like leeds they've got this dark tunnel lit up with these led lights
i think it's pretty cool and there's some great graffiti here 'welcome to mirfield'
all right this is the next one it's right next to the marina let's check it out
actually right next to the canal as well let's see what's inside this pub
people are so lovely and friendly in this town that i only went to this pub a couple of times
and i've got in first name terms with people this is Lance the barman he's also a boater as well the
newer side of this pub definitely attracts a younger crowd and they have music and stuff on
the tv on the other side of the bar it's an older pub - as in the actual building not the people that
drink there, it's all ages - it's just a bit quieter and it was great just to chat with people there
um but i was looking for something a bit more um pool table maybe a jukebox just a little
bit more going on and um a real community pub all right this is the place here we go
and now i want to announce some new members of the crank it crew so first in the book dom
o'connor then we've got iain cattroll he's a producer all these people are supporting
the vlogs fiona and matthew amy abnet lawrence kitson jason brownhill dean brockley he's another
producer really helping me out and i couldn't make these videos without you guys on patreon
if you want to sign up for the cranky crew you know what to do i thank you very much
[sings Tenacious D cover] i couldn't remember... the greatest song in the world
this is just a tribute