We woke feeling energetic and decided to walk up to Heptonstall. This is just a mile out of Hebdon Bridge, but seriously uphill, the way up starts on The Buttress which is a cobbled almost vertical path, must have been fun in the wet, wearing clogs. John strode up with Kim not far behind and Duggie was running to and fro between them, but Jacquie and I had to keep stopping.
We all eventually reached this village which time has forgotten, the main road could have been were the old Hovis advert might have been made. A Victorian church stands in the grounds of the ruined 15th-C church and a dungeon and stocks are still to be seen. Sadly the little museum in the school was closed, but one of the oldest Methodist Churches in the world was open; octagonal in shape unchanged inside with its boxed pews upstairs in the gallery as well as downstairs.
Coffee in the local pub and back down we went. It was much easier on the heart and lungs but the downhill slope found different leg muscles and by the time we reached the bottom our legs were quivering.
SKYY was reversed the short distance to the Sanitary Station and we did a manual pump out and filled with water before waving goodbye to Hebdon Bridge. We only got a mile before we were stopped by padlocked lock 7. A notice pinned to the lock said that the locks at Sowerby Bridge were closed because of low water levels. A phone call to Debbie at BW confirmed the situation. The Environment Agency had stopped the pumps that pumps water back into the canal from the River Calder as the flow was below acceptable level.
Duggie and I walked a mile and a half to below lock 5 and were surprised to find the three and a half mile pound to Sowerby appeared to contained more water than many a pound that we had successfully negotiated on the way to the Summit. However we settled down for the evening and were promised an update of the situation in the morning.
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