Y is for Yorkshire

Yorkshire is the largest county in England. Prior to the 1974 county boundary changes, it was divided into three regions; the East Riding, West Riding and North Riding. Now, Yorkshire is divided into four componants, rather more boringly named South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, East Yorkshire and North Yorkshire, the latter being by far the biggest area of land, though not the most heavily populated.

Yorkshire contains two national parks; the Dales and the Moors. Both are beautiful in their different ways. It also has a coast line. Further south, there is more industry, both current and historic.

I'm going to spend a few blog-days in Yorkshire, sharing some of my photos and thoughts about a rather special county, beginning here...

When I was in junior school, we used to do projects of our own choosing. Of course I did one on canals and I found a picture of the Bingley five rise locks. Ever since that day, I have had a background yen to visit them in person and, with a little help from a friend, on Saturday, I did just that.

The five rise is a staircase of five locks, with the bottom gate of one lock forming the top gate of the next. Because it is quite complicated to operate, there is a British Waterways employee on hand during the day. At night, the locks are locked :)

The photo above is taken from the top of the top lock, looking back towards the market town of Bingley.

And this is the view from the top lock looking the other way.

For the more classic view from the bottom and also a little more about the history of this lock on the Leeds Liverpool Canal, follow this link to JennyFreckles' blog, Saltaire Daily Photo.

To see more Y posts on Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday, follow this link.