Sunday 29th July

Leeds here we come :-) We only had 4½ miles and 4 locks to do – one of which was a flood lock and was open. It was a mixture of river and canal and there was a lovely weir at Knostrop Fall Lock.

 We weren’t too sure what to expect in Clarence Dock as I had heard all sorts of stories about poor mooring in Leeds. However we were lucky enough to get the last of the visitor’s moorings on the left hand side of the dock. There is electricity and water and there was even 60p worth of electricity on our hook-up which should do us until tomorrow when the C&RT office will be open and we can buy a new card.

After lunch we walked along the river bank and into the city. There are some very attractive flats – some new and some converted from old warehouses and, of course, the odd hotel. I have to say that the waterfront is a lot better than I had expected it to be. It just goes to show that you shouldn’t believe all you read!!

The City centre was just a city centre! I’m not a shopaholic so shops don’t interest me but we did get some nice fruit and veg from M & S!! Leeds is where Michael Marks first open his penny bazaar in 1884. In 1894 he went into partnership with Tom Spencer and the rest, as they say, is history! We saw the Corn Exchange and saw that it said boutique shops so we went to investigate and were really surprised – it is a splendid building with an amazing roof. The building was completed in 1862 and opened on 28^th July 1863 (149 years ago yesterday!) and is now just one of three Corn Exchanges in the country which operates in its traditional capacity as a centre for trade, albeit no longer for trading in corn as in 2007 it opened as a boutique shopping centre for independent retailers.

We had a very pleasant evening in Clarence Dock just enjoying the sunshine, mainly as we know that the weather is about to change.