Castleford

Sunday 23rd July 17
Beal
We awoke to reasonable weather this morning and decided to move on to Beal - a short run up the river Aire.
West Haddlesey Lock is really a flood lock protecting the Selby Canal from the varying river levels, however on this occasion the river level was the same as the canal so we only had to open and close the gates to proceed onto the river.

The imposing river gates at West Haddlesey

We moored at Beal lock (the same place we stayed on our way to Selby). Just after mooring up NB Northumbria arrived with Paul, the guy who looks after Sheffield Marina, on board, along with his dog Alfie with whom Scruff was delighted to be re-united.

The weather was remained fair so we decided to walk back along the river to the village of Kellington. This is a quite village and has an old stone church sited some way from the village itself, requiring a trek across a pumpkin field. 

The church was built on the site of an old and much smaller Saxon church the remains of which were uncovered during recent excavations, carried out whilst stabilisation works were being undertaken.

The church tower was also taken down and rebuilt stone by stone during the works, this had all become necessary due to mining subsidence. The church tower had always had a slight lean and this was maintained during the rebuilding.

Church of St Edmund King and Matyr, Kellington

Old and new parts of the church

We were lucky enough to bump into a chap who had a key to the church so we were treated to a tour round inside, it is hard to imagine that the whole of the internal floor area had been disturbed during the stabilisation work.

Leaving the church the rain returned so we walked back to Beal along the road, calling in the Jenny Wren pub for our Sunday meal, again this is a great pub, small and friendly and we enjoyed listening to the locals stories about the area.

We had to drag ourselves away from the pub to return to the boat and the rain began to become heavy so we made ourselves comfortable with a pot of tea.

The rain continued for most of the night so next morning I went to look for the level indicator to check if it was safe to proceed. The level indicators consist of a strip of metal painted green, amber and red, green indicates that it is ok to proceed i.e. the river level is normal, amber is proceed with caution and red too dangerous to go on. The higher the level usually means a faster flow.

At Beal I could not find the indicator so we had to make our own judgement, there was a lot of water flowing over the weir but the level did not to appear to have risen much overnight, this was quite difficult to judge as we were moored on a floating pontoon so our level with the pontoon remained the same.

It was also very windy adding to our concerns as to whether we should set off, however, we decided to go. 

There was a lot of flow mainly noticeable on the tight meanderings of the river but we got to Bank Dole lock without incident and tied up on the lock pontoon. 

There were two boats entering the lock from above so we helped them through before going in. As we were entering the lock another boat arrived, so we had assistance through.

Back on the canals we proceeded through Knottingley back onto the river at Ferrybridge, here the level indicators were in the green zone so we continued upstream to Castleford.

Approaching Ferrybridge

On our arrival at Castleford we moored behind a boat that had come up from London via the Trent, the lady on board had said that they had had something round the prop and they and a knocking noise from the engine. She was looking in the engine room and said that she thought it looked different, I had a look and noticed the gearbox flange was a couple of inches lower than the prop shaft, indicating a serious problem (somehow the had made it up the river in this condition), I mentioned that there was a boatyard just around the corner so off she went to find an engineer, he confirmed the seriousness of the break down by pointing out the one of the engine mounts had failed and the engine had dropped.

The boat needed to go into the yard so we breasted up alongside and towed them into the yard.

Tuesday 25th July

We decided to take the train to Pontefract today, a place I had wanted to explore for sometime as the castle featured several times during the Wars of the Roses, a period of history I have a particular interest in.

The journey is only a short 10 minute hop down the line and soon we had arrived and making our way up to the castle.

There is not much of the castle remaining but what there is is currently undergoing preservation work. It is difficult to imagine what an impressive structure this must have been with its bloody and violent history. The castle was destroyed towards the end of the English civil war, by Cromwell and his troops after requests from the townsfolk who had endured centuries of repeated attacks. During this time it had been a royalist stronghold, and Charles I army were held under siege here even after he had been executed, once they had been finally starved into surrender the castle was destroyed.

Earlier notable points in the history of the castle include the imprisonment and death of Richard II in 1399 and the execution of Sir Richard Grey, Thomas Vaughan  and Earls Rivers, all members of the Woodville family, who were trying to secure the accession of the would be king Edward V in 1483.

Although there is not much of the castle left it is still worth visiting as they have just opened a visitor centre and cafe, there are also lots of events in the grounds.

We had a look around the town, other than an interesting old market square not a great deal to see other than the usual shops and a small indoor market.

On our way back to the station we called in to look at the old parish church, this had been extensively damaged during the siege of the castle but enough remains to make it interesting, it has a rare double helix spiral stair case although this is now closed for safety reasons but they do have a model of it.

We were also shown an iron cannon ball (about 1 1/2" diameter) and very heavy, this had been recovered from the ruins and it was not known as to whether it was of royalist of parliamentarian origin.

We returned back to Castleford and fine weather so decided to get some painting done.

Wednesday morning brought more rain so we did a few internal jobs until the weather cleared up. We walked along the river to Faiburn Ings and back via a rather overgrown field path, enjoyable all the same.

On the move again

More of the "Green Stuff"

Saturday 22nd July

We have finally left Selby after spending a few days there amongst the now rotting duck weed CRT are finally trying to shift it but in the basin it is really thick and the top layer is decomposing and emitting a rather unpleasant smell as it does so. This type of weed does not normally present a problem to the boater as it floats on the surface and does not get near the prop; what it does do when it is as thick as this, however, is gather between the bank and the boat preventing mooring up. 

I went for a swim in Selby baths on Thursday, first in ages (thankfully no duck weed here!) to test out my shoulder prior to getting the train back to Horsforth for a physio appointment on Friday (21/7).
Saturday morning was very wet, with heavy rain for most of the morning, once the rain cleared we returned to the smelly basin to take on water etc before heading down to the end of the canal at West Haddlesey. 

Haddlesey Mooring

The sun came out as we gently made our way down the canal with dragonflies all around us.  Once moored we went for a walk along the riverbank to  Chapel Haddlesey to explore the weir that marks the end of the tidal river Aire.

Weir at end of tidal section

Site of the old Tidal Lock

There used to be a lock here giving access to the tidal stretch and onto the Ouse. This was a hazardous trip as the river is shallow and could only be undertaken during certain tides.  In 1778 the Aire and Calder company opened the Selby canal thus bypassing the tidal stretch and at the same time turning Selby into a bustling port. 

There is no evidence of the lock to be seen save the lock keepers cottage and and old stable. The lock cut around the weir still exists but is now used as a feeder to two large Archimedes screws situated where the lock once stood.
We made our way back after visiting the Jug Inn, a small but quaint and well kept village pub. A walk across the fields brought us back to the canal following the tow path back to our mooring. We had not been back long before the rain returned for most of the evening.
Our plans for the next week or so are to call at Castleford before going up the Calder to Stanley Ferry and then retracing our steps and up the Aire to Woodlesford and Leeds. 

Ripening Corn Fields

Selby (Again)

Monday 17/7/17
Woke up to another glorious sunny morning in Ripon, perfect weather for a cruise down the river.
I had a chat with the lady responsible for the upkeep of this short canal, apologising for our overstay, she replied it was ok as it was quite and had been all summer so far, she was concerned that rumours of leaky locks etc were putting people off making the journey up river. Anyone reading this who may be considering this trip should not be put off as it is no worse than other canals and is a lovely place to stay and explore.

Ripon Basin just before our departure

The Motley Crew

We had to wait for two crew members to join us, John Lockwood and Dave Miles, they left one car at Naburn Marina (who kindly allowed them to leave the car in their secure car park overnight) and then drove up to Ripon to leave a car there.
They arrived around lunchtime and we commenced our journey down the canal towards the river through the two locks below the town.












We arrived at the river lock at Oxclose to find two other boats waiting to come up but as the lock was full they kindly locked us through first, however the tail gates proved difficult to open so I climbed up the ladder out of the lock to assist and rejoined the boat below the lock.
The conditions were perfect for river cruising and we soon passed Newby Hall and gardens, thronging with visitors who all gave us a friendly wave as we cruised by.

Approaching Newby Hall from upstream

We passed through Westwick Lock and on to the confluence of the Swale, here we passed a couple in a Kayak on their way downstream, then onto Boroughbridge passing under the busy A1M before reaching Milby Lock. This was our last lock of the day and we carried along downstream passing the occasional boat coming the other way.

Dave is a member of the Leeds and District Angling club and knows most of this stretch of the river intimately and it  was interesting discovering the best "pegs" for fishing and also noting how much time and effort goes into maintaining the banks for access etc.

We arrived at Linton around 6 pm, almost missing the weir cut due to my not concentrating on where we going and too busy discussing all the other boats moored around.

Dave had suggested that we go for a curry at the pub in Linton so we readied ourselves and set off. As we were passing the lock a small cruiser arrived to go through, two females disembarked to operate the lock, they had obviously had a good day on the river and were somewhat the worst for wear and were struggling  to operate the gates so we duly offered our assistance and soon got the boat through, the two guys on the boat had also had a drink or two and didn't bother to rope the boat up and sustained a few heavy blows on the lock walls. One of the girls came back to the lock to see where the boat was and tripped as she approached the lock, just managing to grab the lock beam and avoid a  very nasty fall into a very deep lock!

We continued into the village and reached the pub, The College Arms, in the village of Linton. The pub is unusual in that is attached to an Indian/ Bangladeshi restaurant, they allowed us to sit, with Scruff, and order and eat our meal in the bar. The restaurant is called Saffron and the food was superb particularly when accompanied by a few pints of well kept John Smiths Cask.

We stayed overnight on the pontoon mooring above the lock, waking up to another fine morning. We had a brief stroll around the area examining the works being undertaken to install a huge Archimedes Screw, presumably to be used for power generation, adjacent to the one in current use alongside the weir.
There was a small tent pitched close by and as were looking over the river, a very tired looking young couple emerged blinking into the sunlight and stretching their arms, they were the couple we had passed in the kayak the day before and had decided to abandon their trip down to York from Ripon as it had been a very long day to reach Linton, they were now waiting to be picked up to go home.

We got through the lock and commenced our trip down the river, with more "tales of the riverbank" from Dave, before taking it steady through York due to the number of trip and hire boats.

We passed under the A64 and alongside the bishops palace at Bishopthorpe before arriving at Naburn Marina to drop off our crew and take on some more fuel.

Our intention was to stop at Naburn until the early tide on Thursday morning but on arriving we met the lock keeper who informed us that the next locking was about half an hour after we had arrived so we decided, because they were still Neap tides, that we should carry on down to Selby.

A busy Naburn Lock

"Wind over Tide" on the tideway below Cawood

We locked through and set off along the tideway, stemming the tide as far as Cawood at which point the tide turned and we quickly picked up speed, reaching Selby in around 2 and half hours. The turn into Selby lock was a bit of a disaster, the boat in front of us turned well before the lock and reversed with the tide until he passed the lock entrance then pushed against the tide and into the lock, I started my turn at this point to do the same but the river was narrow, as I completed the turn and the tide pushed us into the wall above the lock, I had no choice but to turn again back into the tide, the bow caught on the shallows causing the boat to keel due to the pressure of the water rushing through, fortunately I managed to rescue the situation by reversing quickly back into the river giving myself enough time and room to turn into the lock, thankfully none of this was witnessed by anyone watching from the lock as we came into view just as I was turning into the lock and got in without touching the sides!. Needless to say it was with great relief when we tied up to ready to be lifted off the river.
We are now moored up in Selby again, and today (wed 19/7) we decided to have a trip into Hull by train and explore the City of Culture.

Boroughbridge and Ripon

Boroughbridge
We enjoyed our time in Boroughbridge exploring the town and surrounding countryside. We downloaded a couple of walks, the routes taking in a few of the local villages. I have passed this area many times racing up and down the A1M but never realised how beautiful an area this is. The walk took us back to the lock from which the Milby cut starts (short section of canal that bypasses the weir on the river) and through the very peaceful and sleepy village of Milby. We then traversed a long and sometimes overgrown green lane taking us passed the church at Kirby Hill.

Kirby Hill Church

We walked through the village until we reached the old Great North Road, thankfully much quieter now due to the motorway. Crossing over the motorway I noticed the "golf balls" of Menwith hill to the west and the roof tops of Harrogate to the south, this made us realise just how close to our starting point we are!

We eventually returned to Boroughbridge having walked along a beautiful stretch of the river Ure, Scruff was relieved to be able to cool of in the water. 

Back in Boroughbridge we walked up to view the Devils Arrows, Neolithic stones that appear to have been shot into the ground.

We called into a local butchers who sadly told I us he will be closing soon due to his being unable to compete with the supermarkets. This will be a great shame as the meat we bought was far better than anything you could get in the superstores. 

Haviing feasted on the local produce we decided, as it was such a nice evening, to cruise up the river to the start of the Ripon canal.  This has to be one of the most picturesque stretches of river anywhere as it meanders it's way along past Newby Hall with trees and corn fields to either side. 

On reaching the canal we went up the lock to the peaceful moorings just above.

Ripon

The Ripon Canal never fails to delight, it is only 2 miles or so long but is a really pretty stretch of water running right into the town, terminating at the canal basin just below the Cathedral.

Ripon caters for all the needs of a boater with plenty of good pubs, restaurants and cafes to choose from as well as all the usual shops and supermarkets, most within walking distance of the canal.

Dad joined us on Friday (14/7), he takes the No.36 bus from Leeds a journey that takes in Harrogate and lasts approx 1.5 hours, amazingly this service runs every 15 mins from both ends and is a useful link back to the rail network should this be required.

We have been to Ripon, by car, many times over the years and this is our second visit by boat, however, we have never managed to see the Ripon Hornblower. We took Scruff out for a walk on Friday evening and although it was raining quite steadily there were a number of people huddled in shop doorways, obviously waiting for something to happen. This reminded me of the Hornblower and that he appears at 9.00 pm every night.

Sure enough he turned up and at the 9 o'clock chime of the cathedral bells he commenced a ritual that has been unbroken since 1604. The Hornblower blows at each of the four corners of the market cross to signify that watch has been set, a tradition that goes back to the time when the Wakeman kept watch over the town at night and a curfew was kept to keep the peace.

Saturday (15/7) started off very wet but the rail cleared as the day went on become dry and fine by the evening. We decided to go for a walk and followed the river Skell down to its confluence with the river Ure. We walked along the river down to the bridge just past the race course then back upstream into Ripon, a very pleasant walk through yet more scenic countryside.

On Sunday we were joined by Duncan,  Jude and Molly and walked from Ripon, along the river up to Studley Royal. The weather was as good as it gets with blue skies and warm sunshine yet cool enough in the shade to provide relief from the summer heat. The walk provided spectacular views across the the vale to the White Horse of Kilburn and the Cleveland Hills, then stunning scenery down in to the woods below the lake at Studley Park.

Our return trip back to Ripon took us through Studley village and back into town past the Rugby and Cricket clubs.

We had dinner in the SO! Bar and Grill, then back to the boat to prepare for our return trip down to Linton (hopefully there will be mooring space here).

Boroughbridge

9th July 2017

Left Naburn Sunday afternoon to take on fuel at York marina. We then had a very steady run up to York. Our hope was that most of the weekend boaters would have set off back to their moorings, however there was a Dragon Boat racing event underway and it was also Proms in the Park at museum gardens.  Needless to say the moorings were all full but as we were about to turn round and head back downstream a narrowboat pulled out leaving us a space. 

We had a stroll round York then returned too the boat to listen to the Proms we were also treated to a firework display to finish the evening off.

Monday morning brought a few rain showers so we decided to slacken off the mooring lines a little just in case the level rose. Following a day in the town checking for dog friendly pubs and restraunts, of which there are many, we went back to the boat to prepare for a birthday evening out. 

Lucia's cousin's daughter, Erika from Italy, was in York on a school exchange and she joined us for dinner in The Olde Starre Inn.

Ciao Erika

Tuesday was a very wet day so Lucia went shopping whilst I caught up on some work, the rain finally eased off in the afternoon so we went to explore some more of the city. 

John and Tracy joined us in the evening so the birthday  celebrations continued with a meal in the courtyard of the Stonegate Yard where a good selection of beers and a great menu can be found. This place is also dog friendly so well worth a visit. 

Wednesday 12th July

Woke to lovely sunshine today so we cruised up to Boroughbridge. It's a great trip up the river past Beningborough Hall, the confluence of the Nidd and Ouse and up to the troublesome and heavy lock at Linton.

Nidd into Ouse

A little while after Linton the river is joined by the Little Ouse  Beck above which it becomes the river Ure and a few miles further on the confluence of the Swale is reached.

Ouse  becomes Ure

River Swale joining from the right

The river becomes quite narrow and winding for the last few miles to Milby Lock then it is just a few hundred yards up to the moorings at Boroughbridge. 

Back Afloat

Finally back afloat again after what seems like ages.

Having arrived at Selby we called the boat yard to discuss where we should moor ready for the lift out on Friday (23/6), only to find that the chap who was supposed to do the work was on holiday and wouldn't be back until the Monday. This was all a bit disconcerting as we had booked a week in Scarborough to fit in with the work schedule.
I had to drive back from Scarborough to Selby on the Monday to help in getting the boat out of the water, and due to bad weather the work was rescheduled for a week later.
After an enjoyable week in the cottage and a great night celebrating John and Fayes wedding, we went to stay with Dad back in Horsforth, (Lucia took the opportunity to go down to Bristol to help Vicky with wedding preparations) . We visited the boat yard on the following Sunday (2/7) to look at the boat after it had been grit blasted.

All seemed ok so the re coating of the hull began.

All the work on the boat was completed by Wednesday (5/7) and we finally got re-launched back into the water in the afternoon. A quick trip down the Selby canal and back proved all the work appears to have been successful. Following an overnight stay in the boatyard we moved into Selby Basin ready for an early tide on Friday morning.
Friday 7/7
The lock keeper had asked us to be ready for 6 am and he was ready with the lock bang on time.
Just as we were entering the lock I noticed that something had got around the prop so a visit into the weed hatch was necessary, just as well because I had assumed it was just weed but found the remains of a tote bag firmly attached. I managed to remove it and we were ready for the off, the lock gates opened to reveal a fast running tide so we launched ourselves on to it and began our trip up to Naburn.

Leaving Selby Lock

Turning into the Ouse

Although it was quite a high tide the journey passed easily and we had passed Cawood

Cawood

and the confluence of the River Wharfe

Wharfe meets Ouse

just after an hour, arriving at Naburn an hour and 20 mins later.
                                                                After mooring at Naburn

Dad, Carole and Jim came out to meet us and gave us a lift into York for a day out. We had dinner in the Blacksmiths Arms in Naburn and can recommend this if ever your round these parts. We are currently waiting here for the weekend to pass to give us a better chance of mooring in York.