This summer’s original plans were to stay in Yorkshire and cruise waterways we’ve not been on before. We were quite looking forward to this, new waters. But for a few reasons our plans have been thwarted.
The first waterway to thwart us, The River Foss in York.
When we were in York at the end of April, Mick noticed a sign at Castle Mills Lock saying that the lock would be closing that weekend and would remain closed until October as works were going to be carried out on the lock gates. This being York and very prone to flooding in the winter months is the reason the works are being carried out now.
Castle Mills Lock has to be booked at least 48 hours in advance and is operated by volunteers from the local IWA. So sadly we’d already run out of time to book the lock.
Castle Mills Lock is the only surviving lock out of the six that were built on the river. There is a detailed history of the river and it’s use through the centuries here. In brief it suffered and still does with siltation. It was used as part of the cities defences instead of continuing the Bar Walls, the silt built up creating islands where Foss Islands Road is now. Sections of the river were canalized to save navigating the tortuous meanders to Sherrif Hutton. It was used as a sewer, to transport goods, mainly into the countryside, far less made it’s way into York.
Now the river is only navigable, should the build of silt, lilies and weed allow, to just north of the old railway bridge across Huntington Road, the line used to go to the Rowntree Macintosh factory and on to Murton and beyond, it is now a cycle and footpath. Should one get to the end of the navigation, you’ll need to reverse your way back to Wormalds Cut to be able to wind and return to Castle Mills Lock. There is nowhere to moor on the river, more’s the pity, so it’s only a day trip, but one we’d very much like to do one day.
I suspect if you watch Narrow Escapes in the next week you’ll get to see NB Perseverance going as far as they could along the River Foss last autumn.