Category Archives: Breach

Two To The North, One To The South. Breach 42 12th April

The first boats to cross between Sykehouse and Pollington Lock happened today. The passage is assisted and pre-bookable with C&RT.

Two Lock Keepers and a volunteer were on hand to see boats through. Apparently ten boats had booked passage, but only two headed northwards from Sykehouse and one southwards from Pollington.

The pound is being kept low, some say to help protect the cofferdam at the breach site. Others that there is another leak between the reservoir and Pollington Lock. But what ever the reason it looks like the low water level over the last three months has affected the banks of the canal in several places. With less water pressure in the pound the piling in places has fallen towards the water. At Christmas I posted photos of areas where this had happened on the Aire and Calder, there are now patches on the New Junction Canal.

Levels at Southfield Reservoir are obviously low too. The sailing club is looking elsewhere for it’s members to sail for the foreseeable future. Luckily the normal depth of the Aire and Calder is around three meters in the main channel so the passage between locks didn’t necessitate any boats scraping the bottom today.

One of the boaters moored at Rawcliffe Bridge visited the breach site today and had a chat with the engineer in charge. According to his post to the Goole Escape group it is looking like the breach will not be repaired until the late summer. C&RT are in talks with ABP regarding Leisure boats using Ocean Lock. Also they are looking at removing the stop planks at the caisson in the next couple of weeks, this will enable boats currently stranded at Rawcliffe Bridge to move to Goole should they want to.

Hopefully the stop planks will remain out which will mean that we’d be able to give Oleanna a bit of a blast up the cut to check everything is running smoothly before heading out onto the Tidal Ouse and Trent. It would also give boaters who don’t plan on escaping Goole the chance to at least get out from the marina for a short pootle.

Elsewhere on the network non liveaboards can now stay overnight on their boats. Some areas of the network will get very busy as they did last year when Lockdown 1 ended. But in other areas there are problems, another culvert is causing problems on the Llangollen. At the Figure of Three Locks on the Calder and Hebble, which has just reopened, a large plastic pedestrian barrier was drawn through the lower ground sluice paddle box this morning, damaging the paddle so the lock can no longer hold water. Hopefully this will be sorted soon.

Could That Be The Hole? Breach 41, 10th April

Thankfully the weather hasn’t stopped Mark from visiting the breach site today, here in Scarborough it is doing it’s best to snow, I suspect drones and the fingers that control them are not too keen on the white stuff.

The cofferdam is now fully drained.

You can see where people have been walking in the silt. Levels to the west of the cofferdam are still low.

There is a large puddle (bottom left), for want of a better word, very close to where the big hole on the towpath is. My first thought was could this be where the piling or base of the canal has given way.

But then Mick said , why is it full of water?

Maybe this is where the breach is but the route out for the water is higher than the hole, so it has acted as a kind of U bend like you get on a toilet. Once the water level is higher than the route outwards the water drains away until it is level with the last thing blocking it’s route out. The footage below was taken on the 30th December.

Certainly when water was draining into the drain below it was rushing under the towpath, over the top of the drain and around the end of the bridge where there are now large boulders. The footage below was taken on the 29th December by Mark. Where the digger on the back of the boat has it’s bucket is where the hole in the towpath is. So the stern of the boat is right over where the big puddle is today.

Hopefully the engineers have been to site to have a look and see what the extent of the damage is.

10/04/2021 Looking down into the drain today

It may well be that most of what was once under the towpath over the drain has been washed away.

Large blocks have been placed on the bank presumably to stop machinery and vehicles from missing the access ramp into the cofferdam.

The pumps keep going supplying the docks with water. Hopefully a sufficient amount to increase ABP’s confidence which hopefully will then lead to limited passages through the locks for leisure craft.

The Goole Escape group now has 45 members. Most boats are moored in Goole but there are a couple of boats who are stuck at Rawcliffe Bridge which is between the breach and Goole caisson. Currently stop planks block their way to access the docks.

David has called the Lock Keepers at Naburn, Selby, Keadby and Torksey in the last couple of days. All locks off the River Ouse and River Trent are operable. But unfortunately the swing bridge out of Selby Basin is currently unsafe to use, the main bearing on the bridge has weakened, possibly due to heavier than normal road traffic over it. Surveyors have advised C&RT not to use the bridge until the problem is rectified. Then at Tankards Bridge there is a 7ft height restriction. So currently there is no escape route through Selby. The Lockies at Selby are going to keep us updated as things progress.

So escape routes will be to York, Barmby, Keadby, Torksey. Some boats are talking about heading to Hull or even Grimsby.

Thank you Mark once again for letting me use your photos.

Adjusting The Squelch. 7th April

*This post was superseded by A Glimmer Of Hope yesterday*

Whilst waiting for news regarding the breach and possible escape from Goole we’ve not been idle. Well I say we, but in regards to boaty things Mick has been the busy one whilst I’ve been working painting my panto model.

On our last visit to Oleanna we brought back the life jackets. These were in need of a service, in fact a year overdue. Last time we paid for them to be checked over to much consternation from readers. This time Mick followed instructions on Youtube.

He checked for any damage, wear and tear. Weighed the gas bottles. Checked the dates on the firing mechanisms. Blew the whistles. Inflated them and left them overnight (well a couple of days) to check they remained inflated.

A couple of the firing mechanisms had a few months left on them and Mick had broken one of the clips that is used to indicate that a firing mechanism has been manually fired. The green clip obviously needed replacing so it was worth getting a couple of new mechanisms.

When they arrived the oldest dated mechanisms were swapped out for the newest and put into the jackets we use the most, these will last us till 2024. The middle aged ones were put in our two spare jackets, these will last till December 2022. The oldest ones we are keeping as spares and run out in February 2022.

The next job was to fold and roll the jackets back up into the covers. This is possibly the hardest part of the servicing. But they are all done and in the crate ready to be returned to Oleanna on our next visit.

Next was the VHF radio. We bought our hand held radio a few years ago and use it to listen in to the big ships around Goole and when we are on tidal waters. You should have your radio licenced and have completed a course to use it. Mick has been meaning to do the course for a number of years but had never got round to it, I suspect like many others. My sister-in-law had looked into it for his birthday last year, but it was going to cost too much.

With the only way out of Goole for the next few months being through the docks to Ocean Lock and down onto the tidal Ouse (when/if ABP allow leisure craft), we have decided the cost of the VHF course and test would be worth doing. ABP normally require leisure boats to have two crew, life jackets and a VHF radio. Should the chance arise to be able to pen down onto the Ouse we’d rather meet all the criteria.

The RYA VHF/SRC (Short Range Certificate) Marine Radio Course can be done online for £75. Then the test costs £60 on top. Mick contacted Scarborough Yacht Club to see if they were running the courses and test. This was possible, although the test would have to wait until after April 12th and would be done on a one to one basis at the Yacht Club at Scarborough lighthouse.

Once the course fee was paid a chap popped the handbook through our front door the following day and Mick was ready to do the course. The course takes around 10 hours and Mick has worked his way through doing all the modules in the last week. Before he books for the exam I’m going to look at the course too. Should we be in an emergency situation and Mick not be able to use the radio, I would at least know what to do.

Once the exam is passed Oleanna and her crew will meet all the criteria that ABP require, if this also means that we can cruise as a flotilla with other boats who haven’t got VHF all the better.

*Sadly later in the day Mick received an email saying that as Scarborough Yacht Club building would remain closed until 17th May, exams would not be possible until after that date.

A few days ago marked our 7th anniversary of being boat owners. Today marks our 4th anniversary of the three of us moving onboard Oleanna in Sheffield. So I’d best do a Where Were We

Where were we

2020 Lockdown Mooring 3, Calveley, Shropshire Union Canal. LINK

2019 Above Lemonroyd Lock, Aire and Calder Navigation. LINK

2018 Stourport, Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal and Beverley. LINK

2017 Victoria Basin, Sheffield and Tinsley Canal and Crick Marina, Leicester Line. LINK

2016 Bulbourne Junction, Grand Union Canal. LINK

2015 Kingswood Junction, Stratford Canal. LINK

2014 Bugbrooke, Grand Union Canal. Sorry no link, we were on too much of a mission to write a blog. But we did get Lillian off the River Nene where her EA licence had run out and up the Northampton Flight, her first narrow locks.

A Glimmer of Hope. Breach 40, 7th April

Today David has had a more promising response from ABP.

I have had a call through from the Dock Master at ABP this morning. The information that I gathered from the call I have summarised.

The main challenge at the moment is replenishing water used by Ocean Lock. Operating the lock whilst being able to retain functionality of the dock, and enabling contingent use for emergency operation is a somewhat difficult balancing act.

There are some high tides predicted for next week and the port are expecting some particularly deep droughted commercial vessels. With a higher usage, this will hopefully give the opportunity to see how the pumps at the breach site contend with replenishing water levels in the dock.

Depending on how next week goes there will be further assessment regarding lock operations. The situation will be reviewed with the possibility of LIMITED use by Leisure craft. I stress the word limited.

ABP have suggested that the offer to help coordinate this would be well received by them. Hopefully this could at least give the opportunity for boaters who would otherwise be stuck here for a longer period of time, to leave Goole.

We should be mindful of how this message is disseminated. In the first instance, it is probable that a limited number of bookings will be considered, keeping the number of pens to a minimum. The danger is that the message could me misconstrued and assumptions made that operation is back to normal. This is highly unlikely to begin with. ABP have been very clear that this needs managing closely. The last thing they want is craft stranded on the river due to a snow ball affect of people expecting to use the lock as normal.

With the above in mind, I’d like to start to gather info regarding how many people would ideally like to pen through and the destination they would be heading for. If you could let me know by comment or DM that would be great.

I am awaiting a further update from the dock master in due course, and will of course update this page accordingly.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed for a season of cruising waters afar, following these testing times for everyone.

David.

Well done to David. We’re keeping all our fingers and paws crossed. Any further information I get I will pass onwards.

Cofferdam Holding. Breach 39, 4th April

A sunny day, so Mark has been back to the breach site with his drone.

The good news is that the cofferdam seems to be holding up.

The access road into the dam has been extended.

The large bags of aggregate that were visible on the water line have been removed, but others can still be seen under the access road.

The blue tarpaulin that was used to stem the water has also been removed. No obvious big black hole though.

The water level is the lowest it’s been. According to someone at Pollington the water levels there today are a couple of foot lower than normal, you can see silt in the photos on the bend out side the cofferdam. That’s a lot of water not to be in that pound as that is the stretch with Southfield Reservoir.

Above Whitley Lock the navigation is now open, it opened on 1st April. Passage down through the lock and on to Pollington and Sykehouse Locks will be possible from the 12th April if pre-booked.

The small dam and pumps in the drain below look like they have been removed.

The bridge over the pipes on the southern side has been re-instated and it looks like they have created foot access onto the bed of the canal here too. This photo you can see the extra piling they added along the southern bank on the outside of the dam.

Hopefully the site is now ready for inspection by the engineers, C&RT suggested that this would be shortly after the Easter weekend. Fingers crossed.

If you are a stuck boater in Goole and wanting to escape please join the facebook group, The Goole Escape Here or leave a comment here on the blog.

Thank you Mark

Escape Committee. Breach 38, 2nd April

This morning we had an email from a chap, David, who is also trying to escape from Goole. He’d posted on Canal World Forum this morning after playing ping pong with C&RT and ABP with regards to being allowed out through Ocean Lock onto the Ouse.

C&RT sent him to ABP, they back to C&RT, and back and forth a few more times!

During the day we’ve exchanged emails ourselves and this afternoon a facebook group has been set up with the hope of trying to find other boaters also stuck in Goole who are wanting to make a bid for freedom out onto the tidal River Ouse.

It is hoped to be able to have a meeting with both C&RT and ABP to see if it would be possible to pen a lock full of leisure boats out through Ocean Lock.

If you are stuck boaters wanting to escape please join the facebook group. The Goole Escape Here

If you don’t do facebook, then please leave a comment at the bottom of this post or use Contact at the top of the page to send us a message so that we can keep you in the loop along with seeing how many boats would like to escape.

None of us will be holding our breath, but it’s worth a try. Maybe as a group we will have a bigger voice.

Breach 37. 30th March

It’s not often you feel relieved to see a canal with a lack of water in it, but the fact that the cofferdam has drained itself whilst not refilling itself is great. I think it was about a month ago that it was this empty.

There are a few things to note from todays photos, other than it’s a lovely day to go boating!

The western end of the cofferdam seems to have improved water levels, so no overtopping.

The aggregate ramp into the cofferdam has been added to. The pile driving crane is no longer on the floating pontoon. In the photo above you can see what looks like a light with a red box standing on some new aggregate which I think will be used to illuminate the area and down into the drain.

The bags that were dropped in by helicopter are very visible now.

So is the big hole in the towpath by the blue tarpaulin.

What can also be seen in the above two photos is a yellow pump on the north bank by the drain.

There is now a small tarpaulin dam in the drain and the yellow pump appears to have two hoses one to either side of the dam.

Now that the water in the cofferdam has drained down into the drain below, as much as the breach will allow it, my theory is that the drain under the canal will now be pumped out. This will give them access under the canal.

The cofferdam seems to be holding its own now, hopefully things can progress. Will they need to do a fish rescue?

Then, at last, they will be able to pump out the remaining water to reveal the canal bed and the breach itself.

According to a local boater who has recently spoken to the control at Goole Docks, they are still not permitted to pen leisure craft through the locks onto the Ouse. He was told to contact C&RT for updates.

The tide at Goole this evening was going to be high 6.5m, 3 ships would be leaving the docks and 3 more coming in. Both locks in operation. Here’s hoping the high tide means the level doesn’t drop too much in the marina. I hope we left our ropes slack enough!

Other good news is that the Figure of Three Locks on the Calder and Hebble will be reopening on 12th April. This means that if we ever get to leave Goole this year then we might just be able to cross the Pennines via Standedge Tunnel.

Thank you to Mark again for the use of his photos.

Challenging. Breach 36. 30th March

This morning another update from C&RT.

Update on 30/03/2021:

We have experienced a few challenges with the coffer dams at the breach site during the weekend.

To help manage this we have had to drop levels between Ferrybridge and Pollington, therefore fluctuations in water levels may be experienced over the next few days as work continues at the breach site on the long term repair.

Skippers of all craft are advised to check their mooring lines to ensure their vessel is securely moored allowing for water fluctuation.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Levels had been overtopping the cofferdam at the western end over the weekend. The prevailing wind not helping. A video from Lisa shows the extent of this. Finger credit to Lisa.

The Aire and Calder appears to have no spillway between Ferrybridge and Goole unlike most canals. Spillways help to keep the level of a pound at a certain level or below, but the spillway to this pound is the docks in Goole which when ships are coming and going with the tides works pretty well. But now the cofferdam is in the way water needs to be pumped round it to supply the docks with sufficient water and to help keep the level above the cofferdam at a suitable height.

This all means that it is a bit of a balancing act to keep the levels at suitable heights for all. The levels in the docks for ships to come and go. The moorings in the docks. The moorings at Rawcliffe Bridge. Low enough not to overtop the cofferdam. Above the cofferdam the moorings below Pollington Lock.

Ferrybridge where there water can be let into the canal from the river

Levels seem to get dropped all the way to Ferrybridge, which suggests that this is the only place where they can control the amount of water coming into the canal. Tracking Google maps towards the breach there may be one sluice above Whitney Lock where the level could be dropped, but this goes into a drain rather than a river, so could end up flooding fields.

The height of the cofferdam seems to be an issue that comes and goes. They are planning on raising the level of the piling at the eastern end, handy as that is where the work pontoon is. But will they be able to do the same at the western side? Do they need to do this or will they be able to keep the levels upstream managed sufficiently to stop it overtopping? Or will another pontoon be required at that side to raise the piling?

Good news elsewhere is that the works on the breach near Hack Green on the Shroppie are nearing completion, the area was being filled with water yesterday. Well done C&RT, just wish they had been as successful on the Aire and Calder.

*Post update Mark has been out again with his drone today. Good news is that the cofferdam has emptied itself again.

There are more photos, so I’ll write more in the morning as it’s time for food now.

A Word From Andrew, Breach 35. 26th March

Andrew Percy the local MP has been down to the breach site today. He has posted the following on social media.

Aire and Calder Canal Breach Update. I’ve been up to East Cowick this morning to meet with the Canal and Rivers Trust to view progress on the works to sort out the canal breach. Fair to say, still someways to go before the permanent solution is identified. They had hoped to have the breach section fully drained by now thanks to the cofferdams. However, the water found its way around one of the cofferdams so they have had to pile a further section along the bank to get the seal! They hope to have this completed tomorrow so that they can start to fully drain the breached section and effect the permanent repair. As the canal serves the docks, they are also raising the cofferdam level on the dock side so that the canal level can be raised to provide more water to Goole docks. I will be popping back down once they have the section drained and are clearer about what they are dealing with. In fairness, they have always said to me that the works to actually get the section isolated could be more challenging than the actual repair to the breach. I shall continue to keep pushing!

Someday I will post about boating again.

Assisted Passage, Breach 34. 25th March

Well Canal and River Trust have been busy with notices. On the website yesterday they posted the following

Update 24/03/21

The Trust and its contractors are in the final stages of making the cofferdam watertight, to enable the cofferdam to be dewatered. We anticipate that our engineers will be able to carry out the first detailed inspection at the breach site shortly after Easter. Water levels continue to be carefully monitored. While passage through Goole Caission is not possible at present, the Trust is working hard to ensure boaters can once again pass between Pollington and Sykehouse Lock. We intend to operate this on a booking only basis from 12 April (in line with the Government road map).

Certainly the levels in Goole were much better yesterday. But another ten days before engineers carry out a detailed inspection!

Then today notices regarding assisted passage have been coming through.

From the 12th of April access through Whitley Lock will be possible twice daily at 10am and 3pm.

From the 12th April, we shall be permitting a once a day access through Pollington Lock and Sykehouse Lock at 10am daily to allow boats to transit between Pollington Lock to Sykehouse Lock.

Mooring and overnight staying along sections between Pollington and Sykehouse Locks is not currently permitted.

Passage through these locks needs to be booked 48hrs in advance by calling 0303 0404040, Mon to Fri 9am – 5pm

Why assisted passage? Because they need to control the water levels in the pound where the breach is and should two locks full of water be let out at the same time, the wave created would likely overtop the cofferdam.

This is all very exciting. Except we still can’t get out from Goole!

A is Viking Marina B Ocean Lock onto the River Ouse

But should we be able to escape out onto the River Ouse we would be able to turn left and head up stream to Selby.

Turn in at Selby lock onto the Selby Canal.

You can only pass under Tankards Bridge, the last on the canal, if you are under 7ft high as currently scaffolding is being used to reinforce the parapet wall which suffered damage last September when a vehicle struck it. From there along the River Aire where a width restriction of 10ft 5″ is in place due to silt build up behind the lock gates. Thankfully neither of these would be a problem for us.

Once up Bank Dole Lock we would re-join the Aire and Calder Navigation and turn left heading eastwards towards Goole. We’d be able to pass down Whitley Lock one morning.

G Pollington Lock, H Sykehouse Junction, I Sykehouse Lock. J The breach site

Then down Pollington Lock the following day, turn right onto the New Junction Canal and up Sykehouse Lock. Then and only then would we have successfully escaped!

According to Canal Plan if we did this route it would be 40 miles 1 furlong and 8 locks, normally taking 13hrs 45 minutes. But with current restrictions it would take us 3 days waiting for locks to open.

Without the breach in our way Canal Plan has the more direct journey at 8 miles 3/4 furlong, 1 lock, taking us 2hrs 45 minutes.

That’s a bit of a detour!

Narrowboat Oleanna

Travels of Narrowboat Oleanna