New Years Eve and news from the marina, via Al and Lisa, was that water levels were good, maybe up a bit, but it was most definitely icy out there. It was good to hear that the bigger flow from the temporary fix at the breach site didn’t seem to be affecting the levels in Goole.
Mark Penn put up some frosty photos of the breach site. Water still coming through the temporary fix, but appearing to be flowing the right way. It’s a good job the Aire and Calder’s water is supplied from the river rather than a reservoir.
Mark also took his drone up to Pollington, taking photos of the north bank of the canal where we’d noticed the pilling relaxing into the canal. From his photos you can see there is another layer of pilling further back, more curved than that by the waters edge.
The post on facebook led to various comments regarding an old railway bridge across the canal at this point. This was a Bascule bridge, one of two high level moving bridges on the canal, the other was a swing bridge below Knostrop Lock. An act of parliament was drawn up saying that anything that crossed the Aire and Calder had to be either moveable or high enough for sea going ships to get under, intending the canal to be like the Manchester Ship Canal but this fell by the wayside. Thank you Alf Huckitt for this info.
The bridge
Then Phil Pritchard provided a photo of the bridge, built by John Butler Ltd of Stanningly, Leeds in 1884 to carry the Hull and Barnsley Railway over the canal. The mechanism to lift it was never fitted as it wasn’t required for the vessels that were using the canal. It was demolished in 1974.
The line just to the East of Pollington in 1947
Mick looked for evidence on maps of the route the railway had taken. Quite often tell tail signs of embankments and lines of trees give away an old route.
There’s the line of trees crossing the canal
Looking at old maps and then comparing them to Google satellite view we could trace out the route, joining the lines of trees and pale lines in fields.
Route just traceable
My wiggly line shows the route of the line through Gowdall to Drax.
An interesting bit of detective work to keep us busy.
Happy New Year
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 more day away from the boat, 1 new year, 3 of us in the house.
Originally we’d planned on picking up a hire car, collecting all our Christmas food, then packing the car with presents, things we’d need for a week on board Oleanna and finally Tilly. Then we’d head to Goole unload, have a night in the marina. In the morning Mick would return the car to the hire base, catch a train back to Goole and we would untie and head off most probably to the junction with the New Junction, find somewhere on our own and moor up. Hopefully Tilly would have realised where she was and we’d be happy to just open the door and let her go off to explore.
Well for a couple of obvious reasons that was not to happen.
However we decided we’d still get a car for the day, do our pick ups and then go and check Oleanna over, sadly leaving Tilly to mind the house (this was before the breach happened and our visit on Monday). Having an address now, we’d given a local car hire company a try last week and on returning the car Mick had asked if they had one for today, just for a day. They did but wouldn’t be open for us to return it on Christmas Eve. Hmmm! Well the lady said would we like to have the car until the 4th January all for the same price as a one day hire. Well it turns out this was a very good idea, two weeks for £34.50! Thank you very much.
So this morning we picked up our larger than normal car (at no extra cost either!), headed out to Tree Top Farm where our veg boxes come from to collect our Christmas veg and bird, then into town to wait for Aldreds Fine Cheese to open and pick up our treat cheese. When the doors opened a couple of people were asked inside, then Angela who used to work at the Theatre stuck her head out asking if anyone had any orders to pick up, she spotted me straight away without me having to say a word. It’s nice to shop locally.
Back to the house to drop things off and we were on our way to Goole.
Lisa had sent through a very damp photo of Oleanna still afloat this morning, maybe the level had risen a bit.
Maybe she’s up a bit
With a plastic step to hand it was far easier to step down onto Oleanna. Maybe the level had come up to help too. Nobody was out chatting today, it was far too cold, wet and windy.
Another pair of curtains up
Heating on straight away and we started again on hanging the curtains, having picked up some shorter screws on the way. Sadly the extension bit to the electric screw driver was missing from the box so we had to return to putting the screws in by hand. This was far far easier than our attempts earlier in the week.
The direction of the wind had changed and with slightly looser ropes Oleanna was swinging about a bit. A good sign that she was fully afloat, but it did make us notice that the stern was at risk of getting caught under the pontoon. Not a good thing!
Bedroom curtains back up but no Tilly to enjoy the view
On Monday we’d used a T stud on the pontoon to tie the boat pole to, which was around a third of the way down Oleanna. A plank was positioned nearer the front, but with short pontoons these both were quite close together. The bow was being blown out away from the pontoon, so the stern was sneaking in underneath. The pole needed moving further back. So we moved it along and between us managed to get it secured around the beam below, job done.
Twenty minutes of engine, time to eat our pack up and we were happy to leave again.
Geoff came over for a chat. He’s been keeping an eye on all the boats, he’d slackened ours off some more as our tiller had caught on the edge yesterday. But last night between 9 and 10 the caisson stop gates had been opened, he thought the level went up by 8 or 9 inches fairly quickly, but since then there had been no more progress. He’d heard that at the breach site yesterday they’d been dropping bags of aggregate, the plan was to continue with this some more and then apply clay to seal the leak. This was confirmed later in the day by the following email from C&RT.
Whilst we were there we couldn’t hear a helicopter and it was very overcast and rainy, maybe it’ll happen tomorrow. Geoff thought that maybe the level had been stopped at a certain point so that more work could be done at the breach before raising it again.
I’d heard of boats by Pollington Lock having ended up on the bottom on Sunday, but last night the level had risen and they were afloat again. Geoff suggested that there might be another breach somewhere towards Pollington. He didn’t know where it was, above or below the lock, but rumours were circulating. This was confirmed by a C&RT notice this afternoon. The bank slippage may well have happened with a lack of water pressure holding the piling in place. So another problem for them to solve.
Not a good state of affairs. Hopefully the level won’t drop again. It is very reassuring that people are keeping an eye on the boats. Lisa and Al across the way and Geoff who walks round every few hours to check things over.
Across the marina
Before we left there was one thing we had to do, actually meet Lisa. Lisa and I have things in common, boats, knitting, yarn and Scarborough and today we found ourselves within a hundred yards of each other. We all braved the wind and chill factor for us to have a chat on her pontoon, each of us keeping our distance. Hopefully when things are mended on the canal and when the weather improves we might just meet up on the towpath somewhere and be able to be more sociable and a little warmer.
On our way back to the car we passed the boats that are sat at a jaunty angle. These are moored where an old sideways slipway is. So the steps of the slipway have ended up being closer to the top and hence the sterns of the boats being hooked up. The only thing that can be done is to wait for the levels to rise again.
Another C&RT notice has come through this afternoon regarding the levels above Pollington Lock back to Ferrybridge Flood Lock. They have obviously been stopping water from coming down the bywash to the pound where the breach is. The canal is normally fed from the River Aire at Ferrybridge, so water has been backing up the cut. So air gaps under structures and bridges is currently reduced and caution is needed for craft with high cabin sides.
Still a way to come up
We had a wet journey back northwards with news coming in about more areas going into Tier 4 on Boxing Day. It took a while to find out the details, we were surprised yet relieved that Scarborough wasn’t on the list. This means that whilst we have a car we’ll be down to check things over again. Today the top of the water was exactly 4ft from the top of our pontoon, here’s hoping the next time we visit its’ risen.
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 days hire, 12 day with a car, 1 bargain, 1 giant sprout stalk, 1 duck, 2 bags of apples, 0 carrots! 1 bag of treat cheese, 2 butties, 1 bag of coins, 5 windows with curtains again, 0 cat, 1 slipped bank, 8 inches higher, 4 foot, more tier 4s.
Earlier this week we were invited by my brother to join an on line presentation. The Lee Harris Bursary is awarded to a member of staff from 3DReid an architectural practice that my brother used to work for. The bursary commemorates the life of Lee Harris an architect who worked at the practice who tragically died from injuries he sustained in the 7/7 London Bombings in 2005. Inspired by Lees love of photography, travel and architecture the bursary provides an opportunity for members of staff to explore their architectural passions.
The presentation
This years winner was Thelma Mannion who proposed to travel the Llangollen Canal on a narrowboat, sketching the engineering of the canal, the aqueducts, bridges and tunnels. Originally she had hoped to do her presentation followed by an exhibition of her sketches, but Covid put a stop to that, so instead there was an online presentation which included her sketches.
Lynn and Brian, Lee’s parents were on line along with about thirty other participants. Jac (my sister-in-law, who also used to work for the practice) suggested we should make ourselves comfortable with a drink to watch, so we did.
The London Leckenbys
Using Microsoft Teams, our first time, we ended up not being able to see everyone at once, but we later rectified this. This was however the first time we have seen Andrew and Jac since last year when they joined us onboard Oleanna between Christmas and New Year. For some reason in lockdown 1 the London Leckenbys weren’t too keen on the idea of Zoom meetings, so we have stuck with the good old telephone. This and an aborted trip to York due to flooding means we’ve not seen them for nearly eleven months. It was lovely to see them again, even though it felt a touch like we were gate crashing an office do. But then when I lived in London I’d quite often turn up at the pub on a Friday night to join them all.
The presentation brought back memories of our trip back in 2017, and it turns out it is almost three years to the day since we turned off the Shropie and climbed up Huleston Locks to spend the winter on the Llangollen.
Whixall Moss Junction
Maintenance work was planned on the locks which soon closed after we’d gone through. Our trip back had to be timed to avoid other stoppages, but that’s what happens in winter and if you plan with them in mind you can keep moving.
Thelma travelled with her sister and their partners on a hire boat from Swanley Bridge Marina. A shame as I’d hoped she be starting at Hurleston and we might get a glimpse of our Lockdown Home mooring. They had the boat for a week and travelled last August to Llangollen where they walked to Horseshoe falls and marvelled at how energetic the River Dee is there.
Main points of interest to Thelma were the tunnels with their textures, the aqueducts and locks which are much smaller than you find on the Irish waterways which is where she spent most of her holidays when younger.
It was an interesting talk, even if she had them going down Grindley Brook Step Locks (Staircase) on their way up to Llangollen, and so nice to hear her enthusiasm for their trip. A very fitting way for Lee to be remembered by his colleagues. Thank you for including us.
The photos in this post are from our trip in 2017. Sifting through the hundreds I took during November, December and January it was hard to edit them down to just a few.
Beautiful
The deep snow that fell gave us one of our favourite boating days as the sun came out and we had the canal more or less to ourselves, stunningly beautiful.
Back in Scarborough work continues on the house. One living room and dining room have patched in wallpaper and fresh coats of emulsion and gloss. The room that we call the Shed has also had a freshen up, the scars of several tenants and takeaways now erased. The flower bed at the front has been cleared of gravel and plastic in the hope that our blue geraniums will return.
Next job is curtains, then we can move living rooms and have an open fire again, just so long as we can keep Tilly from climbing the chimney!
There is still plenty more to keep us busy and off the streets.
Kirk Sandall to Sykehouse Lock to too close to the shooting range, Aire and Calder Navigation
The Saturday morning Geraghty Zoom conversations included the Waverley’s third pier hitting incident, Scottish Safe Houses and a toaster lottery. Good to see everyone as ever, just a shame Fran trying to share a Japanese stretch with us all, meant we all got pushed to the side and were left with a big white box on our screens.
Interesting viewing!
Mick headed off on a bike for our Saturday morning newspaper finding that new shops have appeared near to Kirk Sandall Station, presumably because of the increased housing in the area. He not only returned with a paper but also a battery for the CO/Smoke detector in our bedroom, at last we can sleep safely again.
A Tilly cat battery
With Tilly back on board we pushed off and headed to Barnby Dun Lift Bridge. Here it took sometime before there was a suitable gap in the traffic for me to press the button and of course I pressed the wrong one, encouraging the bridge to stay closed! This bridge is the only one I’ve come across where the Open button isn’t on the left hand side of the panel and close is there instead. Another gap was waited for and the button quickly pressed, another vehicle passing through the red flashing lights, causing me to take my finger off the button just as everything had started to sound!
Cruisers from Naburn at Barnby Dun
Eventually the barriers and bridge closed to the road. A group of cruisers, one familiar one from our time at Naburn, arrived but all seemed to be pulling in before getting to the bridge. As the bridge lowered two Council vans faced each other, ready for a race to see who could get through the barriers first. It was a tie.
A bag of rubbish was disposed of and we carried on our way. The Bramwith Junction mooring was avoided, obviously a field must have been spread with muck which had attracted all the flies the other day, now that we’ve just about got rid of them all we didn’t want new ones.
Which way now?
Which way to turn? Left towards Leeds and Goole? Or right towards Thorne and Keadby? We chose left, back onto the New Junction Canal.
Under the Don Doors and on towards the first bridge. As I hopped off we could see that the following bridge, a lift bridge was raised, were we following someone or were they coming towards us. With about a half mile between bridges I looked very carefully to see if I could see an oncoming boat, if there was I’d wait before pressing the buttons on the bridge. We must be following someone, wonder if we’d catch them up before reaching the lock?
Mick ahead
I pressed the button and just as Mick was pushing off I saw the bow of a boat appear from behind some trees heading in our direction. They were too far away to wait with the bridge open so I closed it and walked on to the next one to stretch my legs.
Sykehouse Lock
The next few bridges all seemed a lot further apart going this way and with nobody to play hopscotch/leapfrog with they all took a bit of time, not helped by an awkward wind.
A very long way away
With Sykehouse Lock just in view we could see that a lift bridge was raised ahead, would that boat get to the lock before us? Well as the bridge stayed upright for a longtime and there was another bridge in between them and the lock we were there long before them.
Swing bridge, gates, down, by now the boat had come through the swing bridge ahead of us so it would have been daft to now close the lock up along with the bridge just to get my key out again. I waited for them whilst Mick brought Oleanna out of the lock to moor, it was way past our lunchtime.
Swung
We waved the boat on who were grateful for me working the lock for them. As they rose I spotted a white car on the offside patiently waiting to cross. By the time the bridge was back in position Mick had come up to help so we each did a barrier allowing the car to cross.
Heading off to explore
Tilly got her second outside to explore as we settled down for some food and a cuppa. Very quickly we realised our mistake. There was no internet, well an occasional glimmer, the smallest of carrots dangled. This was not a case of a new simcard sorting itself out, we were in a dead spot. We wouldn’t be staying here for the night.
Kirk Lane Road Swing Bridge
Tilly was encouraged home and we pushed off again. The last of the lift bridges was reached by another boat just before us. The lady could see us but not her own boat, she tried ringing through to tell them to hold back, but the chap on the helm didn’t answer his phone. So for a moment there were two boats facing each other one slightly more under the bridge than the other. We managed to reverse and hold a position despite of the wind before it was our turn. All the time a seagull sat high above enjoying the view from the highest point.
Good view from up there
Should we stop where the midges had bitten us? No they’ve only just settled down now.
Which way?
Which way to go again? Left towards Pollington Lock and Leeds? Or Right to Goole? Left won again, we quite like it at Pollington and could do with a top up of water.
Turning towards Leeds
Quite a few boats were pulled up on the offside, a Saint Bernard dog barked at an old black Lab asleep behind some railings, then the visitor moorings came into view. Full. Plus a cruiser moored on the water point! No space for us then.
Chocka block
We winded and headed back the way we’d come hoping to find a nice little patch on the off side to tie up to. This showed itself a short distance away from the Spa and Shooting range, but fortunately they had stopped the clay pigeon shooting for the day. We tied up with plenty of long grass for Tilly to zoom and pounce in, her third outside of the day!
She’s a little bit drunk!
I had a catch up chat with the London Leckenbys. Josh has been back at school for a couple of weeks now. There has been a covid case in the school but Josh and his year bubble will not have come into contact with the person, who is thought to be a maths teacher. He’s also started back with his guitar lessons and band rehearsals. Life seems to be returning to a kind of normal for them, but at the moment no plans have been formulated to meet up. Living week by week, we’ll see where the country is at in a few more weeks.
The locals
1 lock, 9.35 miles, 2 lefts, 4 lift bridges, 3 swing bridges, 31 held up, 1 boat helped up, 0 internet mooring, 2 treat cheeses, 0 space for us, 1 wide open mooring, 0 trees, 0 gunshots, 3 outsides, 5 hours shore leave, not all taken, 1 last meal of Calveley bacon from lockdown, 0 bacon in the freezer after 15 weeks, 7.
The voice of Houdini woke us this morning, Mick was to be on the 8:57 train to Scarborough to visit the dentist, so there was no lounging around in bed with a cuppa for him. A peek out of the window revealed that the level had risen again overnight, only what looked like a couple of inches, we’d still have at least another foot before we’d be getting wet feet on the moorings here. Gaugemap was checked along all the tributaries up stream before Mick committed to his journey eastwards. I’d not be too keen on moving Oleanna on my own should the level rise!
Yurck
Today was to be windy, very windy. Tilly and I got on with the normal morning routine, keeping an eye on the other side of the river for the level and being buffeted about somewhat.
On the other side of Lendal Bridge is where all the trip boats get moored overnight, at the tail end all the little red hire boats are huddled up together. I was quite surprised when these had been moved mid morning, then at intervals of 10 to 15 minutes one would pass by. The strong winds which we’d not consider moving in didn’t seem to be a problem for them. Then the trip boats started to do their rounds, adding to the swell on the river.
Rising levels
It was a bumpy morning, a little unsettling so I needed to keep myself occupied. As I was expecting visitors I decided to give Oleanna a tidy and sweep through, not that anyone would be coming onboard, but it did the job of keeping my eyes away from checking the level constantly. A batch of biscuits were popped in the oven and had just cooled off when there were voices outside.
Halfway up
Jaye and Duncan had come for a cuppa and a catch up, other than briefly last night it’s just over a year since we last saw them. If the weather had been more conducive I’d have made refreshments for us to enjoy on the river bank watching the world go by. This was still a vague hope, but was soon replaced with heading into town to find a cafe.
Duncan suggested Spring Espresso on Lendal, a small cafe. They couldn’t move two tables together for us, but we could use two tables which was just fine helping us all to keep our distance.
Yum!
Eggs Benedict with spinach and mushrooms, the poached eggs cooked perfectly, yummy!
There was lots to catch up on, theatre, friends, tenants, our travels etc. which meant trying to eat got in the way a touch.
As we were nearly finished another Scarborough face appeared at the door. Georgie used to work at the SJT and is now a Producer for York Mediale an International Media Arts Festival that is held every year. She spotted Jaye and Duncan and then did a second take when she saw me. It was lovely to see her even if it was very brief as she was meeting with an artist.
Duncan and Jaye
A lovely lunchtime meeting and catch up with good friends. Back at Oleanna the level still looked pretty much the same. More checks on Gaugemap and the Governments river and sea levels site. Looking at the Viking Recorder levels there is a forecast level, this was due to remain steady for a while but later today to rise by half a meter. Because of this when Mick had seen his dentist he cycled to the house, picked up post and cancelled an appointment with a plumber so that he could be back sooner, just in case we needed to move.
The ‘Yay’ train
At 14:24 I got a text message. Mick was on the ‘Yay!’ train. When he worked in York, pre-boating days, he commuted from Scarborough by train, there was a ‘Yay’ train and a late train. Today trains were two hours apart, they may have more carriages but his return journey was quite busy.
We had a walk around the block so that I could see the new footbridge. Built with social distancing in mind it is wonderfully wide. Built from steel and fashionable rusted metal it does the job well. Mick reckons the bridge would have saved him at least five minutes each way on his commute, so he’d have managed the ‘Yay’ train more often.
Leeman Road sorting office
Some post had arrived at the house for our old tenant, so this needed returning. Handily Leeman Road sorting office still has a late collection even if it’s clock is wonky. As a child it was exciting to climb in the car with Dad and come to post a letter late at night, imagining there to be someone just behind the post box who would stamp it with a postmark, sort it and send it on it’s way to arrive before 8am somewhere.
The bar walls are all one way, I pity the person who lost their coat during their circular perambulation, would they have to walk ALL the way back round to pick up their coat?
As the streets seemed that bit emptier we decided to go a touch further. A patch of unkempt riverbank behind Coney Street needed investigating. Could this be where York City Council could install some pontoons for boaters?
Coney Street used to be THE shopping street in York, now the number of empty shops is scary. A chap disappeared down a slope between WH Smith and Boots, this was where we needed to be. A steep narrow concrete ramp led down to the river, the walls on either side showing grooves from many deliveries.
At the end mesh fencing stopped us from checking out a set of steps down into the river and caged delivery bays now host bicycle racks. The chap came out with his bike, ‘There’s nothing down here!’ Well actually he was wrong. Should anyone ever decide to provide flood safe moorings for visitors in York here would be an ideal spot. Unused river frontage, steps (that would need replacing) and access up to Coney Street along with a very old WH Smith logo.
Waterstones has moved, the public toilets in Parliament Street have been demolished and replaced with portacabins, just as ugly as their predecessors. The pavement along this stretch was surprisingly uneven, up and down. I wonder if there are plans to try to level this out, maybe loose the trees that were planted in the 70’s 80’s, the fountain from then has gone.
Betty’s World Famous Fat Rascals
A glance in at Betty’s tearoom is always a must. They looked busy but could have coped with two more. When we got back to Oleanna the level looked to have dropped just a touch more, ‘max’ on the mooring sign, was now just about above water. We’ll see what happens overnight.
Minstergate and the Minster
0 locks, 0 miles, 2 trains, 1 filling, 2 visitors, 3 more mentions, 2 photos, 1 rising river, 1 dropping river, 1 very blowy day, 2 poached eggs, 1 surprise meeting, 2 lovely hours, 1 wide bridge, 1 top hat with covid visor, 1 solution for York mooring if only the council gave 2 hoots!
