Please note there is no navigation through the breach site at Newbridge.
From 25th July The Trust will be raising the water levels in the navigation in order to temporarily re-water the breach site to allow engineers to check banks. Following this test, the levels in the navigation will be lowered. Please note this will see the water level reduced back to the current lower level, in order to allow the removal of the cofferdam.
Water levels will be affected from Ferrybridge to Goole on the Aire & Calder navigation and on the New Junction canal to Sykehouse Lock.
Can skippers of all craft please adjust their mooring lines accordingly.
Once the cofferdam has been removed, the navigation will be re-watered, ahead of the planned opening in mid-August.
We will update this notice when we have further information.
No date as yet, but hopefully everything is on track.
They have also updated the website, which pretty much says the same.
In Selby there is also news on the swing bridge out of the basin.
Update on 15/07/2021:
Unfortunately, we have experienced some delays with agreeing a design for the temporary scaffold footbridge required before we can affect a road closure with the local authority on Selby swing bridge.
The pedestrian bridge installation is to start on the Wednesday 21st July 2021 and will be completed by Friday 30th July 2021. Upon completion the swing bridge will be opened to allow boat movement.
A further navigation restriction will be in place on Thursday 5th August 2021 to allow the swing bridge to be lifted out and taken off site for repair.
Thank you for your continued patience while we are undertaking these essential repairs and we apologies for any ongoing inconvenience this may cause to your summer cruising plans.
Black Jack’s Lock to Ballot Box Bridges 13, Paddington Arm, Grand Union Canal
Such a lovely mooring above Black Jacks
Over the years we have been gifted a few things by the God of the London Waterways. On Lillian we had a hose pipe brush javelined onto our roof whilst we were on the Lee Navigation. We still have this and it occasionally gets used, although the plastic that holds the bristles in can scratch your paintwork. Then on our last visit we were breasted up to by another narrowboat at Little Venice waterpoint. We didn’t notice until much later in the day that the chap had left us with his rather good lightweight boat hook, this is now the preferred hook to use.
A present from the waterway gods
So our mooring today was offering us a blue trolley with accompanying yellow bungee. All we had to do was bring it out from the friendly cover and pop it on the roof. We actually noticed it when we pulled up yesterday, then we debated about it. A trolley would be handy, moving heavy things around such as gas bottles (the chap yesterday used his mobility scooter to great effect) and our yellow water container to elsan points, coal bags etc. But it would have to live on our roof which we prefer to keep uncluttered as we cruise so much. In the end our roof stayed uncluttered and we left the find either for it’s original owner to reclaim or for someone with a greater need, anyway it hadn’t been placed on our roof like the previous gifts had.
Jack’s Mill Cafe
The lady at Jack’s Mill Café was putting tables out in the sunshine this morning getting ready to open up. The crocodile that used to lie on the grass below the lock seems to have moved off to pastures new, a shame as it was one of those things you look out for.
The local opposition to HS2 is very obvious by the time you reach Wide Water Lock, as is the big crane a little bit away from the lock. Once we’d dropped down and passed a few boats we could see the start of the works. Fencing along the towpath marks the spot where the line will cross on a viaduct. Another area fenced off part way across all the trees felled, waiting for construction work to start. Here there used to be a protest encampment, the trees which surrounded it now gone.
We could see mounds of gravel, diggers and cranes. Further along plenty of green fencing stretched out parallel with the canal, upturned black boxes sat by the fence at regular intervals. What was this all about? It wasn’t on the route for the railway. Was it a compound for the works? But there was a lot of water in between. In the end we think this area is where they will be adjusting the overhead power cables, maybe dispensing with the pylons and dropping the cables to underground.
As we cruised on, Mick was somewhat distracted by the works, Oleanna’s line drifted off centre. The first we were aware of this was a horrible scratching squeaking noise of pointy branches doing their worst down the port side cabin. This is the first time I’ve ever shouted at Mick, I did apologise quite quickly as did Mick. Just what damage had been done now?! Poor Oleanna!
Oh blimey!!
Denham Deep Lock required filling so this gave me plenty of time to take in the damage. At least two more big scratches along the cabin side. These are more wiggly than the one created yesterday. We’ll try polishing them out, we have some blue polish. If anyone has any handy advice please pass it on, we are not shiny boaters but we also don’t want to look like a well used hire boat!
Denham Deep is suitable named, not the deepest lock we’ve been through, but still deep. We dropped down, only one paddle usable on the bottom gates and a queue was forming for Fran’s Tea Rooms at the lock cottage.
Open at 10am
Approaching Uxbridge Lock we had a tight squeeze past a breasted up pair and a work boat carrying a big reel of cable or pipe. Luckily there was space for us all and the neat gardens on the offside didn’t give us any cause for concern over more marks on Oleanna’s cabin side.
Mick brought Oleanna into Uxbridge Lock, closely followed by the local swan family. We did our best to move them out, or in, we didn’t mind which just one or the other would do. But the cob had other ideas sitting in the open gateway, going one way then coming back, he was refusing to let Mick close the gate. In the end a crust of my new loaf of gluten free bread had to be brought out, food was what he was after along with the rest of his family. We could now close the gate.
Is the lock cottage still for sale or just on the market again?
We swung Oleanna in to the service point at the marina below, the diesel renowned for being the cheapest in the area. No price showed on the pump. A head popped up from behind a boat on the offside to give us the news that the marina was closed on Wednesdays! Pooh!! Oh well. I hopped back on and we reversed out, we’ll hopefully find a coal boat, we still have half a tank.
The next lock Cowley Lock was to be our last, the last lock down into London. We topped up with water and disposed of yellow water at the services then swapped with two northbound boats to drop down onto the Paddington Level of the canal.
All on the flat from here. Lots of building work about. A widebeam had difficulty coming through the bridge by Packet Boat Marina, it seemed he’d got his bow thrusters the wrong way round, but the amount of tyres on his bow suggested this happens frequently.
Straight on past the Slough Arm, we may do this on our way back, we had to abandon our cruise down there back in 2015 due to ice and sadly it was the day before we had to say goodbye to our first second mate Houdini.
At Bulls Bridge there were plenty of boats moored up on the offside, only one boat on the visitor moorings. We have enough stocks on board so we left the rest of the stretch to the magnet fishers. Oleanna was swung round to the left and passed under the bridge onto the Paddington Arm.
Straight on to Paddington
We decided to have lunch on the go, our chosen mooring still a distance off, but if we saw anywhere before hand we’d pull in. Plenty of boats moored up, not many moving. Some familiar, like the one that looks top heavy and wouldn’t fit through bridge holes now sat on a mooring. Boats that invite themselves to be painted by graffiti artists, life rafts of different shapes and sizes.
At Willow Tree Footbridge it looked like most people had moved in and onto land. The possessions next to one cruiser made you wonder how they would move if they had to take everything with them! I think they’d sink.
Black Horse Bridge
At Black Horse Bridge bend building works are still on going, high rise buildings going up. A wharf with mooring bollards and what might be an elsan looked all very smart. On we went, not much further till we reached Ballot Box Bridges.
A whole stretch to ourselves!
As we rounded the bend we were surprised to see not one boat moored where we’d managed to slot in last time. The towpath has been redone, the hard surface getting quite close to the edge, but we thought we’d be able to get some spikes in, which we did. Was there something we didn’t know?
You be good in that nature reserve!
5 locks, 15.4 miles, 1 aborted left, 0 diesel, 1 left, 0 shopping, 1 crust, 2 strawberries, 2 lunches on the go, 0 swans, 1 warmer day, 0 boats at the mooring, 1 super speedy boat, 1 nature reserve, 2 loads washing, 1 fox, 1 cat not so keen.
https://goo.gl/maps/KBH7fNiaWyZyo7jeA
In other not so good news a C&RT update regarding Selby Swing Bridge
Update on 23/06/2021:
Since Selby swingbridge was damaged by overweight vehicles our team have been reviewing options for carrying out repairs to rectify the damage.We regret to inform that the design detail of the temporary pedestrian footbridge is still being finalised. This alternative means of access over the canal must be in place before it is possible to put a road closure in place to lift-off the defective bridge and re-open navigation.
We now expect the defective bridge to be removed and navigation re-open in mid-July.In recognition of the additional disruption this causes we are investigating whether it is possible to perform and emergency swing of the bridge for a limited period to allow boat passage should those moored in the area wish to move.We will make a further announcement on this as our plans develop, and not before Monday 28th June 2021.
We’d had intentions to move today, not far but at least across the summit pound to Cowroast. However when we woke and checked the forecast we decided that we’d rather not get totally and utterly soaked. There wasn’t even a window in the rainfall that we could see, so instead we decided to stay put for the day.
Mid June!
The temperature had dropped overnight, at first this was a lovely relief as it had become so muggy. Long trousers were needed followed by jumpers, in fact by the afternoon Mick had lit the stove to drive off the chill that torrential rain brings.
Mick did us a small cooked breakfast with what was to hand. The last two eggs were poached in our poach pods, a little bit of rapeseed oil in them to stop the eggs from sticking. Mushrooms, tomatoes, my last slice of Gf bread from the freezer. I also insisted on hash browns, just because Karen had asked about them the other day.
Eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes and hash brown
Hash Browns for 2
Wash a medium sized potato, don’t bother peeling it but grate it into a t-towel using the big holes on your grater. Grate about a third of a small onion (if you are called Joa you should omit the onion) into the t-towel too. Wring out as much moisture as you can. Add about a third of a beaten egg, just enough to help things stick together without getting too eggy. A good grind of salt and pepper. Mix well, then cook in a frying pan with a little rapeseed oil (other oils are available). Mick tends to make one big cake cooking it for about 7 mins on each side so that it has a good colour to it and is cooked through. Then it is my job to eat it. Yum.
Make it stop
Tilly was given 9.5 hours, but she wasn’t interested, I think all day she only just managed to step off the boat for a couple of minutes. But she did sit out the back under the shelter of the pram cover watching the steam rising off the canal. In Scarborough we’d call this Fret. The canal has obviously warmed up and the drop in temperature made it steam all day long. It’s the kind of steam you can put your hand out and touch.
Frey drifting by
The other day I’d had a modified idea for the Town Square for panto, today I was determined to see if it was a good idea and bring a touch more green into the opening scene. I liked the shape of the buildings and know that the build will have been priced up on the drawings I’ve already submitted, so I did my best to keep the existing shapes, changing the roof for foliage and the timber into plant stems giving them a touch more of an organic feel. Tomorrow I’ll put them in the model box with everything else to see if they work, but I’m liking the look of them so far.
Mick sat listening to the Women’s Test Match for much of the morning until rain stopped play. He should really have been out with the soft brush giving the cabin sides a good clean down. The port side will have had an extra rinse today. I suspect that the starboard side will now look even worse than it did before despite the almost continuous downpours all day.
Maybe it’s a bit better now
In the C&RT update email this evening they have covered the stoppages around Selby. Tankards Bridge on the Selby Canal is still closed to boats over 7ft high, a road closure will be needed for them to mend the bridge and as yet the Council has not granted one due to work on going on the A19 nearby and the road being used as an alternative root.
Then there is Selby Swing Bridge. From the update it still looks like C&RT are seeking a road closure here too after an over weight lorry crossed the bridge doing no good to the bearings. There may be more news locally from Nigel the Lock Keeper.
With regard to the Aire and Calder breach, there wasn’t anything new in the update. However the local MP has been to the site. The second layer of piling is now complete and the area above the drain has recently had new concrete has been added where the wooden shuttering is behind Andrew Percy. Gradually over the next month tests will be done increasing the water level in the cofferdam. Fingers crossed the big hole is now fixed and there are no more set backs. He does also mention the sections of collapsed bank caused by the low water levels since the breach. C&RT have told him they are not immediately serious and will need addressing over the next year or so.
In other news, there is now the second part of Heather’s trip taking her up to Beverley on the Scholar Gypsy blog here’s a LINK
Last of the quiche
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 very wet day, 1 inch extra of water, 1 stove lit, 1 work day, 3 town houses rethought, 2 minutes shore leave taken, 0 quiche left.
Heather arrived yesterday afternoon with lots of goodies she’d picked up in Doncaster at Scicluna Deli. One of the slices of cake had to be enjoyed with a cuppa as we discussed our cruising plans for Trent Falls. Not being able to get off the river at Keadby was still a sticking point for us all, who could we call other than another helpful Lock Keeper?
The flood barrier being taken out
We enjoyed a curry from Jinnah, thank you Martin for the suggestion, it was very tasty, and a bottle of wine, then it was early to bed ready for the off this morning.
I have to admit to not having had the best nights sleep as I was not looking forward to mooring up on the pontoon in Gainsborough as the river hurtled past at a rate of knots. Tonight’s high tide would be the highest of the spring tides, 7.84m at Hull, so our plan of doing the trip on a Neap tide hadn’t worked out!
Selby Lock, open ready and waiting
This morning whilst Mick made us bacon butties Heather walked over to chat with the Lock Keeper, it was worth another try. The chap on duty this morning didn’t know Keadby or really our planned cruise, so he couldn’t be of much help, but would call his supervisor. As we finished our butties he came over to chat, today the problem was more to do with the sandbar at Keadby Lock than staffing. They were saying there wouldn’t be enough water to get us over it and into the lock at the state of tide when we arrived. He tried again for us, but the answer was still no.
Even I want to moor at Keadby Lock!
By now two chaps from the Environment Agency had arrived, they had checked the height of the tide and were happy that it wouldn’t over top the lock so then wound back the flood barrier. Life jackets on, Escape pod at the ready, the sun was out, it was time to go.
David, Karl, Martin and Wendy came down to the lock mouth to wave us goodbye and take photos for us, not often I get photos of me on Oleanna. The lock emptied, not much today due to the spring tide.
Then it was time to put the power on, leave the lock and wave goodbye to the rest of the escape committee. Thank you all for your company, knowledge, apps, photos and our united escape. Hopefully our paths will cross later in the year when we come back up north, but for now enjoy York and pottering about until things open up again.
Out into the flow we soon picked up speed. Mick radioed ahead to Selby Bypass Bridge to check for air draught. It was 4m so not a problem even though Mick got his tongue tide saying that our air drought was 2ft!
Soon the flow got going and our speed increased. We needed to make sure we reached Boothferry Bridge before the tide dropped too much as here sand banks start to show themselves at low water.
Heather has travelled this stretch of the river before some years ago. Selby Bypass Bridge looked new to her. We couldn’t spot the bridge keeper in his high up perch to give him a wave.
Drax
Drax Power Station came into view, the steam from the cooling towers heading straight up. The weather forecast and information on the Windy app were holding true.
I’d set Nebo going and could see that our speed was increasing, the sun that we’d left Selby in made us think we were over dressed for the days cruise, but now out on the river we were glad of the extra layer.
Barmby Barrage
Once we reached Barmby Barrage we were now onto new water for Heather.
Passing a wharf close to Drax Power Station there was a high vis rescue boat. Two chaps sat in the rib. You could play spot the difference with these photos, I think one of the chaps spotted us and put his helmet on quick.
A crane sat in a field alongside the wind turbines. Was it a new turbine being put together or had the lid been lifted off? A chap sat high up there working away.
Aire to the right, Ouse to the left
We passed where the River Aire joins the Ouse, then Boothferry Bridge and the M62 lay ahead.
There was no need to radio ahead, although the Bridge Keeper kept a close eye on our progress. So far so good, we wouldn’t run out of water.
Under the M62. This bridge can be seen for miles with it’s gentle curve up and over the Ouse and surrounding area, it always used to be hard to slow down on the slip road off it at Howden. The salt and pepper pots in Goole could just be seen through the uprights meaning we’d soon be back where we started last Friday.
Keep to the right
Round Howden Dyke Island, the sand banks only just starting to show themselves, then straight across to the first wharf surrounded by the green of Wren Kitchens. A right angle to keep to our red line on the charts and keeping towards the eastern bank of the river. Here two large ships were being loaded, a reclining figure kept an eye on things, looking down into the hold.
Last Friday we’d been surprised at the lack of debris on the river. You seem to get a lot of it on the reaches up to York. Today however was different, there was plenty of fire wood floating along keeping us company, some of it at one point needed some encouragement to leave us, we slowed down and let it drift off ahead.
Goole Railway Bridge. Today we took the span to the east of the control tower. Here we could see the earlier wooden protection, now superseded by a steel structure, it’s a good job as it looked like the wood wouldn’t be able to cope with a miscalculation from a passing ship.
Goole
Now the river sat wide in front of us. The view of Goole clearer than last week. We followed the red line on our charts, taking us across the river closer to the docks.
Victoria Lock entrance came into view, a big yellow sign asking us to radio Goole Docks on channel 14. We’d tried a little bit earlier, but gave it another go.
Victoria Lock
‘Goole Docks, Goole Docks, this is Oleanna, over.’
The now familiar voice from Ocean Lock replied and Mick gave our location and informed him that we would soon be passing. We were clear to proceed and there was no traffic on the river. ‘Have a pleasant journey on the river’. Thank you.
Bye bye Ocean Lock
Now we could finally wave goodbye to Goole.
New water for everyone. Even Tilly was shouting about it below!
We kept our eye out for the markers on the banks. White diamonds to line up and cross between. Numbered posts with what look like Ikea guiding lights on top of them, these are of course more elaborate than just a nightlight helping to show ships in towards the docks.
Wide and reedy
Yesterday Mick had spent several hours studying the Humber charts and comparing the depths to the red line on our Boating Association charts. The Humber has sand banks that constantly change so the river is surveyed bimonthly, our charts may have been out of date. However the red line followed the channel, so as long as we didn’t stray we should be fine.
A truncated windmill, a lighthouse that both Heather and I thought had a sign with two arrows on it, one pointing upstream the other down stream. Well now looking at my photos the arrows are actually just bolts holding the board to the lighthouse.
Lighthouse! Hang on, lighthouses tend to be at sea on the coast. The occasional one has been built as a whimsical curiosity along side a canal, but this one looked like the real thing and meant business.
Next Blacktoft Wharf came into view. When we’d visited it a few weeks ago by car we’d not liked the thought of mooring to it to wait for the tide to turn. Today we liked the look of it even less for a narrowboat and were glad we had a different plan for awaiting the tide.
Apex Light
There up ahead was our next landmark the Apex Light.
Straight on the Humber and North Sea, to our right the River Trent. Gulp!
Hull up ahead!
The flow was making our progress so easy, zipping along, so far so easy, so easy. The sun was out, only a slight breeze, wonderful.
The Apex Light got closer. And closer. And closer.
On the Humber now
Some people say to head down onto the Humber to bide some time waiting for the tide to turn. Others turn and beach their boats on the sandbanks on the southern side of the Humber. But our plan was different.
Skidding round
David and others had said that beaching might mean that as the tide comes in a wave would build up alongside your boat, trying to force you round. Until the level had risen enough for you to back off the bank this could mean water getting in through vents etc. Maybe on a neap tide this wouldn’t be so bad, but today was the highest spring. So our plan was to anchor instead.
Trent to the left, Ouse to the right, Humber and North Sea behind!
Mick moved the tiller round and we turned round the Apex Light. Out from one flow of tide that had been pushing us along to head straight into another! Well we slipped along side ways for a bit before Oleanna managed to turn . Within a minute we changed from doing about 7mph over ground to almost being stationary now facing up stream on the river Trent.
Slow progress
1.5mph meant we crawled up the Trent, keeping quite close to the training wall which was very visible at this stage of the tide.
Trent 2
S L O W L Y we passed the two Trent markers on the west bank. We had to keep close to the training wall as here there is a shallow channel, not the main one, that is over the other side towards the eastern bank. David had given us a landmark to look out for, a drain leading into the channel, this was shown on our charts as being between two anchors.
Gradually making headway
Heather and I went up into the bow. The anchor had already been placed on the bow locker at the ready, the bucket of chain and rope beside it. I lifted the anchor, Heather the bucket.
David’s landmark
I tried carefully to lower the anchor into the water, keeping control as it passed the newly painted gunnels. However it proved a touch too heavy to manage this totally. Clinging onto the chain letting the anchor slowly drop was hard work, so once all fingers were well out of the way I let go of the chain.
It’s under the boat
The chain followed by the rope pulled out of the bucket, leaving a couple of meters behind, which I assisted out into the water. Now would it bite on the river bed? Mick moved us gently, the flow on this part of the river much much less than in the main channel.
After a while the rope seemed to be getting some tension in it. However it was caught underneath the lower bow fender. Then we drifted over where the anchor must have been, the rope moving down the side of Oleanna. Then back again. I wasn’t willing to try to get the rope from under the fender as this would mean balancing on the bow, I’d rather loose the fender than fall in. But after a while things settled down and the rope sorted itself.
A quick check of all the apps and forecasts this morning whist lying in bed. It was actually too late to make a move when we were doing this as Nigel had already driven past to the lock and returned as I checked the wind speeds at Trent Falls.
A lovely morning here, just lunchtime and early afternoon further down stream would not be so clever. So time to sit out the day again in Selby. Maybe these posts will have a name change to The Selby Escape!
Not much space for anything else today
The drawing board came out again. Today the last couple of sheets of working drawings needed to be checked over and then it was groundplan time. This is a plan of what goes where. Normally in a play there aren’t too many scene changes, so there may only be need for one of two groundplans. But with Panto going all over the shop, although not to an actual shop, I needed to draw out seven of them. This took quite a while and took up just about all the space in the main cabin, I did manage to leave the sofa for Mick and Tilly to sit on.
Mick headed into town in search of a new pair of jeans. The only place selling mens clothing, other than trendy skinny spray on jeans, was Wetheralls a local department store that so far has managed to survive the pandemic.
Model all packed up for storage
Rain showers, torrential rain and even a touch of hail came and went through the day. We were very glad we weren’t down on the river battling our way through all the weather.
Mick called Keadby on the off chance that the shift times on the C&RT website were incorrect. He chatted through our plans for Thursday morning, lunchtime, afternoon and evening. Not being able to get off the River Trent at Keadby means it will be a long day.
Our current plan is to lock down in Selby, head to Trent Falls where we will anchor rather than beach, then a little while after the flood we will head upstream on the Trent, pass Keadby to moor on the pontoon at Gainsborough. The following morning after the flood has come past we will follow it, hopefully all the way up to Cromwell.
Is that the flood barrier across the lock?
Mick asked about the Aegir on Friday morning. We have been told to tie up on the pontoon in Gainsborough very tightly, facing the north, no slack what so ever on the ropes and add long spring lines. Paul from Waterway Routes has tied up on here before using four ropes each tied off to different points on the boat and pontoon. Advice from the Lockie was that on Friday morning we should wait for things to calm down after the wave has been through, say ten/fifteen minutes and then turn to follow it.
A chat with David later in the day means that the flotilla will be splitting up. Sea Maiden and Lulabelle are looking at heading to York instead, biding their time for the bridge here in Selby to be open to boats, who knows when Tankards Bridge will be open for those higher then 7ft, good news is that Beal Lock on the River Aire is now open, the dredging there complete.
This does however mean we will be a lone boat at Trent Falls. There’s not that much a second boat would be able to do if you got into trouble, but just a bit reassuring.
Posh bag for a chippy
A different van came past late afternoon, just as the heavens opened, the Environment Agency. Two chaps worked through the rain and closed the flood barrier at the lock. This can only be done by the EA and not by C&RT. The tides are getting higher every day at the moment and with the amount of fresh on the river we suspect it was a precautionary measure.
To celebrate finishing off my drawings we treated ourselves to fish and chips. Mister C’s in Micklegate does gluten free on Tuesdays, presumably when they clean the fryers out and have fresh oil or lard. Their website and bag boasts about their awards and we have to say they were very good. Mine were just as good as at Capplemans in Scarborough.
Chippy tea!
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 flood barrier, 1 cruise plan coming together, 1 extra crew on standby, 1 missing river, 7 groundplans, 1 flotilla splitting up, 2 of each, 1 river found, 1 new pair of jeans.
Today passage had not been possible due to staffing shortages. Nigel was at Naburn this morning to pen a cruiser down onto the river, this would mean there being nobody available to pen us at a suitable time of the tide, so today had not been an option. This did however mean everyone had their radios on to listen in.
Lock cottage for sale
Around about 9am we could hear one side of a conversation on Channel 9, the cruiser was approaching the bridges. We all gathered at the lock hoping to see what we could see.
The amount of trees not only inhibit an advanced view of the lock, but also there are only a couple of places you can stand to be able to see Selby Rail Bridge swing.
Selby Rail Bridge
Air droughts were checked with the bridges. Yes they would need to swing. The cruiser was told to hang back whilst permission was sought for the Rail Bridge to swing. There was a gap in trains so the bridge keeper commenced the procedure. Selby Toll bridge followed suit, the traffic there a lot easier to stop.
Once the bridges were open the cruiser was allowed through, having to turn back round to go with the flow.
Open and ready
The skipper wasn’t aware that there was another bridge coming up, Selby Bypass Bridge, so we could hear conversations on the radio down there. Hope they made it to Grimsby okay.
Yesterday David had sent through a set of charts for Trent Falls, the Lower Ouse and the Lower Trent. Humber Charts. These lay out not only the depths of channel, but also the heights of the sand banks above the lowest tides, it is essential to understand these sections of the rivers. We printed them out, all the figures too small to read, ideally you’d want them on a computer so as to be able to zoom in at any given time. Under cover this would be possible, but we prefer to cruise with our pram hood down, giving better visibility all round, this does however have the drawback of things getting wet should it rain.
Trent Falls
Mick headed off to chat with David about the charts as I set too hoping to make the most a spare day to get some work done. I put together a story board of panto with photographs of my model and emailed it off to keep others informed.
Assistant hard at work
A blue van came past the chink in the curtains, Nigel was here, he pulled up alongside Sea Maiden. Time for the escape committee to convene.
David had been looking again at the weather at Trent Falls for tomorrow. The patches of sun were now replaced by rain and thunder, wind a touch more than we’d had on our journey up to Selby. He wasn’t too keen. The weather for Thursday looked much much better, sunshine and gentle winds. Tides would mean a later start, therefore a later finish. Another option would be to go to Barmby Barrage a day before and set off from there saving an hours cruise, giving us an extra hour in bed.
Selby Lock
Martin and Wendy on Lulabelle are thinking of staying in Selby to wait for the swing bridge at the end of the basin to be mended. A notice a couple of days ago had suggested the bridge would be lifted out mid to late June, opening up the navigation again. At the other end of the Selby Canal there is currently a height restriction at Tankards Bridge. Nigel confirmed that this was set at 7ft, a scaffolding bar flattening off the arch of the bridge. With the current fluctuation of the canal level with water coming off the fields 7ft was a safe height. This of course means Sea Maiden wouldn’t be able to go that way until the bridge is mended. The dredging on the Aire is scheduled for around about now, so the rest of the way back onto the Aire and Calder Navigation should be fine.
Nigel called someone up to enquire if there was any more news of the basin swing bridge, there had been a big meeting last Friday with lots of pointing going on. Permission is still need for a road closure from the council, then works can begin. The official line still being around three weeks.
River level
Maybe in a couple of days time passage up to York would be possible, the fresh water having decreased by then. Time waiting for suitable tides and weather could be done whilst bobbing back and forth between Naburn and York. The next morning tides not for a couple of weeks.
Conversation came back to Thursday. Low tide at Trent Falls would be 16:24. The cruise from there with the incoming tide would be around a couple of hours to reach Keadby Lock. So arrival would be around 18:30 maybe a touch later. All fine until the Keadby Lock Keepers hours were checked. Currently the shift finishes at 20:00, but Thursday 16:30! Oh B***er!!! We’d still be two hours away.
Maybe we could carry on to Gainsborough and moor on the pontoon there overnight and be up early for the next incoming tide? Maybe!
This would be further than David and Karl had planned and the conditions would need to be spot on for them to go, they may stay and pootle up to York for a bit waiting for the next set of suitable tides and lock opening hours.
Nigel would still be here at a suitable time to let us out tomorrow morning if the forecast improved and we decided to go for it.
We chatted through the charts with David. Learnt of another useful app called Anchor Watch. You can set the position of your phone (boat) on the app and should your phone move by more than 20m an alarm will sound. We then all went away to think things over.
Panto technical drawings
I got the drawing board out. Time to update my technical drawings for panto. Not too much has changed so alterations and a tidy up adding title boxes to my plans. I worked through most of them before it was time to pack up for the day.
Mick busied himself in the engine bay. The new bilge pump he’d put in a little while ago hasn’t been working. It makes the right sort of noise, but no water has been pumped over board. Yesterday he’d had a look at it, maybe the bodge job he’d done fitting it had failed!
The new bilge pump has a wider diameter fitting than the old one did. This means that the pipe from the skin fitting is too narrow to fit onto it. Mick has added a short length of narrower pipe which fits inside both pipes. This is taped and jubilee clipped in position as a temporary fix until we can get some pipe of the correct diameter.
Tilly keeping a watch on the weather
Now we watch the weather, river levels, and wind. What else could be added to our escape calculations?
Ah Yes! The Trent Aegir!
0 locks, 0 miles, 0 penning, 2 cruisers zooming by, 1 postponed cruise, 3 charts, 3 weeks, 1 very helpful Lockie, 4:30 clocking off, 3 to 2 to 1 possibly, 8 sheets, 3 pipes become 1, 3rd episode LOD, 1 cat who has given up all hope!
As each boat came up the lock off the Ouse on Friday, Lock Keeper Nigel chatted away. He’d been talking to the Lockie at Keadby and all looked good for a departure on Sunday morning, this had been the original plan. The amount of fresh on the Trent shouldn’t be a problem. Once we were all moored up in the basin we had a boaters conference.
Swimming
We’d all enjoyed the cruise to Selby. Our concern as to whether Lulabelle had enough power was unfounded. This was Martin and Wendy’s first stretch of tidal water, they’ve done rivers before but mostly canals, so they took today at a steady pace, enjoying it out on the river. Lulabelle had more power if required, but they’d hung back to give more space at the lock knowing we’d not all fit in together.
Nigel’s news that we’d be able to pen down on Sunday had been a little bit of a surprise, but everyone was happy to hear it, although the forecast hadn’t looked so good for down at Trent Falls. We’d check the weather apps and reconvene tomorrow, David mentioned another new one to us Windy which we later downloaded.
Standing
Saturday morning we checked the weather, we checked the river levels, we checked the wind at Blacktoft for Sunday. We’d be penned out from Selby around 06:30 make our way down to Trent Falls, anchor there until the tide turned. The wind looked strong down there between 17 and 20mph southerly. Once the tide had turned the wind would then be in our faces and being over tide this would make the cruise up to Keadby a lumpy one.
Giving up!
After our weekly Geraghty zoom the escape committee convened. Not looking good. Tuesday the weather looked more promising, maybe even a touch of sunshine. We decided to postpone our departure from Selby. Monday wouldn’t be possible as there wouldn’t be a lock keeper available to pen us down.
Billy no mates
Mick rang and left a message here at Selby for Nigel, then called Keadby who later called us back. All three boats now booked to pen up at Keadby Tuesday afternoon. They also talked about what time we’d be able to pen back out on Wednesday to make it to Torksey or beyond. A late tide would see us arriving at Torksey a little before dark, or Thursday morning as soon as the Lock Keepers shift started which would be a touch later than they would normally pen you out, so not getting the full effect of the tide.
We’ll be on our own from Keadby as Sea Maiden and Lulabelle will have achieved their goal of being on the other side of the breach. A late finish, or an early start pushing against the tide for some of the way? One to think about.
Selby Abbey
A walk into town to post a birthday card. A visit to Boots Opticians, my new reading glasses have been hurting after five minutes so the kind lady made space for me in the shop and took my glasses away to adjust them, much better.
A recky for suitable places for Sunday lunch. I took photos of nice looking cafes and pubs to look at later. Then we called in at Sainsburys to do a top up shop. We’ll most probably have to do another before we leave as I want to be prepared should we get stuck on a flooded river, after all we know that Cromwell Service Station on the A1 doesn’t do much food with any nutritional value.
In the afternoon I repainted parts of the Town Square model for panto. A pale chrome green and peach substituting the blues. The outcome isn’t quite a bright as I’d wanted but will go with the costumes better. To brighten things up a touch though I added some bunting to the windows and that did the trick.
New version
Photos done and uploaded for people to see I could now pack away my model making equipment. Hopefully the model is now finished and all that remains is to update technical drawings, oh and see if we can afford to have it built!
Old version
Sunday. Instead of heading out onto the river this morning we busied ourselves having a good tidy and clean through. Yep we were expecting visitors.
Today I kept a very tight hold of my mobile phone as Bridget and Storm arrived. They were to be our first visitors inside Oleanna since restrictions have been lifted, in fact they were the last visitors we’d had inside in August last year.
They both were very well and there was a lot to catch up on. Sunday lunch all round at The George Inn by Selby Abbey, we’ve known better but it was still nice to be out with friends. We exchanged news of travels, they’ve just spent a month touring Wales in their motorhome and family news.
Bridget and Storm
A very lovely afternoon spent, much better than clinging on for dear life at Trent Falls.
A quick look at the river level about six hours after high tide suggested there was a LOT of fresh coming down, the height looking more like high tide and the speed at which the water was passing, eek!
Beans on toast with a light dusting of cheddar
This evenings dinner, well a rare plate of food, yummy all the same.
All three boats currently booked to pen down Tuesday at 08:00.
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 flooded river, 1 change of booking, 2 arms bent, 6 bananas, 1 pack of bacon, 2 chocolate flapjacks, 2 roasts, 1 pork (with failed crackling), 1 beef (quite dry), 0 Yorkshire puddings, 2 lovely friends, 1 pot of chutney, 3 boats biding their time, 1 bilge pump not pumping, 1 extreamly bored cat, 1 Heather on standby.
The River Ouse is so vast in Goole you just have to keep looking forwards so as not to be swallowed up by the expanse of water.
That Mick he’s always been a speed merchant!
With a choice of charts, Ripon or the Boating Association, we decided to follow the red line on the later. Popped in a plastic folder the book wouldn’t stay dry if it rained but it would have some protection. We’d rather these got damp than the useful book from Ripon, so that stayed on the Nicholson’s shelf by the back door in case we wanted it for reference.
Tucked away behind the flood bank
However we were close enough to Sea Maiden to see what course to follow, David having produced the Ripon book should know his way along the river.
Goole Railway Swing Bridge
First landmark was Goole Railway Swing Bridge. With wharfs further upstream the bridge swings to let big ships through, no need for that today. David did take a different span of the bridge than our red line suggested, as Sea Maiden is deeper droughted than Oleanna we had no problem following.
The bridge is also known as Hook Bridge, it is a large viaducted hogback plate girder bridge with a swing span that was built to connect Kingston Upon Hull to South Yorkshire in 1869. There are four fixed spans crossing from the western bank then the two that swing on the east bank. The pivot point is vast.
Lulabelle following
At Howden Dyke large wharfs stand with their bucket cranes ready to off load. We looked out for green markers here, but then realised these were actually quite small and are lights rather than big posts with brushes on the top as they are on the Trent.
The second wharf is where you change course quite dramatically. Straight ahead would seem to make sense, taking the shorter route round Howden Dyke Island.
But this course is shallow and the channel heads off at a right angle to the south of the island. Paul from Waterway Routes had mentioned this in an email a day ago, we stuck to our red line and followed Sea Maiden up ahead.
Here they come
Looking behind us, would Lulabelle see which course to take? They came into view and took the sharp left following at quite a distance now.
Left!
As we finished rounding the island Mick’s phone rang. It was Nigel at Selby asking on our progress. We’d only been out on the river for about half an hour. Maybe he thought we’d been let out earlier from the docks, but he’d hoped we’d be further on and not still south of the M62 bridge.
At Selby there hadn’t been a noticeable change of tide this morning due to the amount of fresh coming down. He was concerned that we’d soon be loosing the effect of the incoming tide and then struggle against tide and fresh water to make headway. The river appeared to be peaking a day earlier than expected. All we could do was continue, we seemed to be doing 6mph which we thought was reasonable.
We messaged up ahead to David, Oleanna could go faster, but could Lulabelle who seemed to be keeping up but a long way behind. Did their engine have enough umph to push on upstream.
M62
Nebo showed us doing between 5 to 10 knots only slowing to below 5 knots when changing direction around Howden Dyke and as we approached the M62 Bridge, well we had to have chance to have a good look.
Wonder if anyone saw us?
Just how many times have we been over this huge spanning bridge which opened in 1976. This is our preferred route south from Scarborough and at times it was too from York. On crossing the bridge we always look out for boats and comment on the state of the tide. Today the tide was still coming in and there were three boats pushing their way upstream.
Boothferry Bridge
Next Boothferry Bridge. A landmark of Micks childhood, long before the M62 bridge was built! Living in London and grandparents living in Hessle near Hull they would make the journey northwards by car. Crossing the bridge was a sign that they were nearly there! Excitement would build on the back seat of the Humber Hawk.
Another for good measure
To the south of the Ouse the River Aire joins shortly before a bend. Now up ahead the cooling towers of Drax Power Station rose, new wind turbines in the foreground. Was there a faint whiff of wood smoke in the air? Drax burns biomass to generate power now, just like wooden cat litter.
New and old power generating
I had wondered if we’d be able to see Eggborough Power Station too along this stretch. The thought of a photo with Drax, Eggborough and the depleted cooling towers of Ferrybridge a goal of mine, but sadly this wasn’t to be.
Lulabelle still there
Next time we cross the Wolds on a clear day we’ll have to stop the car to get all three power stations in one photo.
Is this Barmby?
Round another bend and Barmby Barrage came into view. The River Derwent heads off north east from here. A while ago we’d considered stopping here to save the full journey up to Selby. Maybe our progress was starting to slow now the effect of the incoming tide was waning against the amount of fresh coming down, we’d been on the river now for an hour and a half. Was this where we should be?
It is
Mick called Nigel at Selby to give him an update on our location. Thankfully he was happy with our progress, he wouldn’t be sat at Selby waiting for us until 9pm as he’d once thought.
Next year
Barmby Barrage has to be booked with the Environment Agency 24 hours in advance. Heading up the Derwent and onto the Pocklington Canal is one trip we want to do, but for now it will have to wait for another year, maybe next year.
Drax
The red line on our charts was now becoming intermediate. Keeping to the outside of bends, but not too far over as the flow pushes you even further out as we’d discovered on our first trip up to York seven years ago. As we reached Hemingbrough our speed was certainly dropping, Nebo showing it now under 5 knots.
24 to where?
We’d been wondering where all the debris was that usually accompanies you from Selby up to York. Last year it had been like a log flume. Our first tree came into sight bobbing along, a browning Christmas tree. Was this all there was going to be?
26
Sea Maiden up ahead was slowing. The river getting narrower the flow coming towards us stronger. This is where the floating debris started, no wonder David had slowed down. We’d lost sight of Lulabelle a while earlier, but with each of us on Nebo we could see where each boat was. Martin and Wendy were maybe ten, fifteen minutes behind, but they were still moving.
How now
Red markers on the western bank counted upwards. 26 being called Brown Cow on our charts was surrounded by sheep grazing the river bank. From here it was only 5km to the swing bridges of Selby, channel 9 to contact the bridge keepers, but we’d not need them to swing for us, we’d only one to go under Selby Bypass Swing Bridge.
A large tree lay on the bank, was this the tree we’d seen last year on our way up to York? At Roscarrs the river narrows and we could see the water bubbling away, lumpy water. We pushed hard against the flow here and up to the next bend where things calmed down somewhat.
Lumpy water
As Sea Maiden passed under the Bypass Bridge we heard David contacting the lock keeper on the radio. Nigel asked if all the boats were together, there was no reply from David. We waited for him to answer but none came. So Mick radioed our position as we passed under the bridge. Sea Maiden would be penned up the lock on her own, Nigel would then drop the lock ready for us. Mick reduced our speed, a gradual approach to the lock better than having to tread water nearer it. Martin on Lulabelle then followed on the radio with their position, still about ten minutes behind us.
Selby Bypass Bridge
But where was the lock? If this was your first time on the river you’d need guidance as all you can see is trees along the banks and Selby Rail Swing Bridge up ahead. Sea Maiden carried on ahead, then just disappeared out of view.
Finally the red brick flats came into view, these are just after the lock so we slowed our progress even more. The water could be seen dropping from the lock. I made my way to the bow before any manoeuvring by us was needed.
Nigel at the lock
Nigel stood by the lock mouth, handy hand signals as to our position on our approach. The temptation to turn in as you would on a canal is great, especially as we were facing the flow. But holding our course upstream meant we’d not get swept into the bank or the lock walls. Stay out, stay out, NOW!
Approaching the lock
Mick swung the tiller hard over and Oleanna responded nicely straight into the lock. Phew!
Thank you Karl for the footage.
Safe in the lock
No need for ropes as we’d be on our own in the lock. Nigel opened up paddles bringing us in towards the wall where we stayed as we raised up to the Selby Canal.
Two of us up
Sea Maiden was already moored. We winded and pulled in behind them. The lock already being reset for Lulabelle. More hand signals and Martin and Wendy turned faultlessly into the lock, big grins all round.
Keep coming!
All three boats safely in Selby. In the last twenty minutes it had started to rain, but other than that we’d had a pretty dry cruise. We’d found the gap in the weather, pushed against the fresh water. David’s original calculations had had us arriving at Selby around 16:30. We’d arrived at 17:30 after pushing against the increasing amount of fresh coming down stream. So we’d not done too badly and had a pleasant cruise up the river.
Three of us up
All that’s left to do now is head back the way we’ve come. Turn up the Trent, using the tide to help us upstream. Passage is currently booked for Sunday at 06:30.
Can I go out yet?
2 locks, 15.84 miles, 1 wind, 3 lefts, 1 straight on, 0 ships, 38 litres, 2 fenders, 3 boat flotilla, 12 knots maximum wind speed, 3 hours 10 minutes on the river, 1 worried Lockie, M62 and Boothferry Bridge gone under, 1st stage of the escape achieved, phew!
Mick was off on a train late morning, heading back to Hull. This time it was for his second Covid jab. He’d booked it through the NHS website at the Late Night Pharmacy which is just on the eastern side of the River Hull. Yesterday he’d had a phone call from his doctors surgery in Scarborough offering him one on Friday, which obviously he turned down.
Shhh baking
On arrival he had to wait outside until he was called in, after seeing several people he was given his jab and sent out the back door on his way, making room for the next person. A much smaller operation than we’d both been to at the Rugby Club in Scarborough.
Shh jam
Whilst he was off the boat it gave me the opportunity to do some secret wrapping and start to bake his birthday cake. Thanks to Christine (Mick’s sister) for sharing a rather tasty looking apricot tart the other day I’d decided to bake a Bakewell tart this year. The pastry base made by substituting gluten free flour and then the almond filling, ground almonds with lots of eggs, sugar and butter.
Shhhh Bakewell Tart
On his way back to the station he went in search of The Bay Horse on Wincolmlee. No longer a pub sadly, so he couldn’t stop for a pint, but at last he’d seen where Tom Geraghty his Grandfather lived in 1901 at the age of 10.
Once The Bay Horse
Not far away he stopped by The Charter House too. The Master of the Charter House was Mick’s Great Uncle, Arthur Kent Chignell, during WW2. So it wasn’t just a trip for a covid jab.
I finished off making the giant strawberry and took loads more photographs of what I hoped would be the final model, although after passing them onto the costume designer I now need to amend one colour choice as it would clash with her costumes. Yes it is panto, the brighter the better, but sometimes it’s better to be a touch more harmonious.
Strawberry
A little while before 7pm there was a knock on the boat roof. It was Joan’s husband delivering our pre-birthday dinner. Peking Duck with pancakes for Mick and lettuce for me with a green onion sauce that she’d made with gluten free soya sauce.
Lots of boxes
This was followed by crispy lamb ribs which came with roast potatoes and stir fried veg. All very very tasty and highly recommended. If we get the chance for some more food from her I’m hoping the sweet and sour seabass will be on the menu as that looks very interesting. Not your normal Chinese takeaway, but real Chinese home cooking.
Yesterday a new notice about Selby Swing Bridge was put out by C&RT.
Update on 18/05/2021:
We anticipate it will take around 2 weeks for our Contractors to carry out the temporary footbridge installation and the damaged bridge lift, though we are awaiting a precise date from our contractor for this work to commence. There will also be a short closure to reinstall the bridge in around 3 months time (date to be confirmed).
This is good news as it means the route to and from York will be open, just a shame it won’t be in time for us. David called ABP this morning to book all three boats to pen down at 14:30 on Friday. Goole Docks will need to be called on VHF Channel 14 at around 14:00 to request permission to proceed into the docks. He has suggested a channel for ship to ship comms and done loads of calculations as to speed and time of arrival at Selby. Then he has forwarded pages from the Ripon Motorboat club book. We have a copy of this which I bought for Mick years ago. It turns out that David produced the edition we have. So our flotilla will be in good hands. We just have to pray for good weather now.
0 locks, 0 miles, 2 trains, 2nd jab, 0 2nd job, 1 colour amendment, 1 bridge to be replaced, 1 yummy Chinese, channel 14, 6, 9, 74, 28 beacon, so many fingers crossed for good weather.
Here is playwright John Godber talking about the upcoming production of Moby Dick. I designed the premiere production of this show about twenty years ago for Hull Truck in their old home at Spring Street. John and Hull Truck are my Hull theatrical roots, I think he’s a bit excited.
This morning the marina was busy. A big cruiser was lowered into the water, then backed away from the slings on the lift. It reversed it’s way out of view before an older yellow cruiser came to replace it, ready to be lifted out. Once on dry land Geoff set to jet washing it’s bottom.
Preparing to move the outside is very exciting for our second mate
With no need to be in Goole for the next few days, we decided to have a weekend away. So after doing the chores, filling the water tank, emptying the wee tank, disposing of the rubbish we untied our ropes and pushed off.
Our normal routine of me giving the bow a BIG push did not work today as the wind was coming from the wrong side. So the stern was pushed out past NB Summer Wind into the gap between pontoons. Once we’d got so far the wind then caught the bow and started to push that round enabling us to turn without getting too matey with any neighbours.
Busy today
It was busy out there! A narrowboat heading in to the diesel point at the Boathouse, David/Paul and Karl tucked into the corner and the boat formerly known as Harlequin just pulling out from the water point. We headed past waving to everyone as we left, maybe next time we pull away from Viking Marina it will be for the last time.
Wharf at Rawcliffe Bridge
It being a grey day the four miles back out to Newbridge was a little bit dull. A few fishermen to break up the long straight lengths of the navigation. I wondered what industry had been along this stretch. Two wharfs opposite Rawcliffe Marina and another a bit further on by the Sugar Mill Ponds. Now that name was a clue, but not to the industry that started on the site.
Another wharf outside Croda Chemicals
In 1838 Rawcliffe Brickworks stood on the site, the clay was dug by hand from the adjacent land. In 1873 the works were modernised and a 30m high chimney was added to the site. Rumour has it that the two clay pits filled with water in the 1870’s overnight creating the ponds. 1890 the site was sold and sugar was refined here, made from the local sugar beet. By 1900 the factory was completely modernised, but the bottom had fallen out of the sugar industry, so the factory never opened, although locals were still employed to keep the machines in working order.
By the Sugar Mill Ponds
After WW2 the factory produced glucose, closing in 1963. Then Croda Chemicals who had a plant on the other side of the village used the site for storage. By the 1980’s the site had become redundant and derelict, but since 1996 the ponds have been rejuvenated into a wildlife haven. Further info on the Sugar Mill Ponds.
Cofferdam ahead
We pulled in on the southern side of the cut, a short distance behind WB Lullabelle.
Hopefully at the end of the wooded area we will get some sunlight for our solar panels, Tilly can climb trees and we won’t be in the way of any fishing matches over the weekend (14 orders for Sunday breakfast have already been placed).
Forth time lucky!
A forth attempt at the Inn backdrop was started during the afternoon along with baking Mick a loaf of Country Grain bread and preparing gluten free pizza dough. It had been slightly chilly in the boat so Mick lit the stove, but by the time the bread was cooked followed by two pizzas it felt like we were in the middle east, even Tilly ended up sitting on the bathroom floor!
Tuna pizza
Yesterday Mark visited the breach site, the first opportunity to fly his drone safely for a while.
13/5/21
We’d noticed on our walk the other day that rusty piling had been removed from the bank and some rather long lengths of new piling were sat on the access road. Today we could see what they were being used for.
13/05/21
2/5/21
The hole in the grass has gone and there is now access for machinery on the western side of the drain.
13/5/21
Here the large piling is being put in on the drain side.
13/5/21
The size of it can be appreciated by this photo of three men sitting on one length.
13/5/21
13/5/21 Old piling left standing by the yellow digger
24/4/21
You can also see that some of the concrete (?) behind the old piling has been removed, leaving a narrower stretch of the original concrete above the drain.
13/5/21
Thank you Mark.
In other news a C&RT notice came through this afternoon saying the following regarding Selby Swing Bridge
Update on 14/05/2021:
Contractors and other parties involved in the works have conducted a site assessment and decided on plans to install a passenger footbridge. Assessment have also been made for the safe removal of the Road Bridge and these works are looking to be done as soon as possible.
Once the road bridge has been lifted the navigation will be reopened. Please expect some disruption when the passenger footbridge is installed which we are anticipating maybe for a couple of days. The expected duration of all the works involving the removal and installation of the footbridge will be 3 months.
