Next up on the thwarted list and due to dwindling water comes the Ripon Canal.
So, okay this wouldn’t have been new water to us, we’ve cruised up to Ripon twice, once on NB Lillyanne and in 2020 on Oleanna. It’s lovely going up stream on the River Ouse. Care should be taken at the river locks as the sight lines from the paddle gear are nonexistent, so you have no idea what is happening below in the lock.
Back on Lillyanne I opened a paddle just one turn at Milby Lock, which sent the boat careering over to the other side of the lock, rather than holding her in. A large dint in the wall suggesting we weren’t the first to do this, however we may have been the first to loose a porthole which jumped out of it’s frame and into the lock. Houdini our second mate at the time really didn’t know what to make of it all!
There is Benningborough Hall to visit, Newby Hall, a lovely meal to be had at the Dawney Arms. Then Boroughbridge with it’s cheap diesel. The Ouse turns into the River Ure which has made it’s way down from Wensleydale, picking up water from the hills and speeding it down to York several times a year.
You climb up Oxclose Lock onto the Ripon Canal. Built by William Jessop and opened in 1773 enabling goods to be carried to and from York and Goole. Coal was carried up to Ripon, lead and agricultural produce brought down stream. In 1846 the river and canal were sold to the Leeds and Thirsk Railway company who were meant to keep the navigation open and in good order. However it was neglected and started to silt up, lighter loads in boats kept boats moving, but by 1892 no boats could go past BoroughBridge, the canal now redundant.
Thankfully in the 1950s and 60s local opposition stopped the canal from being filled in. The Ripon Motor Boat Club and IWA fought for the waterway and The Ripon Canal Society was born, the canals restoration completed by 1996, the management of the canal handed over to British Waterways.
Making it’s way from Pateley Bridge, through Studley Royal Park, passing Fountains Abbey the River Skell is used as the feeder for the Ripon Canal. At times of drought, such as now, the Environment Agency ask C&RT to stop abstracting water from the river to help conserve the wildlife on the river. This means there is little or no water topping up the canal.
A week ago, the top two locks on the canal were closed to help conserve what water there was at the top end. But on the 27th May a notice was posted that Oxclose Lock would need to be booked 48 hours in advance and was only to be used for essential passage for returning boats to their moorings or pre-booked maintenance.
So the canal is closed for the forseeable future. We have another trip planned to York in the next few weeks and may still head up stream to Boroughbridge, we’ll see how things go.
