At the start of the boating season our general plan was “Yorkshire”, and the obvious way to get there was down the Trent. We viewed the Trent as a one-way trip, with our exit route likely to be one of the three canal routes that cross the Pennines. I’ve been watching the state of those routes throughout the season, and closures have been frequent. Most weeks, one or other was out of action because of too much or too little water, broken lock gear or fallen trees. It is a credit to Canal and River Trust (CRT) that the routes usually reopened surprisingly quickly.
All of the routes have timed restrictions along the way. Mostly these are flights of locks which either require staff, or use too much water to allow unrestricted operation. Planning ahead for these restrictions reduces our spontaneity somewhat, but can also give us a focus.
This morning after a misty start, the forecast was bright and sunny. We decided to make a prompt start and get some miles done in the pleasant conditions. We are back on the Aire and Calder Navigation which has locks built to take boats three times bigger than ours in all three directions. The locks all have push button controls though, so the only effort required is climbing on and off the boat.
Today’s first lock was the Ferrybridge Flood Lock at Knottingley. Last time we were here the gates had been open and we filled with water from a watering point that was at roof height. Today, the gates were closed, so Clare got off to operate the lock. The total rise was only a few inches, perhaps the gates will be left open in a day or two. The access above the lock is designed for times when the level difference is much greater. Clare had to climb down a ladder to get back on to the boat – the hardest part of the whole procedure.
We made easy progress in the sunshine, with the air gradually warming. We had a few kingfisher sightings, but they were all quite distant. On a waterway this large, the birds have plenty of scope to keep away from the pesky boats. The fishermen seem less able to manage this trick. Several of them fishing from the lock landings seemed annoyed that we wanted to use those spaces too. We were cheered when one happily said “There’s room for everyone.”
The flood lock at Castleford is a very strange shape – but I have no idea why. It’s possible that there was a smaller lock on a different alignment which has been combined, or perhaps it helps with water management for the lock a short distance downstream.
On exit we had to make a decision about which trans-pennine route we were using. Last week, CRT warned that they may have to close the western part of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal to conserve water. The heavy rain in the meantime seems to have postponed this decision, but we decided not to risk being caught half way across if they change their minds again.
The confluence of the Calder and the Aire is immediately outside the lock. After collecting Clare, I headed across the Aire and joined the River Calder – a definitive turn away from the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.
There is a flood gate ahead which is still closed according to the CRT website. The water levels nearby seem to be near normal, and we won’t get there for a few days. We are pressing on and hoping it will be opened before we reach it. During the afternoon we got another alert. A footbridge across a lock we should reach next week has been declared unsafe. It is the only way to reach one of the lock gates, so the lock has been declared inoperable. It sounds like CRT have plans to resolve this before we get there, but we won’t know until we are nearly there.
In the late afternoon we reached Stanley Ferry. There are plenty of boats here, but none of them are needed as ferries. The ferry originally crossed the Calder at this point. Now there are a pair of aqueducts over the river as well as a foot bridge. For good measure there are two foot bridges over the canal, one at high level with steps both sides and the other a swing bridge. There is a road bridge over both canal and river nearby too.
We spotted visitor moorings just before the swing bridge and decided to stop for the day. I’d hoped that would give us a better chance to see the unusual architecture of one of the aqueducts. At each end it appears to have a set of classical columns built in to its support. Sadly the access is so limited that we couldn’t get a view as good as we did from the boat.
