Friday, February 12, 2010

Castleford



Radiance M is moored across the canal from me.  It is undergoing restoration by the look of it but I was unable to find anything on its history from a quick search of the net.  However it does get a mention on flickr where there are some interesting pics of Castleford.


It is a busy area for commercial boats here with the full ones going upstream and after a few hours returning.



With Battlestone coming back again.



And Fossdale H going home.


Then Rix Owl making a trip upstream to the refinery.





A new one to see is the Heather Rose H.  It makes you wonder where all the ballast is being used and why so many lorries are on the road when these can carry so much more in one go.


I walked into Castleford to have a look for the building that was made out of bottle crates.  Sadly I didn't succeed but on the way passed over the River Aire and a view of the weir.  Last year the Millennium bridge was completed and check out the flickr page for a good pic of it. Plenty of water coming down and it isn't in flood.


One of the nice things that you see is the little touches made by some people to enhance the town.  This is a tableau made by a scrap dealer - OK Waste Recycler - I like it.


From the bridge you get a good view of Hargreaves with half a dozen of their tugs moored up.  More of their tubs are across from the entrance.


The only thing that seems to be happening here is the dismantling of one of the tubs.  I hope it isn't a sight of what is going to happen to the rest of them.


The other side of the bridge shows the start of the route for Friday and the continuing journey on towards Wakefield.  Past the flood lock the route is at a crossroads. Right to Leeds.  Straight on to Wakefield. Left down the river.  This is not to be recommended.


This is what will happen if you do decide to have a river trip into Castleford.



It was pointed out that it is not etiquette to fly the Red Dragon but while there are Pirates advertising their trade on the canal I will continue as a mild anarchist to give warning of being a grumpy Welshman :-)

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