Thorne to Castleford

 The problem with Thorne was that the ducks are getting rather blase about people and narrowboats and have started to move onboard when you aren't looking.

A really nice day and too good to stay put so we head off for Bramwith.

 

 Trundle through Stainforth and past the slag heaps that slipped over the railway lines.  Didn't stop at the pub either.

 Moored for the night just before the swing bridge at Bramwith.  Decent mooring and nice and quiet.

 

 Through the lock and the wind is getting up.  Heading for the New Junction.

 Knew it was bad when as I crossed the aqueduct the spray coming up from the River Don soaked me and the boat ended up rubbing along the side and held there by the wind.

 The road barrier at the first of the lift bridges refused to come back up.  I had left Lee on the bridge as she was going to walk to the next bridge.  However as I went along the wind blowing straight across the canal made it impossible to control the boat without it being underway.  The end result was that my bows pointed to the wrong bank and the no matter what there was no getting pointed in the right direction  so I decided to moor up and wait for the wind to die down.  There was no rush after all. The only snag along here is the absence of a signal to get on line

 In the end we were here for a few days.  Watching the Humber Princess go through and while she didn't have to stop there was still a problem with the wind pushing her off to the left.

 

 One day the snow came down and there was over an inch in the morning.  It soon went in the sun but it was a bit on the nippy side when we walked down to Barnby Dunn to do some shopping.

 At long last we are away.  It took a couple of goes to get moving and its lucky that Lee was here for when I tried it on my own after pushing the bows out by the time I had returned to the stern the bows were back on the bank.

 Coming up to the 'T' junction and on to the Aire and Calder.  Its right for Goole.

 There are moorings just before the Pollington Lock and it give a good view of the passing biggies.  Passed this on on the Trent earlier.

 And a full one heading for Castleford.

 Next day and its into the lock. Still a little on the windy side but it can stay like this for a while for me.

 The Jolly Miller moorings at Eggborough.  As the name implies there is a pub nearby and its for sale if you have a few quid spare.  Shops not too far away either.

 Kellingley Colliery and Knottingley coming up.  Loads of moorings here now that all the barges have disappeared. If I had a pram I could have picked  up some coal. :-)

 Picked up some firewood.  I would have thought that there wouldn't be a need for a fire this time of year.  Another junction and the course for Leeds is to the left and to York is on the right.

 On the corner is the boatyard and there is an old tug up for sale.  I am sure that it was here three years ago when I was heading for Rochdale.

 Ferrybridge and the mooring in sight.  Stopping for a couple of days.  Not far away is a Morrisons.  It is closer to Gagg Bridge but the mooring there is rather iffy.

It seems that Lady Wyre has got lost.  She plies her trade - trip boat - from the other side of Doncaster. Its her yearly outing I was told as she went by.

 Ferrybridge Lock and back onto the river.

 Under the bypass and on to the Ferry bridge. River running quite slow and its nice just to chug along.

 The view out on the river.  Trees along side for  most of the way.  At one point there is still the lifting gear for the Tom Pudding boats at one of the power stations.

End of the day and nearing the moorings at Castleford.

Fire lit and kettle on. This will do.

 Walked into Castleford on Sunday and not surprisingly most of the shops were shut.  Just on the other side of the river there was one open selling milk, bread veg etc and they also had wine, beer and coal so we are well sorted for now.

 Moved to the other mooring to use the showers etc.

Moving on towards Lemonroyd Lock and as there is no towpath marked we had a walk to see what happened to the footpath.. At the end of the first part there is the Boat Inn.  We learnt here that the path went all the way to the lock so Lee can walk the dog to there tomorrow. Maybe.

A right drip of a day.  The weather is varying from rain to drizzle and back to rain.  Hung about for a while to see if it could make up its mind.

In the end decided to move half a mile or so downstream to Jackson Bridge from where Morrisons is a short walk away.

However when we got there (its the bridge with what looks like a terraced stage) we found that it was close to a bridge and near a bend.  Good enough for one boat but might get in the way of larger traffic if two moored up.

Keep going.

A few miles further on we pass Kellingley Collery.  There is plenty of evidence here of how coal would be sent off to the power stations with a dozen barges moored up along the wharf.

Finally arrived at the Jolly Miller moorings. Ferrybridge C power station looms large on the horizon. I did put it down as the Jolly Angler but perhaps that was just wishful thinking. 

Walked into Low Eggborough with Tim and the dogs.  Ten - fifteen minutes walk and there is another pub, post office and Spar shop.  There is also a railway station here if you need a quick departure.

I must thank Mr T for telling me that the bridge at Barnby Dun is out of action due to hydraulic problems.  One place to find out automatically about stoppages is the Waterscape site which will send an email every time the list is updated.  The last one I got was that Thorne lock will be closed Dec 9 - Dec 10. Go to http://www.waterscape.com/things-to-do/boating/stoppages if you want to sign up for the email alerts.

End of the line

Further to my mention of the boat Sectan yesterday. Julia on nb Poppy contacted me concerning SecTan and gave me a link to the Canal World Discussion site so if you would like to know more try http://tinyurl.com/yhw4rdu but the condensed version is below.

In 1971 Hodgson's of Beverley (had 17 boats) sold their Sheffield size keel fleet to Waddingtons. (It is well worth a look at the Waddingtons moorings at Swinton where there are a lot of boats - some with lovely old lines) it would seem that the "***tan" keels were built for Hodgson's, by Hepworths, of Paull, in 1950. Most of the others were bought second hand but their first new build, in 1940, was "Richard" (presumably named after Richard Hodgson but I have no evidence of that), built as a dumb barge, by Dunstons of Thorne, in 1940 and motorised in 1943.

Hepworth's are still in business

Dritan----could be at Brixham ??

Orotan---Presently living on Orotan now the James & Mary, would like to trace the other vessels listed above, are they afloat ? -  the Shannon at Banagher

Sectan is now owned by George and Elaine, members of the Vintage Marine Engine Club and I believe they live aboard in Beverley

Syntan----  Beverley barge Preservation Society 

I was awoken this morning at 0600 by the boat bumping on the jetty.  No wind and nothing in sight.  

Half an hour later the fully loaded tanker Rix Owl turned up and entered the lock.  Twenty minutes later we were still bouncing about as the wake caught up with us.

Later in the morning the Ferndale II went through loaded with gravel.  There is still some commercial craft about.  It would be nice to see more even if they do move a lot of water about as they pass.

Soon a boat we saw down at Whitley Phase III came up with a barge full of spoil. This was Alan a Dale. Some one had a thing for Robin Hood it seems.  A second boat I noticed at Whitley was Bartholomew.  I can't remember what part he took in Robins band :-)   It was quickly back going in the other direction with an empty.  The dumping site was just above the lock. 

We were going to stop at Low Eggborough on the Jolly Fisherman mooring but decided that as it was such a nice day we would press on.  Rain tomorrow according to the forecast.  As we talked about what to do Barnaby turned up.  They had come up from Thorne today and had followed a commercial that had had things opened up ready for them.  

As we reached Knottingley and rounded the bend there were more signs of the old canal life with a couple of moored aged barges at the boatyard.

The time you don't want to meet a large boat is at a bridge next to a bend.  Where did we meet Rix Owl coming back. Just as it came round a bend.  We saw him a long time before he could see us.

Ferrybridge C power station looms a bit over the flood lock.  The red light is flashing and here we stay for the night.  


A cold but very nice day for the trip up here.


Tomorrow we will pick up some solid fuel. Must keep the home fires burning.

Grrr - Brrrr

From the bows this morning

The wind is blowing straight from Siberia by the feel of it.  We were passed by Eric of Lincoln first thing this morning with a loaded barge.  I looked up Eric and the bit below is from The Free Library website.  For the rest of the story use the link below.

Little John goes to Nottingham
One fellow there was that cracked crowns of everyone who threw cap into the ring. This was Eric o' Lincoln, of great renown, whose name had been sung in ballads throughout the countryside. When Little John reached the stand he found none fighting, but only bold Eric walking up and down the platform, swinging his staff and shouting lustily, "Now, who will come and strike a stroke for the lass he loves the best, with a good Lincolnshire yeoman? How now, lads? Step up! Step up! Or else the lasses' eyes are not bright hereabouts, or the blood of Nottingham youth is sluggish and cold. Lincoln against Nottingham, say I! For no one hath put foot upon the boards this day such as we of Lincoln call a cudgel player."


http://pyle.thefreelibrary.com/The-Merry-Adventures-of-Robin-Hood/6-1#Eric


A phone call from Barnaby who we met in Doncaster told us that the guillotine at the aquaduct at the entrance to the New Junction had been lowered so they were off to Thorne.  I hope it stops raining as it also means that we can't get back to Thorne ourselves.


Once we got round the corner the wind did its best to push us into the bank on the port side. By heck there was a chill in the wind.

At the lock at Pollington there are a number of boats including this odd shaped one.  It looks as though it should have a mast.  

Aft of the boat was these two elderly floaters.  Sec Tan is the nearest but when I googled it all I got was mathematics and angles :-) 

Just above the lock we met Eric coming back.  Lots of waves but just through the bridge it really got lumpy with the wind blowing along the straight and the remains of Erics wash.

At Great Heck we found the dumping ground for Eric and the barge.  Whitley Phase III looks all go.  I don't know what they are doing but they are doing a lot of it.

By the time we arrived at Whitley Lock the chill was getting in.  Stop here the night then have a quick nip to Low Eggborough tomorrow and take a look around there.


Tim has spoken to a BW chap here and it seems that we can't go a lot further in this direction either as the river is in flood up above Ferrybridge and the flood gates closed. All the fun of the canal :-)

New Junction - not a corner or curve for miles!

First thing from the bows.

The day started right enough with the traffic being rather busy for a gloomy Sunday morning.

It all began with someone parking a van on the lift bridge and cutting through what seemsed like metal on the road way.  Being a Sunday there wasn't a great deal of traffic about luckily.

Within a short while of the van going away along come Swinton II and a couple of empty barges.  Off to the works at Long Sandall perhaps.

Then in the other direction came Sobriety and Arcadia on their way home no doubt.  By now it was belting down with rain so we postponed moving till a clear bit arrived for the Doncaster area.  As soon as it slackened off we left but when we reached the turn off to Bramwith the clear patch decided to follow that line rather than us.

It wasn't all bad as eventually the sun came out and we were treated to a double rainbow that was quite intense at the ends.

The sad thing with New Junction is that it is dead straight for the whole of its length but at least you have a view over the fields on either side. Very flat.

Two thirds of the way along comes the lock. This has a swing bridge in the middle that needs to be left open to stop the traffic all the time you are using the lock.  We know! To save time I closed the bridge except that the sluices of the top gate now won't work so I open up again and things worked just fine. The little boat on the left is Eric of Lincoln.  I will have to look this on up as I never heard of this well known viking Eric the red yes.

The end of the New Junction is marked by the footbridge.  There are moorings just the other side and thats were we will stop for the night.

The canal forms a 'T' junction at this point.  Turn right for Goole and left for Castleford  while on the other side of the canal in front is a large reservoir that is used as a sailing boat club and further off there are large wind turbines.