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.

It did rain today

We stayed at Barnby Dunn yesterday.  As you can see from the pic above taken at mid-day the weather was threatening a good soaking for us if we left.

The weather this morning was more settled.  It was all grey and cloudy but not about to rain I thought.

The canal at this part of the bend is about 65 feet wide and with the wind blowing this way the boat was turned  around quite rapidly and we head for Bramwith.

There is not a lot of room to spare over 60 foot at the top of the lock for mooring  to open up but it is rather nice to use the old style paddles again.  Tim closed up for us and is still next to the lock.

I opened up the Bramwith lift bridge and here the wind is blowing from the right which doesn't help.  The mooring on the other side is really short and Tim couldn't get on so I closed up.

On the way down I had the Walkman on and listened to various albums but liked the Christmasy Three Tenors CD.

Tims turn to open up and as I enter the lock it starts raining.  Within minutes it is belting down and luckily for us we have only a little way left to go.  As I leave the lock to close up the wind catches me and I couldnt get on the mooring so Tim does the business.  

By the time I reach the mooring which is ten minutes away it is quite dark and about ready for headlights if it had been further.

On the New Junction Canal

This morning from the bows. Blue skies with a light wind.

The entrance to the 5 1/2 mile straight is over a small aquaduct.  There used to be a guillotine at this end once upon a time

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As you can see there is still plenty of water lying on the low land.

By the time we were leaving Sykeshouse Lock the clouds were coming in.  Some bits of blue still there though so fingers were crossed. Spotted Eric hiding behind the empty barge on the left.

A trouble free trip with me opening the first bridge.  Tim then closes up and overtakes to open the second where I close and retrieve my keys left in the last bridge for Tim to pick up.  

The other end of the junction has a pair of guillotines that are used for flood protection. These stand at either end of the aquaduct over the River  Don.  There is a mass of rubbish piled against the bridge on the upstream side. As I entered the aquaduct I spot a gravel carrier coming towards me.

I get over and well into the side but the amount of room that the Humber Princess  of Hull has to spare must be very little.

Made to measure by the look of it.

Changed our minds on the destination for tonight.  We were going to go into Bramwith but decided in the end to turn around at Barnby Dun for no particular reason but that we could.

Soon moored up and as soon as we finished Mega Jules came past and they moored for the evening on the other side of the bridge.  

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.

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.