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.

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

.

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.  

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.   

I only ever see Cormorants

A bad start to the day with the rain belting down.  Not going out in that.  But by lunch time the rain cleared and it was just a yukky sort of day.  While I pulled away from the mooring Tim was left to get out of the mooring sandwich he now found himself in.  

The owners of Barnaby, which is between the two wide beams, had gone into Doncaster and bought themselves a calendar. The nice touch is that they are in one of the pictures during a visit to the mooring last year.

It is not far back to Strawberry Island Boat Club.This is the site of the long disused Milethorne Lock.  I have no idea where the lock led to.

On to Long Sandal Lock. I did have slight trouble with the gates.  They wouldnt open so closed them and tried again several times till they behaved themselves.

I am not sure if the rest of the plane is buried here but in the garden of the lock cottage is the tail fin of a Lightening.  Bit of a talking point when you have callers.

As I saw this one coming around the corner in the distance I thought it was another large commercial craft.  I have seen her before and the Sobriety is based I think at Stainforth.

Up on the power lines I saw a group of birds and not one of them was.... well they are all cormorants anyway. I still have my fingers crossed. :-)

It is a lot darker in reality than it looks here.  By the time we reached Barnby Dun Lift-bridge it was getting time to stop so after causing a huge traffic jam we moored for the night on the other side of the bridge.

On to the New Junction canal tomorrow.