Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2001 17:01:24 +0100 From: Terry Waldron Reply-To: Canals To: Canals Subject: Trip Report - Easter 2001 - Aire & Calder [ The following text is in the "iso-8859-1" character set. ] [ Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set. ] [ Some characters may be displayed incorrectly. ] Thursday 12 April Arived Goole Boathouse at 2115 to find our friends boat (nb Midama - a 60ft Hancock and Lane boat) moored on the visitor moorings. After a 5 1/2 hour drive all I needed was a few beers and settle in to bed. Our first night we usually chat for hours as we only see our friends about twice a year, this time we were all tired so had a relatively early night. Friday 13 April Whilst Marilyn and Sue went shopping Peter and I finished off his windows for the cabin over his semi trad stern. Peter had done the woodwork so all it needed was to glaze them, varnish and fit. This was all done and the cabin erected in the beautiful sunshine before the girls got back from shopping. Had lunch and set off aiming for Knottingley at least. Weather changing to slight wind and overcast. Met quite a few boats (mainly cruisers) before we got to New Junction. One of the bird boxes along the towpath of the nature reserve now has been made to look like a house with its brick sides and small chimney. Very little water sports activities on the reservoir at new Junction. More boats seen before we got to Pollington Lock - the last of the 3 cruisers in the lock wanted to get out and shut the gates so they could get their key out - I gave them my key so they could proceed and leave the gates open. Disinfectant mats were available at the ends of the lock for use, we also had our own bowl onboard as this is a class 2 waterway. More boats met before Whitley Lock, before we got to Knottingley the weather had turned really cold and the new cabin was greatly appreciated to keep the wind from the eyes. We moored at the visitor moorings opposite Harkers Yard. Spent the evening fishing, nothing caught though. The countryside is very flat, the skyline dominated by the power stations and Selby and Doncaster Coalfields. Saturday 14 April Had a few hours fishing before we set off, nothing caught again, Peter walked into Knottingley (about 1/2 mile) to get daily papers. Before entering Bank Dole Lock I checked the water levels for the River (Aire) it was towards the top of the Green and looking at the river there was a slight flow in the direction we would be going. A cruiser was just coming up so helped him lock through - the top gate paddles here must be treated with caution, they are very fierce and must be opened very carefully and small amounts at a time - there is a warning beside the hydraulic units. The river showed that it had fairly recently ben in flood, there was a lot of rubbish about 10 ft above the current water level. Sheep were roaming in the fields on either side - the first we have seen. The river winds round many sharp bends all the way to Beale Lock. One of the top gates had obviously suffered some damage as it was being held in by a tirfor, the gate could still be opened but was very difficult to close and needed a bit a help from leverage at the gate end as well as the arm end. We are warned we are now entering a WaterSki area, however, today we were the only craft on the river. A few more sharp bends but also a couple pf long fairly straight lengths. Many comorants seen on this stretch (14 at one point). On reaching Haddersley Junction (onto Selby Canal) there were people on the lock. A Banks Hire boat with first time hirers doing their very first lock so we helped them through. The canal is more like a canalised river, fairly wide and with reeds on both sides (nowhere as much as the last time we were here). We spotted our first kingfisher swooping out from one bank and going across to the other. This canal has very few opportunities to moor between Haddersley and Selby, one of these is the Anchor Inn which has recently extended its pontoon mooring. We moored to go for a pint, the mooring was fenced off and had its own disintfectant bath. The pub is very friendly to boaters and we were asked to sign in to their boaters visitors book.Good food is available all day along with about 6 beers (including Caffreeys, my favourite pint) and 4 lagers. The landlord is interested in boating and want a dutch barge, he made us feel very welcome . After a couple of pints we left to go onto Selby. The electronics on the swing bridge has recently been changed and we found that after the bridge has closed you have to keep your finger on the close button for about a minute so that the locks can go in to lock the bridge in position. There was plenty of mooring space in the basin. Walked to the lock onto the Ouse for a look at the river, the river was low and still flowing out but was very close to slack water. Sunday 15 April Had a quiet day onboard, helped Peter with a few jobs on the boat. Monday 16 April While the girls went shopping we watered up and turned the boat round and moored after the swing bridge. Not as quiet a mooring as it is beside the road but we would not be here long. Set off and noticed that where entrances to the towpath had been taped up the tape had now been removed. moored at the Anchor for the night. Had a few pints of Caffreys until it ran out (the pub had been very busy at lunchtime) so had to have a couple of John Smiths Smooth. Tuesday 17 April A very windy day with many heavy showers. No boats seen between our mooring and Whitly Lock. When approaching Whitley lock the Red Light was on indicating Lockkeeper Operated. We got through and moored, with great difficulty in the wind, so that we could empty the loo. Fusedale H, one of the Aire and Calder barges came through just after we moored, probably better we met him here than trying to let him pass us further down the canal. When we got to pollington lock three narrowboats were just coming out so we were straigh in, again lockkeper operated. We finally moored at New Junction. Wednesady 18 April Away from New Junction into very strong wind. Wind catching us all the way to Goole - had to breast up on a Lincoln Keel Barge as the visitor mooring was full. Had lunch, packed the car and set off for home. ---