Updates - April 2014

 
South Yorkshire Waterways
 
Page 44.  Contacts.  Add.  Narrowboat hire.  Yorkshire Narrowboats at Sprotbrough.
www.yorkshirenarrowboats.com    info@yorkshirenarrowboats.com
07831 862607    Post code DN5 7NB
 

Updates - March 2014

 
South Pennine Ring - General
 
Over recent years CRT have been reducing the amount of pre-booking required on the South Pennine Ring.  There are now only two places that need booking for the 2014 season  -  Tuel Lane Lock on the Rochdale Canal, and Standedge Tunnel on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal.

South Pennine Ring  -  Part 1
 
Map 1.  Tuel Lane Lock.  The 2014 hours and booking requirements are as previous years.
 
Pages 30, 32, and maps 7, 8.  The previous requirement to book accompanied passages of the locks in Manchester, and over the Summit, no longer applies.  We are not aware of the locks being padlocked at night, but this may change if circumstances warrant it in the future.
 
Map 4, and p40.  Please note the Bird I'th Hand pub at Warland has closed.
 
South Pennine Ring  -  Part 2
 
Pages 18, 24.  Maps 12, 14.  Bookings for Standedge Tunnel remain as in previous years.  However, there are no longer any restrictions on the Diggle and Marsden flights of locks.
 
Page 21.  CRT Instructions are -
Heading eastwards from Diggle to Marsden.  Boats are asked to be at the Diggle portal for 11.30am on the day of passage.  Once through the tunnel, boats are welcome to moor above Lock 42E for a maximum of 24hrs.  Further mooring space is available below Lock 32E which is between Marsden and Slaithwaite villages.
 
Heading westwards from Marsden to Diggle.  Boats are asked to moor above Lock 42E on the day before passage of the tunnel and not to proceed past the railway bridge until after 4pm.  This is to avoid the trip-boat which will be operating from the Visitor Centre into the tunnel until 4pm.  After 4pm boats can moor at the tunnel entrance ready for their passage the following day.  Passage preparations will start at 8am.
Note that the flight of locks 32E to 42E is no longer manned.
 
Page 32, map 17.  Huddersfield Broad Canal.  Number plates have been affixed to the bridges of this waterway.
 
North Yorkshire Waterways
 
Page 20, map 5.  Boaters' Facilities in York.  There is currently no elsan disposal on the 48hr visitor moorings near Lendal Bridge.  The public toilets in Museum Gardens, which used to house the boaters' facilities, have been demolished.  Planning permission for the new Starr Inn on the site was dependent on these facilities being fully replaced  -  they have not been.  Discussions continue!
 
The good news is that the water-point has been relocated nearer the river.
 
We are grateful to Mike Cadoux, Chair, IWA North Riding for this information.
 
Chesterfield Canal
 
Page 36.  Supplies.  Insert  -  Fennessy Fuels (Retford0 and Grimes Coal Merchants (Newark) will deliver coal and gas to boats.
 
Page 41.  Contacts.  Insert  -  Smokeless fuels, bottled gas.  Free delivery.  Fennessey Fuels, Bolham Lane, Retford DN22 6SU  01777 702428.
G&R Grimes, Willow Farm, Darlton, Newark NG22 0TF  01777 228273.
 

Updates - September 2013

 
Chesterfield Canal - A Richlow Guide
 
Page 12 and Map 2.  Drakeholes  -  White Swan pub
 
With pubs closing and re-opening so often we don't usually include them in the Updates blog.  But the White Swan at Drakeholes has a high profile on the Chesterfield Canal and its recent closure is more significant.  With pleasant moorings across the road, and a popular cruising range from West Stockwith basin, many boaters made it their first/last stop on the canal.

 

Hopefully the White Swan will re-open in the future.
 
 
Lincolnshire Waterways
 
Page 14.  Brayford Pool Visitor Moorings
 
The Brayford Trust has now provided visitor moorings in Brayford Pool.  They are on the south side, immediately after the road bridge across the entrance to the Pool, where Lincoln Marina used to be.  It's necessary to contact the Harbourmaster in advance.  The fee for overnight mooring includes electricity.  01522 521452
 
These facilities are in addition to the CRT visitor moorings, the site of which is unchanged.
 
Page 40.  Slea Navigation - April 2014 Update  -  Open for Navigation
 
The silt barriers, which formed below Taylors (formerly Bottom) Lock preventing boat access, have been cleared by dredging.  So the Slea is open for navigation.  But, April 2014, there is still a silt problem below Cobblers Lock, the current head of navigation, where full length narrowboats have previously been able to turn.
 
Until this problem is resolved all boaters wishing to navigate the Slea should contact the Sleaford Navigation Trust  -  page 57 under the heading "Inland Waterways Groups"  -  to ascertain the latest situation.
 
Page 57. Contacts
 
The telephone number for the Brayford Pool Harbourmaster remains the same.
Lincoln Marina should be deleted.


South Pennine Ring - Part 2
 
Page 9.  Pub List
 
The Tunnel End pub is currently closed for business.  Advisable to telephone to check.
 
Page 24. Moorings
 
Delete the reference to moorings near a pub.  See above.
 
Page 26.  Moonraker
 
Unfortunately the popular Moonraker tearoom-boat has left Slaithwaite, near lock 23E.  We hear it has moved to Lincoln  -  we will check this out in the spring.
 

History Query

 
Chesterfield Canal
 
Summit Level  -  near Albert's Dock
 
A recent question on Twitter was about the purpose of the inlet on the non-towpath side, near Albert's Dock on the summit level, on the stretch between bridges 31 and 32.  Which is cordoned off by CRT.

 
There is no evidence that this piece of water was ever a legal part of the canal.  When the canal was built in the 1770s there would have been a stream running down the hill at that point, from Peck Mill, and thereafter flowing into the canal.
 
Over time the stream's outfall seems to have been widened, (by the landowner?) and it may have been used as an unofficial wharf on its western side.
   
The earliest trust-worthy maps we have are the 1890 Ordnance Survey, and the 1892 survey of the entire canal by Fowler  -  an extract of which is shown above.
 
From the Fowler map we can measure that the inlet was then 82ft long, an almost perfect length to allow the turning of a horse-drawn 70ft narrowboat.  If that's what it was, why was an unofficial winding-hole developed there?  My theory dates back to the 1840s when, for a number of years, there was a regular boat-traffic being loaded with the stone to build the current Houses of Parliament  -  at a wharf near the "malt kiln" shown on the map above.  It seems very likely that the inlet was used to turn the boats, prior to loading, for their trip back to West Stockwith, and/or an off-line boat-storage mooring with a stable for the boat-horses?
 
Yorkshire Stone to London  -  To Create the Houses of Parliament
 
Presumably it's cordoned-off by CRT because they have no legal responsibilty to maintain or use it.
 

Updates - July 2013

 
Lincolnshire Waterways
 
Map 4.  Old River Witham
 
At the time of writing navigation is not possible along the course of the Old River Witham, access to which is immediately below Bardney Lock.
 
A boom has been placed across the river by CRT  -  put in place to catch weed coming down the Old Witham which has previously created navigational problems on the modern navigation.
 
Therefore, passage up to the Tyrwhitt Arms is not possible at the moment.  We are currently discussing the situation with the regional CRT and the local IWA.
 
Map 13.  Slea Navigation
 
We have heard there is a sand-bar below Taylors Lock (formerly Bottom Lock), and this is effectively stopping navigation of the Slea.  Of course these situations change, so we are currently advising boaters to contact the Sleaford Navigation Trust before entering the waterway.  01522 689460.
 

A Boat Like No Other (Part 3)

 
Sounds and Smells
 
Yesterday, standing by the Chesterfield Canal on the towpath bridge at Shireoaks, it could have been 1913.  Overhead an old bi-plane had just taken off from a grass runway, it's engine small and light.  Across the canal cows grazed in a field, and behind us the sounds and smells of boatyards through the centuries  -  a wooden boat being built with hammering, and a strong aroma of sun-warmed tar and caulking carried on the wind.
 
Turning round it was obvious the New Dawn Project is making very good progress.  Volunteers were busy fitting the wooden fenders to the stern, and tarring in the vicinity of the bows cabin.
 

 
In the foreground the wooden fenders are already fitted, and the top of the bows cabin can clearly be seen.  In the background the main cabin at the stern is taking shape.
 
Once again one of it's unique working boats is taking shape by the Chesterfield Canal.
 

Updates - May 2013 (2)

Narrowboat on the Trent
 
Pages 13, 38.  VHF Radio
 
Experience last week has shown that mobile-phone network access on the tidal Trent is still patchy, and the situation differs with various network providers.  Therefore, we still recommend that communicating by VHF radio remains the safest option for boat crews, and it is worthwhile gaining the required training and qualifications to do so (page 38).  Most people enjoy the challenge and feel more in control on the tidal Trent when they can hear, and communicate with, lock-keepers and other vessels in the vicinity.
 
Page 20. Cranfleet to Beeston
 
Delete the words "...are limited visitor moorings on the floating pontoon and..."  CRT has now placed "no mooring" signs on the pontoon.
 
Page 21.  Gunthorpe
 
To gain access to the "deluxe sanitary station with palatial showers" a door-opening code has to be obtained from the lock-keeper.