Superb cruising weather….

Well, it looks like we’re having an Indian Summer, after all. The weather has been getting steadily warmer over the last 2 or 3 days, this evening is glorious, now the breeze has dropped.

We’ve had another good day, on the broad reaches of the Aire and Calder Canal, and the River Aire itself.

We had a lockie on this morning at Pollington, so were through that lock like a dose of salts, and on our way to the next at Whitley.

The bank protection works near Heck Bridge look to be almost completed, now.

Whitley Phase III project.
We met a couple of boats coming down from Whitley, so the lock was empty for us. It’s still very quiet, not many boats on the move at all.

Near Whitley Lock
Whitley Lock
I’d much rather use this than a windlass and back muscles!
Just before Knottingley the navigation passes Kellingley Colliery. The now defunct coal wharf is lined with Tom Puddings, the compartment boats that were used to move coal from the pits to Ferrybrdge Power Station. From here at any rate, it mostly goes by road.

Kellingley and out of work Tom Puddings.
The last time we came through Knottingley we had a close encounter with Rix Owl under one of the bridges, but we came through today unscathed. Ferrybridge Flood Lock was showing a red light as we approached, then the gates opened and out came Fusedale H, heading back to the Trent and another load of gravel.

Fusedale H, Ferrybridge Flood Lock and Ferrybridge Power Station.
We had a chuckle going through the lock. The lady lockie waved us in, closed the gates and drew the top paddles to fill the lock. Then just a few seconds later the top gates were opening, having raised us just 4 or 5 inches. We didn't even stop, the lock filled in the time it took us to cruise it’s length!

Out on the river, the coal wharf for the power station is passed. The elevator which lifted the Tom Puddings from the river, tipped them to discharge the coal and returned them to the water stands idle, while truck loads of coal from Kellingley arrive behind.

Ferrybridge Coal Wharf
From Ferrybridge there’s a very pleasant run of 4½ miles up the river, before coming onto Castlefield Cut at Bulholme Lock.

Just above Castlefield Lock is Hargreaves Boatyard, where the tugs that pushed the strings of Tom Puddings are also waiting the return of a degree of common sense….

Hargreaves Tugs at Castlefield
A right turn out of Castlefield Lock took us back onto the river, and the 3½ mile trip to Lemonroyd Lock. In contrast to the minimal rise at Ferrybridge, this is the deepest lock on the navigation, today around 18’.

In Lemonroyd Lock
The lock took about 20 minutes to fill, then Meg and I walked to the next, Woodlesford, only about 1¼ miles.

We passed Bayford’s Oil wharf on the way, where the Rix boats discharge having loaded at Goole Docks.

Bayford Thrust Wharf

We came out of Woodlesford and moored for the night just in front of MV Wyre Lady, last seen on the Don at Sprotborough. I wonder what the old lady is doing over here?

Wyre Lady, good company for an overnight stop.
Tomorrow will be an early start to get to and through Leeds. Just 2 more mechanised locks then it’s back to muscle power.

Locks 7, miles 18¾

Another good day to Pollington Lock

It’s been another fine day, with long sunny spells. A breeze from the SE has been a bit of a nuisance, but it’s been warm.

It’s been a day where I’ve had my fix of commercial carriers. Before we left Sprotborough Whitaker’s Humber Princess dropped down the lock, and we came across the graveller Farndale H, and tanker Rix Owl, and another of Whitaker’s, Humber Renown, on the Aire and Calder near Pollington.

Farndale H
Rix Owl
Humber Renown

The painters were busy doing all the white bits at Sprotborough, by the time they’ve finished they’ll have done 80 locks in the area.

Sorry to interrupt….

Sprotborough is a busy spot for visitors, so busy in fact they can’t be trusted close to the lockside. It’s been fenced off to protect them from themselves.

Lockside fencing – the thin end of the wedge?

I wonder how long it’ll be before the Safety Elves decide that this is the way forward for all locks….

We stopped off at Doncaster to replenish the cupboards, then pushed on through the last lock on the Don Navigation, Long Sandall.

Sandall Grove, a short distance beyond the lock, has an unusually squat church.

Sandall Grove
Then it was back across Bramwith Junction, heading onto the dead straight New Junction Canal.

Neil on the tiller, Thorpe Marsh cooling towers in the background.
The New Junction crosses the River Don on an aqueduct, protected by forbidding steel guillotine gates at either end.
In the event of a breach on the aqueduct, the gates can be lowered to protect the water levels on either side.

What it lacks in locks (only one) the navigation makes up for in swing and lift bridges. No less than 6 on it’s 5 mile length!

Through Kirkhouse Green Lift Bridge

Neil and Val
The final leg was on the Aire on Calder, just 2¼ miles to Pollington Lock and our overnight stop. It’s pretty busy here, more so than we’ve seen it before. We just managed to sneak in on the end of the moorings. At least it’s handy for filling the water tank in the morning.

Locks 4, miles 16½

Back out of Sheffield

We had quite a pleasant stay in Sheffield’s Victoria Quays. It was pretty quiet for a city centre location, not many people wandering about and very few boats coming and going.

Friday I spent doing oil and filter changes on the engine and gearbox, and adjusting the stern gland. Then Saturday was a chilling out day, feet up in preparation for the race on Sunday.

I maybe should have kept them up a bit longer, my time was once again down on my personal best for the 10K. I must be getting old…..
Still, I was placed 619th out of 7500, and 20th in my age group, so it’s not all bad.

Heading for the finish of the Great Yorkshire Run

As we walked back to the boat, these guys have about 1Km to go.

Neil and Val arrived late afternoon, delivered by his sister Ruth and fella Rodney, from their pub in Salford. They brought their football mad grandsons with them, the oldest, Connell, is training with the juniors at Burnley. We had a good catch up with the news before they set off back, leaving us with 2 extra crewmembers for the next 10 days.

Meg and I had had enough of the limited walking opportunities from the basin (you can only sniff along one stretch of towpath so many times…) and we were expected at Tinsley Top Lock at 09:00 today to meet the lockie, so we decided to move out last evening, and moored on the lock landing for the night.

Leaving Victoria Quays.
We’ll be back, but probably not to stay for so long. A couple of nights would be enough.

We were ready and waiting for the lockie, and he turned up promptly at 9 o’clock. A different one this time, Dave was in Birmingham, so we had Graham instead.

After the first lock we were joined by another boat. Howard had picked up his new boat in Sheffield on Sunday, and came down to stop at the marina overnight. He was crewed by his mate Chris.

Sharing the Tinsley flight.
With Neil and Chris on the tillers, Howard and I going down to set up the locks, and Graham closing up and padlocking behind, we made short work of the flight, arriving at the bottom after just 2½ hours. Then we had Jordans and Holmes lock to do before saying goodbye to our chaperone.

Seyella above the weir at Jordans Lock

Two more sensibly sized locks and 2½ miles later and we arrived at the first of the oversized barge locks.

In Eastwood Lock

Neil was suitably impressed, he’ll be more so if we meet any of the boats that the lock were built for….

With plenty of crew, both boats rattled along downstream, through Aldwarke, Waddington and both Mexborough Locks, arriving at Sprotborough at 17:00.

Old mill near Mexborough
Cruising on Mexborough Cut
A long day by our standards, 8 hours, but Neil’s been on the tiller most of the day, and Mags has been able to put her feet up, so it’s not been too hard. The weather has helped enormously, we’ve had the best day for a couple of weeks, warm, dry and sunny. I hope the rest of the week is as kind….

Locks 20, miles 14½

Up the big hill to Sheffield

We spent yesterday at Eastwood, above the lock. I called the BW lock keeper for the Tinsley Flight, and arranged passage for today. Scrubbed the back half of the roof. Had a couple of walks with Meg, but a bit limited on options in that respect. Mags spoke to son Neil about arrangements for them joining us. He and his wife Val are over from Canada and are in Ireland at the moment, visiting Howard. The original idea was for them to meet us in Sheffield on Saturday, but their return from the Emerald Isle has been postponed by a couple of days, so we’ll have to pick them up somewhere on the way back.

And finally I got to take a picture of one of the remaining commercial carriers on this stretch, coming out of Eastwood Lock.

Whittaker’s Humber Princess leaving Eastwood Lock….

And heading for Rotherham.
We woke up this morning at 05:00 as she arrived back at the lock, empty now, and heading back to Goole. Then we rolled over and went back to sleep till the alarm went off at 06:30.

We needed to be off at 08:00, to meet Dave the lockie at Holmes Lock at 09:30, but almost called him up to postpone. It was blowing up a gale and the rain was horizontal. But by the time we were ready to go at least the rain had stopped.

So off we went, into the 25mph wind.

Away from Eastwood.

We didn’t seem to see much of Rotherham, just the backs of factories. Amongst the few boats moored up was the ugliest conversion I’ve ever seen.

Portakabin??

Just around the corner is Rotherham Town Lock, tucked away behind walls, almost as if the locals are ashamed of it. Which is a shame because it’s a pleasant little lock.

Rotherham Town Lock
Following this is a short section of river (the level indicator now on amber after the last couple of day's rain), then Ickles Lock. A further stretch of canal saw us at Holmes Lock, where we pulled in to wait for Dave the Lockie.

Holmes Lock

All the locks from here to Sheffield, 13 in all, are locked and have to be undone by Dave. Water supply can be a problem as it’s pumped back up to the top, so care has to be taken. And keeping them locked avoids the dry pounds often encountered when lock flights and bored kids exist in close proximity…

The river is met again at Jordans Lock, at a huge weir.

Jordans Lock Weir
After this the 11 locks of the Tinsley Flight start the final climb up to Sheffield.

The first 2 or 3 are in an industrial landscape, passing under the double-deck M1 bridge and railway bridges.

M1 bridge
Lock 9
But as the flight climbs, the views open out and the scenery more rural, with trees and wide grassy banks.

Either side of Lock 2 there’re BW moorings, where space can usually be found for boaters not wishing to stop in the town centre.

Tinsley Marina and Lock 3
We pushed on, through the last couple of locks to emerge onto the summit, 120 feet higher and 3½ hours later.

In Lock 1, Dave the Lockie posing.

Dave has been a star, cycling ahead to set up the locks, then coming back to help and offer advice about potential hazards on the flight, as well as sharing his extensive knowledge of the canal. He’s worked on this section for over 20 years. I suppose we were lucky in being the only boat on the flight. He had time to keep us company.

Heading into Sheffield properly now, and the canal, like that of so many cities, is lined with abandoned and derelict factories.

Just one wall left, a demolished factory through the smashed windows.
There are some new industries along the navigation, in modern sheet metal rather than red brick.

Old and new.

Don’t get me wrong, a lot of the old buildings are still in use, by small specialist manufacturers. The unique smell of steel being machined, and of hot cutting oil, came from open doorways, reminding me of my engineering apprenticeship.

2½ miles from the top lock and we arrived at our destination and mooring for the next few days, Victoria Quays.

Approaching Victoria Quays
This is the end of line of the Sheffield and Tinsley Canal, and must have been bustling with activity during it’s heyday. Now it’s a peaceful haven in the city centre, overlooked by hotels and office blocks.

Locks 15, miles 7½

A surprising journey into an industrial heartland

I had a walk back downstream with Meg this morning to have a closer look at an iron railway bridge over the river to the east of Sprotborough.

The support pillars are constructed of riveted iron plates, as are the trusses and the span.

It sort of looks “right”, if you see what I mean.

Not so sure about the A1 bridge nearby, though.
I was a bit concerned about a handful of guys across the canal late last night, a bit shouty and loud, but they stayed on that side and cleared off before midnight.
After that we had a quiet night, and were away this morning before 10.
3 miles of very pleasant scenery through the Don Gorge took us to the start of the industrial sprawl at Mexborough.

Wooded slopes of the Don Gorge

Under Conisborough Viaduct, an impressive structure but no longer in use.

Almost as impressive is the nerve of Daz, Fisher and Mel who’ve managed to paint their names on the span, around 70’ above the river.

Conisborough Castle, just visible over the trees, seems to have escaped their artistic aspirations.
Arriving at Mexborough, there are 2 locks to be negotiated, and both had to be emptied before we could use them. The painters were busy doing the bollards and ladders, so we experimented with not tying up, Mags holding the boat steady using tiller and engine. It worked really well, and saved me a lot of to-ing and fro-ing, so we did the same on the rest of the locks today.

In Mexborough Top Lock

We probably would have felt obliged to rope up if we had to share the locks, but we only saw 3 other boats today, and they were going the other way.

Just below Waddington Lock there’s a BW Sanitary Station we’d planned to use, so pulled in on the wharf. The tap to fill the tank was considerably further away than the length of our combined hoses, so a chap on the mooring lent us his so we could fill. Loo tank emptied and rubbish disposed of, we threaded our way through the laid up fleet of EV Waddingtons bulk carriers.

Approaching Waddington Lock

Waddingtons use the first pound and lock of the derelict Dearne and Dove Canal as a maintenance yard and dock, and are still running some boats on the canal, carrying oil. We’ve not seen any yet though, just this forlorn reminder of a lost opportunity to use the waterway as it was meant to be used.

Part of Waddingtons fleet, waiting for orders.
Waddingtons were instrumental in keeping the waterway serviceable, chasing contracts and lobbying for improvements. In recognition of their efforts, the rebuilt Swinton Lock was renamed Waddington Lock.

Leaving Swinton behind, the river is rejoined at Kilnhurst Flood Lock which was wide open at both ends as expected.

Yorkshire Spelling.....

Zipping through Kilnhurst Flood Lock

And back onto the river
Industry lines both banks, using the river water, but very little can be seen over the trees.

Glimpses of industry
We met our only group of boats at Aldwarke Lock, coming in as we arrived.

Aldwarke Lock
I helped them down, then we went up, alone again, naturally. Just a mile further on is the last of the big locks, at Eastwood.

In Eastwood Lock.
We pulled onto the Visitor Moorings above the lock, just 1½ spaces available.

Eastwood VM

It’s not exactly rural here, being surrounded by industrial estates, but it’s fairly quiet, and secure behind locked gates which fence off the lock and residential moorings alongside.

It’s not been a bad day, just one heavy shower at Aldwarke. It’s the persistent wind which is a pain. Since we’ve moored we’ve had a couple more thundery showers.

Locks 5, miles 10