The InlandWaterwaysAssociation

The

NorthernNavigation News

Newsletter of the North Riding Branch of theInland Waterways Association

Issue 10 - Autumn/ Winter 2013

NNN

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“Navy Dancer” waits to pass through Bingley Five Rise Locks (see “Skipton toRipon and back” inside)

NORTHERN NAVIGATION NEWS -WINTER 2013/14

BASIC BOATERS' FACILITIES IN YORKOn Tuesday 22nd October 2013, the new Starr Inn restaurant/pub opened. Asa boater you can access the waterpoint, which is against the wall by LendalBridge. It is now 10ft nearer the River Ouse. There is a small bin for rubbish,which has moved along by the Museum Gardens railings. The boaters' toiletsare still being worked on, and are, if one of the restaurant's staff is to bebelieved, going to be at the back of the Georgian engine house, and tuckedaway behind the City walls, and are extremely small. There is a toilet and asluice emptying facility, but no sign yet of a permanent rubbish emptyingfacility. The main entrance to the restaurant site is through an arch in MuseumStreet, opposite the gates to the Yorkboat headquarters. This is the entrancenearest the sluice. There is also a pair of wrought iron gates from MuseumGardens themselves, and it it is to be assumed that they will be open whileMuseum Gardens are open. The gardens close around dusk.

At last, we have had a response from the City of York Council (CYC) to ourqueries about the new Boaters' facilities in York after about two months' ofprobing. We are still waiting, however, for a response from the otherstakeholders. So, watch this space in NNN-11 Spring 2014 for an answer.

VOLUNTEERINGNow that there is a plethora of organisations, both locally and nationally, thatanyone keen on supporting the waterways in Britain can get involved with.From local canal societies, such as The Pocklington Canal Society, whichcelebrated its 40th Anniversary last year to the River Foss Society and theNorth Riding Branch of the IWA. Not to mention York Motor Yacht Club andRipon Motorboat Club and the Northstar Club in Goole to various cruisingclubs. And, of course, there is the national (in England and Wales) Canal andRiver Trust. One can volunteer at any level. One does not have to be a boatowner. So, three things strike me about the IWA National Festival at Watford(July 2013): firstly, the Cassiobury Park site was ideal with the Grand Union

Canal running close to the festival site; secondly it was notable that theonly presence that the CRT had throughout the weekend, was a banner in

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the NE Waterways tent. The National Trust had a large tent devoted to theRiver Wey, but, at least, they had a presence. Thirdly, though, it pains me tosay that the usually reasonably thought through employment of volunteers bythe IWA had a major flaw. Everyone, including the Volunteer Co-ordinator,Anne Mayall, had to pay the three days’ site access fee (£12.50 in advance) aswell as buying the wrist bands for access to the after hours entertainment. Iarrived late on the Friday afternoon, and was allowed to pay £12.50 foraccess to the festival site. Fortunately, I was given after hours wrist bands bythe owner of the boat on which I was staying for the weekend.

I have been told that the estimated £50,000 cost of running this year’s festivalwas spread more widely, whereas at the 60th Anniversary Festival at BealePark on the Thames was largely offset by high boat mooring fees and wristbands for site access of £25 each (from memory). Volunteering was thus covered.

I know £12.50 does not sound a lot of money for even two and a bit days, butmy contention, is that if you have volunteered to give up a weekend to helprun a festival (some people are on site for both the setting up and taking down– around three weeks in total), plus the cost of getting to the site, and findingsomewhere to stay should mean something? I have raised the matter ofsomewhere to stay with various people over the years, including the previousChair Clive Henderson. If one volunteers early enough, then there should be alist of IWA members who have booked moorings at the Festival, and they shouldindicate whether they are willing to host any volunteers on their boat, withcontact details. Obviously, it is then up to the volunteer to make contact in time.

So, there is a vibrant market in volunteering for waterways activities. The IWAneeds to up its game. See you, on the weekend of July 4th, 5th and 6th 2014at Stratford on Avon?

A NEW SLUICEBy the time that you read this, there should be a new automatic sluiceinstalled next to Castle Mills Lock, York, by the Environment Agency.Installation day was Saturday 31st August. The flow of water in the River Fossshould now be much more predictable. The sluice will be commissioned bythe Environment Agency in early November 2013.

LOCAL HEROIan Barton is very well known to the local boating fraternity in York.With his 40ft narrowboat, Janine, which is moored at Fulford near York.4

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About six years ago I did a cruise with Ian from Selby to Wigan along theLeeds and Liverpool, and his was the second craft to go up the River Fosswith the local IWA members operating Castle Mills Lock. He cruises on thecanal system for about three months each year, and this year he took his wife,Jean for the very first time. They were navigating a lock in Birmingham, whenJean slipped and fell into the pound. Ian threw a life buoy towards Jean andthen jumped into the water. He swam towards his wife and lifted her headout of the water. At that minute he heard a loud bang and a man had jumpedonto the roof of the boat. The man pulled them both out of the water, andJean woke up in hospital. Unfortunately, Ian suffered a minor heart attack.

WEAR A LIFE JACKET AT ALL TIMES

Ian said that the lesson of this accident is clearly that you should wear alifejacket at all times whilst on the boat and learn to do mouth to mouthresuscitation and CPR.

Jean meanwhile is looking forward to their next boating holiday!

USER GROUP MEETING (UGM) – LEEDS OCTOBER16th WEDNESDAY 2013.Michael Cadoux, Chair of North Riding Branch (IWA), attended the recentCRT NorthEast User Group Meeting in Fearns Wharf, Leeds on the evening ofWednesday 16th October 2013 - plenty to discuss, it didn't end until wellafter 10pm! Jon Horsfall started with an explanation of the CRT nationalbudget for the next 5 years, the highlight for me being a tripling of expenditureon dredging.

NON-TOWPATH SIDE TREES

There is a nationwide programme being rolled out for non-towpath side treesand vegetation. Locally, this is starting with Ripon, Boroughbridge andPocklington.

NEW MAINTENANCE CONTRACTS

Contracts manager Kevin Tyson explained that new contracts mean betterquality control and wider specifications e.g. canalside maintenance will nowinclude clearing the vertical wall, not just the horizontal bank.

Charlotte Burnett-Wood has replaced Neil Harvey as chief engineer (and infact both her assistants are female too), and spoke about how work is

being prioritised. This is always being rescheduled by 'arisings' – there are 450Priority One items for this year alone, and some have to slip down as we all know.

FLOODING

Following two sinkings while moored in York, IWA NR contacted CRT, andtheir officer Stuart Mackenzie is co-ordinating publicity about Yorkshire riverflooding. Fuller information on the CRT NorthEast Partnership Board was duefrom its chair Mark Penny and board member David Lowe at another meetingon Oct 22nd, but on 16th Mark mentioned skills training for volunteers, andDavid spoke about encouraging more boating activity on certain stretches,particularly within Leeds where extra moorings were planned.

APOLOGIES ALL ROUND

People often complain about CRT/BW being unresponsive - but a good sign isthat although an item raised by Garth Robinson (Association of WaterwaysCruising Clubs) about Battyford Cut flooding and having to cut mooring linesreceived an initial fob-off that nothing untoward had occurred - Garthapologised for saying Saturday instead of Sunday - Jon Horsfall of CRTapologised in turn, saying that the respondent should have realised themistake in the day and it was "unacceptable" to simply dismiss the problemwhilst knowing that there had indeed been a surge of water on the Sunday. SoI got the impression that someone in the office had had a good telling off.

LINTON LOCK

Charlotte said that she had no immediate concerns, whereupon I retorted thatI was glad that she hadn't, as everyone who actually looked at the lockregularly had grave concerns. She agreed to clarify whether the measurementsof movement were for the top of the chamber wall, or further down wherethe bulge was bigger - I've reminded her since!

Michael Cadoux (22.10.2013)

DIARY

North Riding Branch (IWA) Committee Meeting

This will be held on Saturday 30th November 2013 inthe Ripon Motorboat Club, starting at 1.00pm. Allwelcome.

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The bar will be open and teas and coffees available. We will be discussingour plans for 2014.

Annual General Meeting

This is a reminder that there will be an AGM on Thursday 10th April 2014,starting at 7.30pm. At St Olave's Church Hall, Marygate Lane, York.There willbe a tallk by Adrian Lovett on his experiences on a tall ship “Tenacious” in theMediterranean Sea, and the work of the Jubilee Sailing Trust.

Please phone 0724-806-4863 or e-mail tonymartin451@yahoo.co.uk forfurther information.

Northern Navigation News will be sent to members with an e-mail addresselectronically, but you can opt back in to receiving a paper copy bycontacting tonymartin451@yahoo.co.uk.

RIPON TO SKIPTON AND BACKWhen we set off on our journey on the Friday evening it had finally stoppedraining and as we passed Ripon Motor Boat Club (RMBC), several of ourfriends asked where we were going. This happened again at Renton Bridgeand at Oxclose Lock, as we have found most boaters are friendly and theboating world is a small one.

We arrived at Boroughbridge that evening and spent the night there, leavingearly on Saturday morning to arrive in York for lunch, where we met up withKeith Chapman of the IWA and he asked us to do this write up. We spentSaturday night in York, then in the morning we went to Naburn Lock ready tolock out in the afternoon. At 2.15pm with lifejackets on the lockie let us out;there were 6 narrow boats and 1 cruiser. We travelled with “Calm Waters”,as when going tidal it is best to travel at least in pairs so if there are anyproblems you have another boat to help you out. Lots of water skiers wereout making the water a bit choppy and “Calm Waters” got something on hisprop, but we cleared okay. At Selby Lock they can only let 2 narrow boats inat a time, so as we were the first 2 there, “Calm Waters” and ourselves wentin together. We spent the night in Selby, and after stocking up with fresh foodfrom local shop we went to a good pub very close to the basin called theNelson.

Next morning we left again early to get a good start, as we were not sure howlong it would take us. Leaving Selby Canal via West Haddlesey Flood

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lock, our boat got blown right over to the other bank of the river Aire, thenwhen John tried to bring it to the moorings it got blown past. Finally Imanaged to get back on board, but that was not the last of our problems onthe Aire, as shortly after that and before Beal lock we were going round acorner when we ran onto a sand bar. After transferring everything that washeavy from the aft of the boat to the stern, we drained most of the fresh watertank and then with John manoeuvring with the tiller and me pushing with theboat hook we finally got off - it took us 2 hours. But we were lucky, as “BlueRover Two” had previously done the same and blown his engine up. Afterthat nothing held us up and once we arrived at Bulhome Lock, all the lockswere mechanised and operated by a BW key and push buttons. We met Ibisfrom RMBC at Lemonroyd lock; they had been to Leeds and were on theirway to Trent Falls. After ten and a half hours cruising we moored for the nightoutside Leeds at Knostrop Fall lock.

Next day we set off again going through the centre of Leeds until we came toa bend in the river; the river continued down under the railway station throughtunnels and there was a small shabby lock with a very small mooring. I jumpedonto the mooring and ran up the steps to check which way to go; at the top wasGranary Wharf. I then set the lock ready - this was the first time we had usedhandcuff keys and they were a little difficult to work out how to use. We were onthe Leeds-Liverpool canal and here we teamed up for a while with a narrowboat called Amy Jane. When we went through our first double lock (Oddy 2Lock), they left us to go back to their marina. We arrived at our first triple lock(Forge3 Lock) and here we met another narrow boat “R Thyme” travelling thesame way as us so again we teamed up. Next we had another triple lock andthen the swing bridges started; with some you just needed handcuff key,others you needed BW key and the handcuff key, some you had to push, andothers were automatic. At Apperly we broke down so we called RCR out andended up staying there for the night. We walked back along the canal and upthe road at the bridge to the shops and a good pub called the Dog and Gun.

Next day the RCR repaired our boat (it turned out to be a loose wire on thefuel pump) and we got on our way again. After the bridge at Apperly therewas another double lock, but at the top were BW facilities, water, showerand toilets so we made use of them. Two swing bridges later we arrived atField 3 Lock and the lock-keeper was already bringing a boat down so we hadto wait for about an hour, and so we had lunch in was a lovely spot with

picnic tables. Going through one of the bridges there suddenly

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appeared a horse towing a narrow boat and all the crew had traditional dresson - it was a lovely surprise. At Duck Hill Swing Bridge we were held upagain as the bridge was stuck on a rock; it took John and three cyclists torelease it and get us going again. At Dock Swing Bridge there was a couplecoming the other way that had been on our boat when Tommy owned her.We were lucky to meet them as this bridge was different to open - you had toput the barriers down with your BW key, then turn the gears with yourwindlass so many times to release the blocks. Then you move your windlasson to the other gears and turn it again for so many times to open the bridgeand to close it again you do it all in reverse - it was the only bridge like this.Just past Saltaire we gave a little boy and his granddad a lift after they helpedus with the lock. At 5pm, after going through the double lock at Dowley Gapwe moored outside the Fisherman pub, as recommended by one of thelockies. It was a pretty mooring however the pub proved dear and it was nota good pint of lager so we walked into Bingley.

We set off early next morning just behind a hired wide-beam. After 10 minutes ofcrawling behind him, he ran into some bushes and we asked if he needed help,but he said no so we overtook him. Got to Bingley Five Rise at 8.15am, buthad to wait to see if another narrow boat was coming to share the lock withus. The wide-beam arrived and they went up by themselves; meanwhile, noother narrow boat turned up so they finally let us in at 10.15am and we leftthe top at 11.30am. Shortly after this we spotted the first kingfisher we hadseen this year and 23 swing bridges later we arrived in Skipton. At one thatwas called Cowling, I nearly fell in the canal when the wind took the boat.We moored just near Gallows Bridge after John had turned the boat around.

The weather was lovely, so we spent 3 nights in Skipton, exploring thewoods, castle, pubs and market. But sadly on Sunday we set off back againand at Bradley Swing Bridge we had to wait for about 2 hours, as the bridgewas broken. We then played leapfrog through the bridges with a narrow boatcalled Grace. We passed a cruiser from RMBC called Perfect Day, going theother way. “Grace” left us at Holden Swing Bridge and at Booth Swing Bridgewe met up with a boat called Gellibean and travelled with them. But atLeache Swing Bridge it took 5 of us to close the bridge, then my BW keywould not come out at Micklethwaite Swing Bridge so we had to wait 15minutes for the River and Canal Trust to come out. There were no problemsgoing down the 5 Rise, no waiting, then we stopped at Saltaire over night,

walked down by the river and visited a couple of pubs.

River Foss Societyformed on 23 July 1973 to protect and promoteenjoyment of the river from Pond Head (Oulston)

to Blue Bridge in York where it joins the RiverOuse.

Please contact the Secretary for the 2014Programme available soon.

Usually one walk and at least one other eventare organised each month from March to

October.

Secretary – Tel no 01904 760871,E mail: m.burton599@btinternet.com

Membership – Tel no 01904 768071,E mail: chrisandpete@haxby147.fsnet.co.uk

www.riverfosssociety.co.uk

11Please note that all views expressed in “Northern Navigation News” are those ofthe authors and may not represent those of the Inland Waterways Association.

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Next day we set off again on our own, and there were no problem - we juststopped at Rodney for some diesel. We cracked on as the locks betweenNewlay and Kirkstall are locked up between5pm and 8am. All the locks fromSpring Garden Lock to St. Annsing Lock did not have handcuff keys on whenwe arrived, but as we left we put them on as the lock-keepers had beencomplaining about kids emptying the canal. At Oddy 2 Lock there were twolads jumping into the lower lock from the top lock. We thought they mayhave give us problems, but I went up and said “sorry I am going to spoil yourfun lads, as I need to empty the locks to get the boat through” They were okayabout it and even helped us through all the locks into Leeds. We moored inGranary Wharf for two nights which cost us £6, right next to cafés, bars andhotels and there are security cameras everywhere and a patrol going round.

We explored Leeds and went round the Armoury, which was free. Then onWednesday we set off again, after we left the Leeds Liverpool Canal the locksagain were automatic and we had a good run and arrived at Selby for5.15pm. Moored there for the night to lock out in the morning.

We left Selby at 9.30am, and we were the last narrow boat out with only acruiser behind us, which managed to over take us before Naburn. There wasa lot of rubbish in the river and fast water, and when we got to Naburn thelock-keeper was just locking down as he was full, so we had to wait out onthe river. We spent a lovely quiet night in Naburn and left next day.

As we went through York at about 10am on Friday, the moorings were alreadyfull. We slowed down as a few of our friends were moored there and the narrowboats which had left Selby with us and they were all waving and shouting tous. When we were going through Linton Lock Dave from RMBC was thereand helped us through the lock. We stopped the night at Linton Lock as wenever stayed there before, and had a nice meal and a cheap pint in the bar atthe lock. We helped our friends from “Lady D” through the lock on their wayto York, and later on at about 10pm I was woken by a cruiser arriving.

We set off next day for Ripon, and saw about 16 kingfishers between thewhere the Swale and the Ure meet and Milby Lock. We passed several boatswe knew at Boroughbridge and Langthorpe, so we felt we were in homewaters. We saw more friends at Oxclose Lock and we had to stop at RMBCto update friends where we had been, but we were not glad to be back as ithad been too short a trip.

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14

A WEEK ON KEW

UNPRESSED VOLIUNTEER CREW MEMBER

I had previously stayed on Kew at both the Beale Park and WolverhamptonIWA National Festivals, but had not had the thrill of crewing on her, as hadKeith Chapman, who took her through the centre of London on the RegentsCanal, and moored for several days in Little Venice. A trip that I really wantedto do, as I used to live near Camden Lock in the mid-eighties. Unfortunately, Iwas ill at the time. However, when David Litchfield indicated that he wantedhelp with crewing Kew back up North from the site of the Watford Festival, Ijumped at the chance.

BOATERS' CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP (BCF)

David and Mary Litchfield are founder members of the BCF, which wasfounded about 16 years' ago. It currently has over 500 members, and haspublished a guide to local churches across both England and Wales and amembership directory which is second to none. David is the Treasurer andused to lead the Mission. Kew still cruises the network for many monthsduring the Spring, and Summer, visiting all the key boating festivals on thewaterways with a medium sized tent and also holds Sunday services. Wemet, at least, six other members during our trip along the Grand Union Canal.

HISTORY OF KEW

Firstly, a brief history of Kew, which was built at EC Jones yard in Brentfordin 1959, as a butty with a small cabin on the stern, which was big enough fora mother, father and three children. There was no engine, but a cargo of 30tons of loose coal. David bought Kew from British Waterways in 1964, and iscelebrating 50 years’ of ownership in 2014. He put the superstructure on her,and had her towed up to Rugby to have a three cylinder Lister diesel engineinstalled. She sleeps six people in comfort.

She is 71 feet long and 7 feet wide, being the maximum length for the GrandUnion Canal, and is heavy to handle. Mary Litchfield cycled between locks,and I walked between the closest ones, and paired up with other craft whenwe could. David had booked passage through Iron Bridge Lock at 2.00pm onMonday 22nd July. There were CRT volunteers helping boats through thelocks either side of the Festival site, which helped considerably. We metfurther CRT volunteers during the cruise, and three officers with a patrol boat

about half way through the trip. The volunteers were very helpful, but

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the officers were mostly concerned about getting through a lock as soon aspossible, and were not happy at waiting their turn.

We stopped the first night it Apsley, which had been a major paper producingcentre, and had a meal in the Paper Mill pub/restaurant. Shopping in Tescoson the way back to the boat rather late.

DURHAM LASS

What I like about boating on the waterways is that you meet people a longway from where you first met them. I live in York, which is not easy to reachby the waterways network, being on the River Ouse, which is tidal, andaccessible through both Selby and Goole, both which access the River Ousebelow Naburn on the tidal section. Many boaters say that they do not want torisk the tidal section. However, those that do, have a few days boating on theRivers Ouse, and Ure, plus the Ripon Canal. One can also turn eastwards

and try the Derwent and short section of the Pocklington Canal. If youare really feeling brave, then there is the Trent Falls.

“Kew” on the Wendover Arm of the Grand Union Canal

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So it was a real pleasure to reach the winding point at the end of theWendover Arm, only to find the Durham Lass moored there. The owner saidthat he belonged to the local preservation society and had been present whenwater was first let into the arm. David nudged Kew along the arm slowly,with Mary in the bow with a long pole. We had passed the large flour mill,which loomed impressively out of the surrounding fields, only to come to ahalt with a chain wrapped round the propeller. David had to stand up to hiswaist in the muddy arm to remove it.

The workers at the flour mill watched us in great amusement during theirlunch break, when we came back. The trip back was a lot easier as the waterlevel was a little higher, than with the outward journey. It was due to beraised the following morning. The flour mill? It made flour for Chineserestaurants.

Turning Kew back onto the main Grand Union Canal was difficult as it was avery tight T junction.

LEIGHTON BUZZARD

We stopped for lunch in Leighton Buzzard, on the Friday afternoon, wherethey were getting ready for a day’s boat festival on the Saturday. We wouldhave stayed, but David and Mary were heading back to Fazeley Junction,where their daughter and grandchildren would be joining Kew on Sundayevening. I left at Braunston Marina on Saturday evening, and took a train toBirmingham from Rugby. Followed by a very slow train to York.

We also visited the launderette and did some shopping.

David filled up with diesel at Wyvern Shipping just outside Leighton Buzzard.In imperial measures, Kew uses a litre every hour, and David fills up weekly.Including VAT about £100 worth. The fill-up was 87.5 litres.

Heading south along the canal to the Leighton Buzzard Festival, were variouswork boats carrying gas canisters, barrels of cooking oil and a variety ofgoods.

MILTON KEYNES

The following day, the trip across the middle of Milton Keynes wasinteresting, with the canal going along a wooded corridor with footpaths. Nota concrete cow in sight. We met the Rotary funded ‘Playboat’, which was apink, sixty foot narrowboat. An inspiration for York, someone?

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BLISWORTH TUNNEL, A BOTTLE OF WINE AND A STAG PARTY

We had a wet passage through the Blisworth, having to pull right across whena boat entered towing another one. They were rather surprised to beconfronted by a boat as large as Kew coming the other way. On emerging outinto bright sunlight, we were confronted by two narrowboats trying to turnround. They had found themselves headed the wrong way towards Blisworthtunnel.

The furthest boat managed to turn around but the one nearest us wasexperiencing trouble. Altogether there were thirteen young men on two fiftyfoot narrowboats, heading for a stag party. David organised that thenarrowboat be tied firmly alongside Kew and we doubled up, taking themalong the canal to a wider part where they could turn around easily. Just aswe were parting company a hand came out of a side door with a welcomebottle of white wine!

Having moored up later that evening, we found a very good small hotel, TheWalnut Tree. The meal was excellent, and we were relaxing afterwards, whensome familiar faces appeared. The stag night was at The Walnut Tree Hotel.We were invited to join them, but politely declined, as the following day wasan early start..

ONE MORE LOCK, TONY!

When I was a child, I enjoyed a short story about a boy rescuing a couple ofcows at the insistence of a loud wood pigeon: ‘Take two coos Davy’ itadvised. By the end of a day’s lock opening, it sounded more like ‘One morelock, Tony!’ Especially on the Saturday afternoon, when we exited theBraunston Tunnel, which was older, higher and far drier than the BlisworthTunnel, there were five more locks towards Braunston. I had counted themup, only for Mary to tell me that there was one more! They came in pairs,apparently. I did catch the 5.17pm bus into Rugbyfrom the marina.

Many thanks to my hosts, David and MaryLitchfield for a very enjoyable trip.

Tony Martin NNN

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