After a great couple of days in York in which we acted as tourists to see many of the things that we don't when coming shopping for the day from Hull we set off in cold and drizzly weather. Luckily for us it cleared up quite nicely later on.
We thought that there would be few rowers out on the river on a weekday and in weather like this mornings, but they were just getting ready to leave the boat house. In fact this was the second wave as when we got outside of the built up area we caught the earlier starters on the way back! The first bridge of the day was Scarborough railway bridge that carried the track between York and Scarborough. It had a footpat between the two tracks but not the footpath is on the south side close to the camera.
A little more than three miles from our moorings you come to Skelton Railway Bridge. This is actuallu two bridges. The original stone bridge was built in 1839. It is now the route of the East Coast Main Line. This is accommodated on a newer wrought iron bridge with two tracks to itself. In February this bridge is having a refurbishment that will get rid of the speed restriction on traffic that has been in place since 2014. The track has been down since 1972!
After about 10 miles we were at the lock at Linton. The river comes down a weir on the left of the picture above and recently a 280KW Archimedes Screw generator has been installed. The red buoys mark the no go areas due to shallows.You can see the old mill on the lock island between the lock and weir. In the 1980's the island and lock became unstable and over £1 million had to be spent to stabilise it all.
Looking back from the lock you can see the pontoon for landing crew and also the current from the weit that brings down silt in times of spate that causes the shallows below the lock. You can also see the way the walls of the lock narrow towards the bottom and how deep it is. There is a 3 months closure on the lock until March 2018.
Aldwark toll bridge replaced a ferry in 1772 and was privately built it. costs 40p each way for a car today but this saves a 25' diversion round it. It seems that the bridge deck is made of timber, as when a vehicle crosses it sounds as though the beams are rattling
The river is now called the Ure, rather than the Ouse and the next lock is found just before Boroughbridge. Milbay Lock had a volunteer helping, but I suspect he was there with a maintenance team. We stopped on the moorings on the cut near to Boroughbridge weir. We had a great day here as the town has plenty of history to it and some pleasant walks around. It is one of those places that people pass when on the A1 and never stop.
The A1 is now two bridges with a bridge to each direction of traffic. It just goes to show the increase in the number of motor vehicles there has been. Again I have a warm glow as I pass underneath basking in the rural feel of the river that I am lost in very quickly and not been noticed at all by the speeding vehicles above.
Westwick Lock is in a lovely setting and I like the extending arms on the lock beams to give you an extra bit of push to open the bottom gates. We chatted to a couple of groups of walkers who said the normal thing we have been hearing this summer, 'we don't get many boats up here'!
At Oxclose Lock we enter the Ripon Canal and leave the River Ure. The gates are leaking quite badly so assume so special baffles have been provided to try to reduce the loss of water to enable you to make a level in the lock. Again in flood the river level is about level with the top of the lock!!
There are a couple of marinas between Oxclose Lock and Ripon as well as a couple of locks. The first lock is lovely named Bell Furrows Lock and the next one Rhodesfield Lock. We managed to find a space on the visitor morrings near the head of navigation and spent a great couple of days exploring the city of Ripon.
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