August 2017, by bridge and lock, part 3.

After our couple of days in Ripon we had to make our way back down the Ripon Canal to the River Ure. The section

This footbridge just a little above the Aldwark toll bridge is for the use of the golfers at Aldwark Manor club, but can also be used by local walkers. We saw more kingfishers on this stretch of river than we had seen in total for the other years cruising. It was a good year for them it seems.

We stopped for the night at Linton Lock. There is a long pontoon for moorings, but much ot it was taken up with permanent moorings. Linton Lock house was restored along with the lock island in 1998. After the navigation was built in 1767 it was run by the Linton Lock Commissioners who charged tolls to pay for the upkeep. Once the toll revenue fell low due to the lack of commercial traffic things got run down. They were then allowed to charge pleasure boats but after the 1998 refurbishment the rights were transferred to British Waterways to ensure the upkeep in the future and add to the national network.

We went straight through from Linton to Naburn and the next day were heading out of the lock bound for Selby once again. Naburn large lock was having a chain block to assist in closing the gate asx wer left.

Cawood swing bridge was open as we passed to facilitate further maintenance on it. The guy in the rescue boat was still laying there sunning him self!

The turn in the flowing river and into the lock at Selby was accomplished with no major emergency and we moored up at the Selby Boat Centre for another visit home to the City of Culture 2017.

After out time away it is always nice to be on the move again and we headed down the Selby Canal to try out a different river. Well not a different river, but a different part of one we had been on before. The canal opened in 1778 so I was quite surprised to see this bridge hole as the tow path can not be wide enough for a boat horse to pass the abutments. It also looks like the iron handrail has been added afterwards. maybe the bridge is much newer but would have to have been added in the 20th century when the motor boat had taken over from the horse powered boats.

At the other end of the Selby Canal is West Haddlesey. One end is the Ouse and this end is the Aire. Hence the huge lock gates as the river is liable to flood and it needs to be kept out of flooding back into the canal. We met up with a boat just before the lock so were able to share.

The river between West Haddlesey and the next lock is extremely bendy and it is a pleasure to be at the tiller as we head round the bends and get occasional views across the fields. The next lock is Beak Lock. All the people on the lock threw us a little but it turned out to be a charity boat trip. 

There are moorings in the lock cut, and this is where our companions stopped as they had won a meal at one of the two pubs close by. I reckon we will be back here for a look about. Beal is Old English for a 'nook of land in a river bend', so is well named. It appeared in the Domesday Book of 1086 as 'Begale'.

A couple of miles further on is the last lock on the Selby system that gets you back to the Aire and Calder main line. Bank Doles was once a hive of industry with mines and chemical works etc, but now is a forgotten back water with not much traffic passing through. You can see the river was quite benign as we passed through but with a couple more metres of water it would be fun, and there would be no red boards in the 'old days'.