To York and Back

The holiday officially started at 5.00pm on Friday evening when the OH finished work, however an hour and a half worth if traffic jams meant we didn’t get to the boat until 6.30pm. Not the best start. Anyway we only had to get aboard turn the key and go. A couple of hours saw us make our destination of Torksey and the White Swan for dinner and a couple of pints before heading back to bed in readiness for the next days early start.

Saturday dawned with a beating on the side of the boat. Bleary eyed we open the door to find lockie and the news that he needs us ready earlier than planned. So a quick wash and change, hoods off engines fired up we all head sleepily into Torksey lock ready for our trip down the Trent to Keadby. We would have to have a stop in Gainsbrough though to await the last of the tide. Down we go in the lock gates are opened the Trent in sight. The first of the boats heads out and then crunch, we have landed on the middle cill of the lock. Lockie quickly ties up the boats behind us before opening the top paddles and flushing us off the cill. The rest of the day goes smoothly with a shopping trip in Gainsbrough before heading off for the final leg of the journey to Keadby where we have a welcoming party to watch me nearly fall in the lock messing about with the ropes!!

Following on from a lively night in The Old South Yorkshire, we have a steady start to Sunday with no rush to get anywhere. Destination unknown we head off until we get bored. The weather is again beautiful so the hoods are off. We soon settle into a routine of swing bridge after swing bridge with the occasional lock to break up the monotony along the way. Soon however things descend into silliness. One of the previous days purchases had been 360 water balloons. Needless to say the majority of these where used to get from Keadby to Pollington Lock where we decided to call it a day, finding a nice area of grass to play cricket, badly.

Monday was a grey and windy day, but never the less we pushed on through the Yorkshire countryside heading for Selby due to an early tide on Tuesday morning. We had a quick stop at Pollington Lock to fill up with water only to find the canal beside the water point is very shallow we found the bottom pretty quickly. We were all genuinely surprised by some of the scenery on offer on the Selby canal. It really is a very pretty canal if not a little shallow in places. We dredged the bottom pretty much all the way and came across a chap who had just picked up a hire narrowboat and had not been told which side to drive on!!!

Tuesday morning looked a little more promising. The weather was calmer and at 7am we headed out onto the tidal Ouse to start the slalom course of dodging debris. This section of river really is very dirty and you need to keep a sharp eye out for obstructions ahead. Two hours saw us approaching Naburn Lock and the limit of the tidal river. Safely through we moor up to have breakfast and to freshen up before heading into York. We eventually moor on Kings Staithe for the evening before heading off in search of entertainment in York. We finally settle on the York Castle Museum and an evening ghost walk in between pub stops.

Wednesday and another day of visiting York. First stop the National Railway Museum and a few hours of train spotting followed by a pub stop and shopping before heading back to Naburn Lock where we find most of the moorings taken, so a well placed BW work boat becomes an excellent landing platform for the evenings stay. We all eat dinner before enjoying another game of cricket on the lock island.

Thursday sees us heading back the Naburn Marina to refuel. The total for the trip to York was 86 litres of diesel for us (but we hadn’t set off with a full tank and could probably have put 25 to 30 litres in before we set off) and 176 litres of petrol for the other boat!!!!! Ouch. We set off back to the lock and reach just in time for our locking out. We have to beware of our air draft on this trip and have the bridge at Cawood swung for us but just manage to get under the Selby Bridges with inches to spare. The debris on this stretch of river again proved hard going when coupled with a spring tide. Eventually Selby appears and we lock up onto the safety of the Selby canal, however we press on and eventually reach Pollington for another game of cricket, again played badly.

Friday dawns and oh dear, it is chucking it down and windy with no sign of any imminent improvement. We head off with the intention of reaching Keadby and the weather plays a blinder. Every time someone gets off to work a bridge or lock the heavens open. It makes for hard going and by the time we reach Keadby we have all had enough. Hot showers and hot meals all around soon liven up spirits though before we all retire to watch films due to the again worsening weather. At some point during our film a narrowboat appeared and pulled off an amazing fete of mooring which we would fully appreciate until morning.

Saturday and another early morning to catch the tide. We awake to find a narrowboat less than an inch from our stern. When we get out for a closer look we discover he is also only an inch from our friends boat ahead. He never touched either boat. Never have we seen mooring so precise. Anyway we set off onto the Trent helped along by a big tide we are making headway of 11mph in tickover. Before too long we are in sight of Torksey lock and the Fossdyke. By early afternoon we have made it back to Burton Waters and home.

Sunday was a day for cleaning and surveying the damage done. Suprisingly we only find one minor scuff hidden amongst the grime and dirt. So another successful trip completed now we can look forward to our play on the Wash over bank holiday weekend.