One blog cannot do it justice, but I will try

Friday, 23 July 2010 18:59

The Pocklington Canal should not be a secret waterway

Sadly, for most boaters, it is the unknown and the "back of beyond". It is a fabulous canal. Granted we have had wonderful weather for the last few days in this part of North Yorkshire, although tonight we learn that the tidal Ouse is 1 metre above normal level. It rained hard at Barmby Barrage and Naburn, but stayed dry in Melbourne and York!

Melbourne Junction and Arm on Wednesday night - a wonderful sunset and rainbow (with heavy rain later in the night).

Melbourne is the end of navigation on the Pocklington Canal and we spent two nights there moored in the Arm on the 48H mooring pontoon. We wished we could have stayed longer, it was so quiet; the other boaters and walkers there are very friendly.

But how did we get on cruising up to the Melbourne Arm? We really enjoyed the cruise despite the blanket weed (which was not so bad as it had been) and other weed and the numerous water lilies.

The first lock - Cottingwith has a pontoon below and we were able to fit in without much trouble.

Take a look at the lock gear - very different from the normal!

We played follow my leader with three swans for a while until two peeled off and one was left. He did not like us too near so periodically took off!

The swing bridges - and there are 6 on the navigable section (swing bridge 4 is usually open) are different too. The rails will drop down at an angle to allow tractors across and three were kept shut with a heavy iron hook. The last two were locked with handcuff keys.

Swing Bridge 2

Hagg Bridge is a road bridge, the road runs from Sutton upon Derwent to Melbourne and beyond! Observant boaters may notice a water point on the north eastern off side - watering up here is a case of hanging around in the bridge hole!

Gardham Lock has a swing bridge (bridge 3) across it and it has to be opened for anything bigger than a canoe! Despite the fact that this canal sees so few boats all the structures and gear on the navigable section are in excellent order.

This is thanks to a partnership between BW and the Pocklington Canal Amenity Society (PCAS). The conservationists are very vocal and care has to be taken not to disturb plant and wildlife too much. We saw lots of butterflies, dragon flies and damsel flies, geese flying overhead, fish popping up and domestic animals too!

Swing Bridge 7 is immediately before the Melbourne Arm and a winding hole for boats no longer than 57 feet. This is the limit of navigation for the moment and we turned into the short Melbourne Arm to moor.

There are only a few narrowboats (and one wide boat) moored and it is home to the PCAS trip boat New Horizons. This 40 foot narrowboat is very popular with visitors - a free trip down the canal is available (a donation is very much appreciated) as and when anyone arrives, if there is a PCAS volunteer around! The canal is popular with walkers and picnickers from all around.

We were sad to leave today but thanks to Howard (a NABO Council Member and also member of PCAS committee) we were able to visit Canal Head and some of the other locks on the un-navigable section yesterday. (More about that in the next blog).

We had another lovely cruise back to the River Derwent this morning - although John had to clear the weed from the prop a couple of times on the "Pocky" (it was only once going up!). At Cottingwith Lock, a BW "operative" was painting the lock gear and helped us through. He chatted a bit and feels that the canal is for boating primarily, not conservation entirely, and was really pleased to see us on the move. We entirely agree!

So here we are back at Barmby Barrage, unable to go through onto the tidal Ouse as expected due to the extra water around and advice from Fred the Lock Keeper at Selby Lock.. It is going to be a very early start - 7am to catch the flood tide tomorrow morning so that we can get in at Selby Lock. Tomorrow we pick a guest up at Selby. A really good friend Rachel, who now lives in Canada, is going to be with us for the first few days of her stay in the UK. I am so looking forward to catching up with her news and having our girly chats!

Pocklington Canal, East Cottingwith Junction to Melbourne Arm

2 hours 57 minutes, 4.96 miles, 2 locks

River Derwent, East Cottingwith to Barmby Barrage

1 hour 56 minutes, 9.85 miles, 0 locks