To get to where we were going ...

Saturday, 07 August 2010 18:36

We had to brave the Tidal Trent

Mark, the BW Lock Keeper, called us into Keadby Lock once the swing bridge had been opened by Lincolnshire Council workers. We three narrowboats were to be first, followed by the two GRP cruisers.

We were soon penned, three abreast and going down in the lock. We were entering the River Trent on a neap flood tide, so the water was fairly low. Looking northwards, towards the Humber, it looked OK! Waving goodbye and thanks to Mark, we were out!

Keadby Bridge, or King George V Bridge, was once a lifting bridge. It carries twin rail lines, a road and a footpath over the river. It was brought into use in 1916, and was Europe's heaviest bascule bridge. The lifting section was last lifted in 1955 and it was this 163 foot span of the bridge that we went through - as boaters are advised to do!

According to Nicholson, water was pumped into the large counter balance at the eastern end of the bridge. Once the weight of water was more than the weight of the bridge, it tipped the bridge into the open position. Clever eh? However, further research indicates that the counterbalance was a large ballast tank made of concrete and the Scherzer-type bascule rolling bridge was raised by electrically powered, winding gear, which was originally battery fed by petrol-driven generators housed in the engine room beneath the east approach span, later using mains electricity. See also the Wikepedia article - clickety click

The River Trent is really broad here and our narrowboat felt very small. However she was behaving very well and cruising along steadily at about 6mph over the river bed.

We passed under the M180, which also spans the river - it made me wonder if there is a M179 and if so where it is! The old windmill at Butterwick has lost its sails and looks dilapidated compared to one further up which has been incorporated into an expensive looking house.

Owston Ferry, where the windmill house in the right hand picture is, stretches along the west bank. It is an ancient village, part of the Isle of Axholme. The houses have a Dutch appearance and this may be an hangover from the history of this area. In 1625 Cornelius Vermuyden (a Dutch engineer) was employed to oversee the drainage of the then wetland, which provided very fertile soil.

Dutch and French settlers followed Cornelius to take advantage of this land. The locals were not too happy and, after lengthy litigation in 1691, an agreement was reached to divide the land.

The River Trent now flows through the area that was once part of the Danelaw. Place names with "by" or "thorpe" are of Viking derivation, but the villages are not visibile from the river. It all felt rather isolated, as it was for many years when the area was virtually cut off from the rest of the country by the Trent, Humber and the Wash.

A few miles further and the village of East Stockwith came into view. Opposite this village is the River Idle (see below) - once the main waterway highway from the industrial South Yorkshire, with a large wharf at Bawtry. The river was changed and re-routed by Cornelius Vermuyden as part of his work on the Isle of Axelholme and was eventually superseded by the Chesterfield Canal.

So we came to West Stockwith, not linked to its neighbour East Stockwith by any river crossing. Sue, the lock keeper, had advised us by mobile phone (our VHF radio isn't aboard yet) to wait against the wall below the lock up onto the Chesterfield Canal. John turned, stemming the tide, and we tied up, to await Sue's further instructions.

The lock was full and, thanks again to the mobile phone, we knew that narrowboat Petroc was still above the lock, waiting to come down. We had not missed Geoff and Gill after all!

We were tossed around a little as the lock emptied, regurgitating two narrowboats onto the River Trent. Then it was our turn!

Stainforth and Keadby Canal, Keadby Lock to The River Trent, West Stockwith Lock

3 hours 7 minutes, 13.24 miles, 1 lock