Sunday in Linton

No it is not snow, just scum on the water.  This was our Saturday evening view from our mooring

Sunday was a leisurely start as church was not until 11.   This was a pleasant 20 minute walk through the fields to Newton on Ouse where we discovered that it was a Baptism followed by Communion.  The baptism party was huge and must have swelled the congregation by at least 300%!!   Yet another church without a resident vicar.

Sunday Lunch was back in the pub at Linton and we sat outside which was a slight mistake as it was very hot, about the hottest it has been this year.

Geoff had football this afternoon so I left him to the front of the boat and took myself off with a chair to sit on the aft deck (such as it is).  There was a little bit of a breeze there and I was far enough away from Geoff not to have to listen to him shouting at the England team.......they lost 4-1 to Germany..........

 

Petroc moored below the lock at Linton
It is hard to believe that when this area floods all this area is covered, over the top of the lock and almost to the top of the wall around the pub.

Paddle gear on the lower gates

All weekend it has been busy on this bit of water with boats going up and down the lock, and small pleasure boats and fishermen in boats just sculling around.  However by 6 o'clock we were left almost on our own again.    It is obviously a popular weekend visiting place for the locals.  Strangely the moorings down here were full last night,(£5 ) but the free ones at the top of the lock were empty.

We continue south tomorrow to York. 

Back to Linton-on Ouse

Geoff has a fascination for taking photographs of cows, these are just two of his collection!

They came to visit us on the boat where we were moored last night below Whitley Lock.   Luckily there is a fence between us.....

We had an early start this morning and stopped in Boroughbridge to pick up the paper and milk.  This was followed by a gentle cruise back down to Linton-on-Ouse and we actually passed one boat en route!

We went through the lock at Linton and moored below where we have to pay £5 a night but it is much more open that the visitor moorings free) above and we needed a TV picture as Wimbledon is still on.....the only sport I watch.    We won't even mention the football.

It took Geoff a fair bit of fiddling to get the satellite picture much to my dismay as he gets so cross!!!  However it all came good so we have had an afternoon of tennis and football, interspersed with walks for Barnaby.   Geoff also walked up to the next village at Newton-on-Ouse to see what time the church was........11am, so a nice lie in tomorrow.

Southward Bound from Ripon

After a morning shop in Sainsburys we had a leisurely start of our journey southwards.  We went up to the basin to turn.  As we turned I saw the little farm shop in the corner and remembered that they had some delicious looking danish pastries so we completed the turn and went back to the mooring for a quick visit!!

Red sign of farm shop just visible

Looking back from basin with moorings on the left

The locks are all quite short so it was another wriggling day.  Nose behind one gate whilst Geoff opens the opposite one and shimmy around to get out!!  I haven't quite worked out how 2 boats of our length could be in at the same time.

We passed this strange looking boat en route, a sort of cross between a small dutch barge and a narrowboat, probably very nice inside.

We also passed what must have been a boat yard but all that is left are two narrowboats on dry land.

Finally we passed Newby Hall and Gardens.  There are moorings if you want to visit but not for overnight.   I missed the picture on the way up as we were going to fast, and the view from the river of the house face on is only there momentarily.

We had intended going to Boroughbridge but decided to stay below the lock at Westwick as we thought we might get a better TV picture!!   So the afternoon has been spent with me shouting at the tennis in the back and Geoff shouting at the football in the front.....good job no-one is near us.

Fountains Abbey

A day trip out today to Fountains Abbey.  The 139 bus takes just 15 minutes (free with a bus pass!!) and your bus ticket gets you half price entry so all in all not a bad deal.  The weather was ideal, sunny and warm but with some cloud which gave some respite from the sun when we were walking. 

The Abbey started with 13 Benedictine  monks but later became Cistercian . There were monks there for about 400 years and is a world heritage site. 

The grounds lead to the water gardens of Studely Royal which were majestic.  The house itself is no longer there as it burned down in 1946.  It had been a boarding school during the war and had just been refurbished for the owners to move back in when the fire occurred, but we couldn't find out the cause of the fire.  

St Marys Church, a late Victorian building stands in the grounds.  St Mary's Church was one of two, late Victorian, memorial churches in Yorkshire, built by the family of the First Marquess of Ripon in memory of Frederick Gratham Vyner who was murdered by Greek bandits in 1870

Barney accompanied us but dogs have to be strictly on a lead all the time so he was not allowed a good run in the vast grounds much to his dismay........

And so back to Petroc where our splendid isolation was no longer as 3 more boats had joined us.....there is only room for 4 on the moorings.

Ripon at last

Reasonably early start today for the last leg to Ripon.  It was a more interesting run than the last 2 days, and we had 4 locks today.  Compared to some locks these are quite short and I have to wriggle in for Geoff to close the gates.   The latter part of the journey becomes the Ripon canal and we felt much more at home......I think I will take canals over rivers anytime.   Just before the Ripon moorings is the sani station which is extremely well kept.....very clean and friendly....small book swap and even flowers in a vase. 

Sani station Ripon

There is also room for one boat on a 48 hour mooring here.   The moorings themselves are just short of the basin and there is room for about 3/4 boats.  We had expected difficulty in finding a space but we are alone!!!  It is 48 hours only which is apparently strictly adhered to so there can be no siestering afternoons if we are to make full use of our time.  

We arrived at lunchtime so have made a start, although some of my time was wasted in trying to sort out our repeat prescriptions.   Geoff had to watch England play on a rather poor TV picture but then we went to Evensong at the Cathedral where the choir of St John's College Durham were singing and very splendid they were.

Boroughbridge...nearly at our northernmost point

I had always associated Linton-on-Ouse with the RAF station, but now I know it has a lock, weir, pub and campsite.   We had elected to stay beneath the lock and pay our £5 to the camp site as it was quite congenial with a good view across to the weir and the salmon ladder alongside......at least I think that is what you call it.    Geoff has seen quite a few large salmon jumping in the river...I am not so observant.......he's seen lots of kingfishers too but I haven't.

The lock here is quite deep and very forbidding when viewed from above, however once inside in Petroc it was much as many other locks.   The gates are big and heavy.

The day was another sunny delight and once clear of the lock we had just under 10 miles to go.  As yesterday the river was largely devoid of a lot of interest, all the villages seem to keep their distance.  We did have the occasional herd of cows drinking at the edge of the river to amuse us and we did have 2 boats pass us...such a hive of activity......

En route we passed this poor abandoned boat...very careless!!

And so to Boroughbridge.  Geoff has been to explore and reports that it is a pleasant little town, but we shall not linger as Ripon calls.  It is market day on Thursday so we would like to be there for that.  We have heard that the 48 hour mooring is rigidly adhered to so we shall depart early tomorrow.

Anybody would think Barney had had a busy day opening lock gates

Linton-on Ouse

Monday dawned sunny and warm, so after watering etc and getting the paper we set off for the run up to and beyond York, the plan being to get up to Ripon and stop in York on the return journey.

Below is a picture of our favourite house on the opposite bank.

This gentle fisherman and his dog were to be seen on the top of Naburn bridge

Not all the other boats were shiny expensive plastic ones!

A little further on we passed the Archbishop of York's palace at Bishopthorpe

We had heard conflicting reports of the best place to moor in York.  Although we were not planning to stop today we decided to reconnoitre the moorings beyond Blue Bridge at Castle Mills Lock.  It is a very pleasant approach under the bridge and then through the guillotine gates (open) ahead

and into the basin itself with Castle Mill Lock ahead.

Apparently you can book to go through the lock and for a short distance onto the River Fosse, as it can be manned by IWA volunteers.  We did have a vague idea of doing that but not after our visit to the basin!!!!

There is plenty of room to turn but it is full of weed and quite a shallow muddy bottom in part.   There are two large boats moored just out of the picture to the left which led us to conclude that we would be OK....Not SO........

In trying to turn we stuck on the bottom, had lots of weed round the prop and in the bow thruster.   This led to this when we eventually managed to turn ourselves and get off the bottom!

The propeller was cleared but no such luck with the bow thruster

After that charmimg little episode we went back to the main river for a very congenial run through York

The recommended visitor moorings are just beyond Lendl Bridge by the Museum Gardens so we decided on a short stop there to let Barney off.  There were quite a few narrow boats moored there but plenty of room if we had wanted to stay.   This will be our goal on the return trip.  We have been told they are fine but wise to avoid on Friday and Saturday nights which we shall endeavour to do.

We carried on for another 10 miles to Linton-on-Ouse.  The sun was still shining so it was a pleasant run up if somewhat devoid of interest. 

We have moored at the bottom of the lock as it seems more open than the possibility above.  This is despite the fact that we have to pay £5 to moor here!

Weekend in Naburn

We were pleased to have made the decision to stay at Naburn for the weekend as Saturday dawned overcast, cold and even windier than Friday.   Geoff had reconnoitered the village on Friday evening and discovered that the pub The Blacksmiths Arms did breakfast on Saturdays and Sundays.  So with 3 layers of clothes on Saturday morning we set off.  It was about a 15-20 minute walk but well worth the effort.  Apart from the pub and a church there are no other facilities in the village but Naburn Lock Campsite had a reasonable stock of provisions in their shop, including papers.

There was plenty of mooring which was a good thing as later in the day we were joined by over a dozen plastic boats, some quite large, who were having a get together in the evening. 

There is plenty of space to walk Barney and we could walk along the riverbank so far and ogle the houses on the other side, some of which are quite large. 

Weir at Naburn

On Sunday we went to the local church at 9.30 where we were made very welcome.   It was a visiting vicar as the parish priest has 5 other churches.   We were told that the church had been shut for several years and only opened again 11 years ago, after they had done some massive fund raising to complete necessary repairs.

Later we walked up to the village again to sample the delights of the carvery at the Blacksmiths Arms.  We can well recommend the pub.   By late afternoon most of the weekending boats had gone home.

My computer had the best picture for Geoff's football, so I had to allow him access!! 

Tides again to Naburn

This was the sort of weed that the Selby canal is thick with, same sort of thing we had in our garden pond until we got the eco system right. 

We set of before 7 in case we (Geoff!) had to revisit the weed hatch en route, but all seemed to be OK.  However with the impending tidal river trip he had another inspection just to be on the safe side.   Some weed but not as much as yesterday.

We went down the lock with NB Kennerley.  First there was  short briefing from the lock keeper.......right hand arch of the first two bridges soon after leaving the lock, centre arch of Cawood swing bridge about an hour up river.  He also warned us of a large tree floating somewhere and a lot of debris all along.......he was not wrong!

The excitement started as we left the lock, we had a sharp left turn into the fast flowing river which caused us to heel at an alarming angle.  As soon as I had straightened up I handed over the tiller to Geoff.   I am supposed to be doing this for a quiet peaceful life but Geoff keeps taking me into these situations.................

The tide was running very fast and with the muddy banks showing, no sign of any habitation, it all had quite a forbidding aura.   A large amount of logs and other debris.

First bridge

Floating Logs

Dead Cow

Cawood Swing bridge is approximately half way, luckily it does not have to be opened for us, but does make us realise that there must be big boats for whom it does have to be opened as there was a bridge keeper present who gave us a cheery wave as we swept past.

Cawood Swing Bridge

In addition to the fast flowing river it was quite windy and depending which bend we had just gone round it was right in our faces, in fact at the start it was definitely a wind against tide situation and the water was quite churned up, Geoff was muttering darkly that we would be seeing white horses next!!!   Ever the pessimist......

However after about 1 1/2 hours the flow lessened and the river seemed much more benign and I took the tiller for the last stretch.   After 2 hours we rounded the corner to see Naburn Lock expecting the gates to be open to welcome us, as we had just had a small plastic boat go past us.  However the gates were firmly shut and the lock keeper signalled that it would be 10 minutes.

We had to gill around here with this view of the weir ahead of us

Eventually these gates opened and out popped another little plastic boat and we had a gentle ride up.  The mooring at the top seems quite pleasant.  There is a sani station, a small shop in the nearby camp site and plenty of grass for Barney.  With all those plus factors we have decided to stay for the weekend instead of carrying on to York tomorrow.   The village of naburn is about a mile away but has a church and no doubt a pub for Sunday!

Selby Canal

After our sloth of Tuesday we decided on a longer day for Wednesday, so were watering by 7 and off by 7.30 with a beautiful morning.  We eventually moored at Beal on the Aire mid afternoon after nearly 7 hours and nearly 19 miles..........whew.   However as the weather was good it was no effort and we only met one of the big tankers and we were safely tied up waiting for the lock at Whitely.  He was going so slowly coming out of the lock that there was almost no wash.

At the recommended moorings at Beal there is room for two boats which just leaves a space for anyone using the lock.  The other boat there was Dreckly, so we were two Cornish boats together.

The mooring is quiet and secluded and safe but not terribly dog friendly.   Chatting to Dreckly we discovered that they had also suffered from diesel bug and in their case they had had to empty an almost full tank of diesel...Ouch!!!

Before we left Geoff wandered up to the lock with the camera but encountered Jim on Amelia with a variety of articles around his prop.  The picture above shows what came up!

Gentle start today, Thursday, and once down the lock we were on a wide but very bendy river.   All very tranquil with almost no sign of life but with a constant reminder that industry is not far away.

Once through the flood lock at Haddersley we had a closer view

We moored just beyond the lock and had a stroll into the village but the big garden centre etc which Nicholson mentions is no longer functioning.   Our Nicholson doesn't have a date in it and it is probably not the latest.

After coffee break we departed planning to moor at the first mooring shown in Nicholsons at Gatefor Landing.   There is just room for one boat, luckily there was no one there as I don't think we could have gone much further.   The Selby canal is full of weed and we have obviously picked up a load......so after his siesta Geoff has the thankless task of going down the weed hatch........

We have booked to go through the Selby Lock tomorrow and we leave there at 11 so we will have to leave early in case we pick up moor weed en route         It is  tidal river again up to Naburn Lock.

Later Geoff and Barney walked back to the pub in Beal for an early evening pint.   Whilst there he got talking to a chap in the bar who had an old Mk8 Jaguar which Geoff had noticed in the car park.  Geoff had once owned such a vehicle, long before my time, so the pair of them had a lovely time discussing cars and when they left he took Geoff a short drive in said vehicle.