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I'm struggling to figure out how it took so long to get from Leeds to Castleford


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I set off at around 10.30-11am this morning and tied up at just after 7pm. While there was a bit of fat-arsing about to start with as my boat is too long to turn around where I'm moored so have to go up a pair of staircase locks, to another lock, turn around and come back and on to Leeds dock. Which takes about 1.5 - 2 hours to do. But 7 hours from Leeds Dock to Castleford cut? I wasn't exactly hanging around. 

 

Have you been on a cruise only to think it took far longer than it should have done? 

Edited by NB Caelmiri
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A clue about where you started would helpus form an opinion.

 

I always find staircase locks take longer than expected, especially if set agaist you.

 

 

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1 hour ago, NB Caelmiri said:

While there was a bit of fat-arsing about to start with as my boat is too long to turn around where I'm moored so have to go up a pair of staircase locks, to another lock, turn around and come back and on to Leeds dock. Which takes about 1.5 - 2 hours to do.

How long would it take you to go backwards from your mooring to the first place you can turn?

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7 hours ago, NB Caelmiri said:

Have you been on a cruise only to think it took far longer than it should have done?

Only those where Mrs 1st Ade treats "We need to be away by ten at the latest" as "We don't need to be away until ten"

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7 hours ago, David Mack said:

How long would it take you to go backwards from your mooring to the first place you can turn?

If starting at Office lock it would (should) have been relatively easy to reverse onto the Aire, where there is room to turn below River Lock, by reversing into the section of the Aire that flows under the railway. (River conditions permitting of course).

 

 

Edited by The Happy Nomad
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11 minutes ago, The Happy Nomad said:

If starting at Office lock it would (should) have been relatively easy to reverse onto the Aire, where there is room to turn below River Lock, by reversing into the section of the Aire that flows under the railway. (River conditions permitting of course).

 

 

He's not.  At office lock he would reverse down the lock and turn round in the basin before doing River lock.

 

I reckon he's moored just above St Anne's Ing lock, so it's two locks and half a mile reverse to get into Leeds basin.

 

I'm not sure that would take longer than doing Oddy and Spring Garden twice though.

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8 hours ago, David Mack said:

How long would it take you to go backwards from your mooring to the first place you can turn?

About 45 minutes. I did it once, it wasn't loads of fun. But then quicker than going the other way. 

45 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

He's not.  At office lock he would reverse down the lock and turn round in the basin before doing River lock.

 

I reckon he's moored just above St Anne's Ing lock, so it's two locks and half a mile reverse to get into Leeds basin.

 

I'm not sure that would take longer than doing Oddy and Spring Garden twice though.

Yeah, a bit further up from St Anne's Ing, just below Oddy Locks. I could almost turn just before the bridge before you get to St Anne's but I'm a bit too long (a rare occasion). So up Oddy and Spring Garden it has to be. Or reverse all the way down to Granary Wharf. 

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56 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

He's not.  At office lock he would reverse down the lock and turn round in the basin before doing River lock.

 

I reckon he's moored just above St Anne's Ing lock, so it's two locks and half a mile reverse to get into Leeds basin.

 

I'm not sure that would take longer than doing Oddy and Spring Garden twice though.

Last time we did it there was something that prevented any access to the basin it was closed off, but I cant recall now what it was, it may have been temporary of course.

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56 minutes ago, The Happy Nomad said:

Last time we did it there was something that prevented any access to the basin it was closed off, but I cant recall now what it was, it may have been temporary of course.

?

 

If the boat is too long to wind in Leeds Basin / Granary Wharf he won't be going through any locks on the L&L!

 

Are you talking about a different basin?

1 hour ago, NB Caelmiri said:

Yeah, a bit further up from St Anne's Ing, just below Oddy Locks.

Handy for yoga classes if Ben's still there :D

 

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36 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

?

 

If the boat is too long to wind in Leeds Basin / Granary Wharf he won't be going through any locks on the L&L!

 

Are you talking about a different basin?

 

I'm talking about the basin between Office Lock and River Lock. The 'stub' that originally lead to a now disused lock under the railway and back down onto the Aire. The one I think you were suggesting he could wind in.

 

 At office lock he would reverse down the lock and turn round in the basin before doing River lock.

 

Last time we passed there was a boom across it with 'No mooring signs'. But it may have been temporary as I said.

 

(There seems to be some crossed wires here for sure)

 

 

Edited by The Happy Nomad
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10 minutes ago, The Happy Nomad said:

I'm talking about the basin between Office Lock and River Lock. The 'stub' that originally lead to a now disused lock under the railway and back down onto the Aire. The one I think you were suggesting he could wind in.

 

 At office lock he would reverse down the lock and turn round in the basin before doing River lock.

 

Last time we passed there was a boom across it with 'No mooring signs'. But it may have been temporary as I said.

 

(There seems to be some crossed wires here for sure)

 

 

That makes more sense of your post.

 

Office lock leads down into Leeds basin, so I don't know why anyone would want to reverse through that large a body of water and drop River Lock backwards.

 

Even when it's full on all the moorings there's room to wind a much bigger boat than could fit through the locks.

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11 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

That makes more sense of your post.

 

Office lock leads down into Leeds basin, so I don't know why anyone would want to reverse through that large a body of water and drop River Lock backwards.

 

Even when it's full on all the moorings there's room to wind a much bigger boat than could fit through the locks.

I was responding to a specific  question about 'could you not reverse back till you can turn' forgetting that actually yes, it is wide at that bit and It wouldn't necessarily be needed to go all the way back down to the River Aire.

 

When I read 'basin' in your post I didn't realise you were (possibly) referring to that whole stretch because my under standing is the 'basin' is just the off shoot to the disused lock not the whole section between Office and River locks which to my understanding is 'Granary Wharf'.

 

 

Edited by The Happy Nomad
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1 hour ago, TheBiscuits said:

?

 

If the boat is too long to wind in Leeds Basin / Granary Wharf he won't be going through any locks on the L&L!

 

Are you talking about a different basin?

Handy for yoga classes if Ben's still there :D

 

Ben is still there! I'm usually moored behind him. Just not at the moment. Cas Vegas baby. 

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2 hours ago, NB Caelmiri said:

Ben is still there! I'm usually moored behind him. Just not at the moment. Cas Vegas baby. 

Go and say hello to poor old Thomas, the L&L shortboat sunk on the weir.  You get a cracking view off the Millennium footbridge.

 

 

 

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3 hours ago, TheBiscuits said:

Go and say hello to poor old Thomas, the L&L shortboat sunk on the weir.  You get a cracking view off the Millennium footbridge.

 

 

 

I'm going to go and have a look!

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6 hours ago, Pluto said:

The canal company considered the whole water space to be Leeds basin, as shown in the plan below. I have also added a plan of the original lock house at Oddys.

Leeds.jpg

This map is pretty interesting. I can picture it exactly but didn't realise at some point where the mooring pontoons are now between the hotel and candle house (I think it's called? the round building) would have carried on to somewhere. I wonder where that somewhere lead to! Does anyone know? Between 38 and 44. I was also wondering about the offshoot next to 48. Is this map suggesting that it carried on somewhere else?

 

I keep looking at it when I'm in Leeds and assumed it might have been some kind of dry dock. It's an offshoot with a lock that goes nowhere. If the CRT had its wits about it, they could almost have it as a dry dock now but I suspect given its location and as Granary Wharf is a privately owned public space, there's no chance the owners would allow dirty boats to be painted and maintained there.

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5 hours ago, TheBiscuits said:

Go and say hello to poor old Thomas, the L&L shortboat sunk on the weir.  You get a cracking view off the Millennium footbridge.

 

 

 

I'm assuming this is Thomas!

 

You can imagine what he said to his gaffa when this happened... "Hey boss, I've had a bit of an accident..."

 

Edit. Found more details about the poor fella at http://www.twixtaireandcalder.org.uk/site/image-detail?imageid=553#.XufCVPJ7mL5

 

Turns out some vandals in the 70s (I didn't think there were vandals in the 70s!) untied the boat and off it went over the weir. Castleford never changes!

 

20200615_183818.jpg.c11c739a9976177422d3b04d82c6b5aa.jpg

Edited by NB Caelmiri
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2 hours ago, NB Caelmiri said:

This map is pretty interesting. I can picture it exactly but didn't realise at some point where the mooring pontoons are now between the hotel and candle house (I think it's called? the round building) would have carried on to somewhere. I wonder where that somewhere lead to! Does anyone know? Between 38 and 44. I was also wondering about the offshoot next to 48. Is this map suggesting that it carried on somewhere else?

 

I keep looking at it when I'm in Leeds and assumed it might have been some kind of dry dock. It's an offshoot with a lock that goes nowhere. If the CRT had its wits about it, they could almost have it as a dry dock now but I suspect given its location and as Granary Wharf is a privately owned public space, there's no chance the owners would allow dirty boats to be painted and maintained there.

The offshot between 38 and 44 lead to a lock now disused. It allowed boats access to the Aire. The lock was allegedly still there under the railway last time we passed that way but no access by the public was allowed.

 

I dont know about the other two.

 

@pluto will surely know.

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11 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

That's the one, but I hope there aren't any others to choose from on the weir!

Thankfully not! Not tonight anyway. I guess that'll be there until it finally rots and corrodes away to nothing. There's another boat up the Aire that I assume will see the same fate.

 

Before Christmas, this was on the other side of the river but on the walker's path. It'd been carried up away off its mooring when the floods hit the Aire and then when the water dropped, it was more or less right on the path. I was looking out for it on my way down yesterday and was surprised to not see it thinking it'd been removed only to look the other way and seeing it half under water. A shame and someone's pride and joy at some point.

 

20200614_182418.jpg.4dd1306ed8941d421df510ff11da661f.jpg

 

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