Northern Canals

[Muddy Waters]

How far North can I get with a 72' boat?

What canals can I not boat?

Thank you in advance.

M xx

 

[PD1964]

30 minutes ago, Muddy Waters said:

How far North can I get with a 72' boat?

What canals can I not boat?

Thank you in advance.

M xx

 

If you go Trent route through Goole, you can get to Stanley Ferry and to Leeds. South through Eastwood Lock, not through Rotherham lock, if the extended lock gates are in use at Bramwith you could get to Stannilands/Thorne, that’s it basically. Everywhere the Tanker goes and the Gravel Barges, all the big electric locks. So Goole, Knottingly, Castleford, Stanley Ferry, Leeds, Doncaster, Mexborough, Rotherham.

Edited February 28, 2023 by PD1964

[Alan de Enfield]

31 minutes ago, Muddy Waters said:

How far North can I get with a 72' boat?

What canals can I not boat?

Thank you in advance.

M xx

 

 

It depends where you are starting from.

[Muddy Waters]

10 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

It depends where you are starting from.

The South, well south of t' North. 

Canals north of the T&M, if that helps.

 

[Tim Lewis]

We have taken ours as Sowerby Bridge on the Rochdale Canal (via Manchester) and Linton Lock on the Ouse, Doing the Ouse required a trip around Trent Falls which is not for the faint hearted!.

 

Technically you can do the Huddersfield Narrow from the West but only if you pass the gauging requirements for Standedge Tunnel ( we don’t)

 

you can also get to Liverpool but cannot do the rest of the Leeds and Liverpool canal east of Wigan

[Alan de Enfield]

8 minutes ago, Muddy Waters said:

The South, well south of t' North. 

Canals north of the T&M, if that helps.

 

 

Thanks - maybe if you'd been on (say) the Anglian waterways, ot the Mon & Brec the answer would have been very different.

[Muddy Waters]

Mr Lewis,

What was the issue with the Fulbourne?

Too long or/and over 7' wide?

[Mad Harold]

1 hour ago, Tim Lewis said:

 

 

Technically you can do the Huddersfield Narrow from the West but only if you pass the gauging requirements for Standedge Tunnel ( we don’t)

 

 

The HNC is listed as 70ft length,so even if you make it to Huddersfield, you will have to turn around and go back as the Huddersfield Broad is listed as 57ft.

[David Mack]

1 hour ago, Mad Harold said:

The HNC is listed as 70ft length,so even if you make it to Huddersfield, you will have to turn around and go back as the Huddersfield Broad is listed as 57ft.

The problem with the HNC isn't length, its width and height. The tunnel team will gauge the boat before deciding if you can go through. A GU boat built to a nominal beam of 7ft 0.5in won't fit, as do hardly any other ex-working boats, whereas modern 6ft 10in wide boats mostly will (as long as their cabins are not too tall or too square).

 

This is from an old document, but as far as I know is still current.

Edited February 28, 2023 by David Mack

[Jen-in-Wellies]

Working boats were typically built to the absolute maximum dimensions that would fit for the route(s) they were intended to work. This was to fit as much cargo in as possible. They were also built at a time when locks and other structures were well maintained. For maximum space and maximum cruising range on the modern system, with squashed in locks, silting and a wide variety of original dimensions, you end up with the 57' long, 6'10" beam, 2' draft, sloping cabin sides clone craft narrowboat. I have one of these and have done a fair bit of the system, including tricky bits, like the Huddersfield narrow and broad. Go wider, longer, deeper, or higher and you have to accept that there are places you won't be able to take it.

Edited February 28, 2023 by Jen-in-Wellies

[IanD]

6 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

Working boats were typically built to the absolute maximum dimensions that would fit for the route(s) they were intended to work. This was to fit as much cargo in as possible. They were also built at a time when locks and other structures were well maintained. For maximum space and maximum cruising range on the modern system, with squashed in locks, silting and a wide variety of original dimensions, you end up with the 57' long, 6'10" beam, 2' draft, sloping cabin sides clone craft narrowboat. I have one of these and have done a fair bit of the system, including tricky bits, like the Huddersfield narrow and broad. Go wider, longer, deeper, or higher and you have to accept that there are places you won't be able to take it.

 

Or a little bit longer (60'), if you're very careful and don't mind not sharing a wide lock and getting very wet sometimes... 😉

Edited February 28, 2023 by IanD

[Guest]

Having actually had a 60ft boat on the Northern system I would say 57ft-58ft is the max. I personally would go with.

 

60ft just makes boating unnecessarily challenging. Even the 5 and 3 rises require extra care/working around the gates, looking back we would definitely have had a slightly shorter boat had we known we would have ended up being based up North.

 

 

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

1 hour ago, David Mack said:

The problem with the HNC isn't length, its width and height. The tunnel team will gauge the boat before deciding if you can go through. A GU boat built to a nominal beam of 7ft 0.5in won't fit, as do hardly any other ex-working boats, whereas modern 6ft 10in wide boats mostly will (as long as their cabins are not too tall or too square).

 

This is from an old document, but as far as I know is still current.

I’m pretty sure they still use it too

When they measured my boat they measured using a big aluminium right angle with the numbers written in permanent markers up the side and width,

 

technology on the canal is ace 👍

Edited February 28, 2023 by Goliath

[LadyG]

1 hour ago, IanD said:

 

Or a little bit longer (60'), if you're very careful and don't mind not sharing a wide lock and getting very wet sometimes... 😉

Up here in t' North there is a water shortage, we need to share baths (Friday night of course), , locks, and even food in swank gastropubs!

I think that experienced boaters with experienced crew might be more adventurous,, but I'm pretty cautious, these days.

Edited February 28, 2023 by LadyG

[dmr]

5 hours ago, Tim Lewis said:

We have taken ours as Sowerby Bridge on the Rochdale Canal (via Manchester) and Linton Lock on the Ouse, Doing the Ouse required a trip around Trent Falls which is not for the faint hearted!.

 

Technically you can do the Huddersfield Narrow from the West but only if you pass the gauging requirements for Standedge Tunnel ( we don’t)

 

you can also get to Liverpool but cannot do the rest of the Leeds and Liverpool canal east of Wigan

 

You can even go beyond Sowerby and do the first couple of miles of the Calder and Hebble, and then use the top lock as a winding hole.

 

Is the HNC strictly 70 or could a 72 foot boat do it (assuming width is ok)?

[Adam]

You can get as far as Wakefield (Thornes lock on the C&H is your first restriction, you can wind below) Fall ings lock is circa 120ft. 

[David Mack]

2 hours ago, dmr said:

You can even go beyond Sowerby and do the first couple of miles of the Calder and Hebble, and then use the top lock as a winding hole.

This is far as you can get with a full length boat - nosing into what was the bottom lock of the Halifax Branch at Salterhebble. Plenty of room to turn in the basin here.

[dmr]

13 minutes ago, David Mack said:

This is far as you can get with a full length boat - nosing into what was the bottom lock of the Halifax Branch at Salterhebble. Plenty of room to turn in the basin here.

 

We chickened out of doing that but did have a walk up the arm, it looked very shallow, silted, and generally neglected in places. How long ago did you get to the end?

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

19 minutes ago, David Mack said:

This is far as you can get with a full length boat - nosing into what was the bottom lock of the Halifax Branch at Salterhebble. Plenty of room to turn in the basin here.

And it appears to be steering itself 😃

 

did you trot along the gunnel so you could jump off and take the picture ?

[PD1964]

22 minutes ago, Goliath said:

And it appears to be steering itself 😃

 

did you trot along the gunnel so you could jump off and take the picture ?

Tied on the rail, like a Cowboys Horse outside the Saloon in the Wild West🤠

[David Mack]

48 minutes ago, Goliath said:

And it appears to be steering itself 😃

 

did you trot along the gunnel so you could jump off and take the picture ?

Yes.

53 minutes ago, dmr said:

 

We chickened out of doing that but did have a walk up the arm, it looked very shallow, silted, and generally neglected in places. How long ago did you get to the end?

That photo was June 2019 and I did it again in Belfast in November 2019. Have previously done it in Fulbourne in 2001 and 2012. No particular problem with depth on any of those occasions as I recall.

26 minutes ago, PD1964 said:

Tied on the rail, like a Cowboys Horse outside the Saloon in the Wild West🤠

Yes. Except the adjacent 'saloon' isn't a place I would bother patronising again. Food, beer and service all left something to be desired.

[peterboat]

16 hours ago, M_JG said:

Having actually had a 60ft boat on the Northern system I would say 57ft-58ft is the max. I personally would go with.

 

60ft just makes boating unnecessarily challenging. Even the 5 and 3 rises require extra care/working around the gates, looking back we would definitely have had a slightly shorter boat had we known we would have ended up being based up North.

 

 

I agree Martin my first boat was 60 ft with a 2 foot lift up buffer on the stern! Locks up here could be fun and wet!

[Alway Swilby]

Furthest north is Leeds if you go up the Trent and round Trent Falls.

If you don't fancy big tidal estuaries and instead up go up the T&M then Hebden Bridge on the Rochdale is the furthest north.

In both cases you would have to go back the way you came.

[magpie patrick]

25 minutes ago, Alway Swilby said:

If you don't fancy big tidal estuaries and instead up go up the T&M then Hebden Bridge on the Rochdale is the furthest north.

 

 I was just looking up northernmost points of the system without recourse to tidal water! 

 

It is indeed Hebden Bridge, although of course whilst this is the northern most point and there is only one way in and out for a seventy foot boat, it isn't the end of the line, that's Sowerby Bridge Bridge or Salterhebble. Although Sowerby Bridge is the terminus, it is south of Hebden Bridge but can only be approached from the north. 

 

Apsley Basin where the HNC joins the HBC is also a fair way north and also a dead end of longer boats. The western end of the L&L reaches it's northern most point just west of the junction with the Rufford Branch at a place called New Lane. A 70 footer that gets to this one can not only carry on to Liverpool but complete a circuit via the Mersey, Ship Canal and Weaver if they are so inclined

 

 

[Adam]

4 hours ago, Alway Swilby said:

Furthest north is Leeds if you go up the Trent and round Trent Falls.

If you don't fancy big tidal estuaries and instead up go up the T&M then Hebden Bridge on the Rochdale is the furthest north.

In both cases you would have to go back the way you came.

One to note is 70ft Narrowbeams go through the lock at Thorne, Appreciate the OP is 72'