Derwent and Pocklington

[Fatjoff]

I've got about 8 days off at the end of this month and I'm thinking about trying to explore the River Derwent and Pocklington canal from my base in Ripon.

 

Has anyone on here done this? Any nuggets of useful information to impart, please?

 

I thought I had read somewhere that the Derwent was closed, but googling only tells me that it's closed at Elvington lock upwards.

 

I'm also interested in the journey back up through Naburn. I've done it from Selby lock before, and booked my passage through on the tide, but clearly not from further down river. I guess it's much harder to gauge coming upstream from a greater distance. Has anyone done this?

 

Geoff

[howardang]

I've got about 8 days off at the end of this month and I'm thinking about trying to explore the River Derwent and Pocklington canal from my base in Ripon.

 

Has anyone on here done this? Any nuggets of useful information to impart, please?

 

I thought I had read somewhere that the Derwent was closed, but googling only tells me that it's closed at Elvington lock upwards.

 

I'm also interested in the journey back up through Naburn. I've done it from Selby lock before, and booked my passage through on the tide, but clearly not from further down river. I guess it's much harder to gauge coming upstream from a greater distance. Has anyone done this?

 

Geoff

You may find this information from the PCAS web site useful and it is also worth reading other pages on the site which gives general information about the Pocklington Canal in particular.

 

http://www.pocklingtoncanalsociety.org/navigation.html

 

For timing, please also note that the EA have announced that the Barrage at Barmby will be closed from September 1st for 4 months for work on the gate seals so you will need to be off the Derwent before then.

 

Enjoy the trip.

 

Howard

Edited August 3, 2016 by howardang

[pete.i]

The Derwent is open from Elvington down to the barrage but, as said, the barrage will close in September. The head of navigation on the Pocklington Canal at the moment is Melbourne and there are short term visitor moorings on the Melbourne Arm. The Pocklington Canal does get quite weedy at this time of year as there is little traffic to keep the weeds down. Basically the majority of the traffic consists of the trip boat out of Melbourne and my friends boat from Melbourne. There is water and elsan disposal at Melbourne also toilets and wash basin. No showers or pump out. Nearest pump out is Selby Lock also there are showers at Selby. Make sure you have your BW key. You will need it for the facilities and to unlock the gate to the Melbourne moorings should you want to use the facilities there.

Edited August 3, 2016 by pete.i

[Mac of Cygnet]

I did this a couple of years ago. You have to stop at Barmby to get a Derwent Boat Certificate (can't remember how much it cost), but the chaps there were very friendly and helpful. The certificate lasts for a year. There are pontoon moorings at Barmby, but it's difficult to moor further up.

 

Watch out for the fact that the Derwent is semi-tidal - the flow almost ceases when the barrage is closed at high tide on the Ouse, but becomes an appreciable flow when the barrage is opened (like the Witham at Boston).

 

The Pocklington is a short but beautiful canal, and Melbourne a gem of a little basin, with a reasonably good pub in the village.

[Kieron G]

Hi, if you are venturing up the Derwent past the Pocklington canal to Elvington you will need remove any loose items from the top of your boat, take a saw to cut branches back and not be too worried about your paint work, you can moor in the disused lock but it is a vertical climb up a raking ladder to get off your boat. There are two really nice pubs close by. If I was coming down to Barmby from Naburn in a narrowboat I would drop into Selby and then next day set off from Selby just before high tide so to arrive at Barmby before water has any pace. I think that Barmby is a more difficult lock to enter than Selby when the river is flowing fast. The Kings head at Barmby is also a really nice pub with good food, but not on Tuesdays I think.

[Fatjoff]

Thanks all for the pointers. Selby lock was hard enough to get into, I'm not sure I fancy an even harder struggle into Barmby.

[Kieron G]

Hi, please don't be put off. If you make a passage plan and time your arrival at Barmby from Selby it will be no problem.

[Kieron G]

High water at Barmby is Goole +40 mins.

[Mac of Cygnet]

Thanks all for the pointers. Selby lock was hard enough to get into, I'm not sure I fancy an even harder struggle into Barmby.

I didn't find Barmby at all difficult to get into, just difficult to see! It is (was?) hidden by trees until you get to it. The lock and the barrage are side by side - make sure you head for the correct one.

[howardang]

I didn't find Barmby at all difficult to get into, just difficult to see! It is (was?) hidden by trees until you get to it. The lock and the barrage are side by side - make sure you head for the correct one.

The lock is on the upstream side.

 

Howard

[Tony Dunkley]

The lock is on the upstream side.

 

Howard

 

. . . . only on the Ebb.

[howardang]

. . . . only on the Ebb.

One definition of the word "upstream" is "nearer to the source". If you want to get into a pointless pedantic discussion I'm sorry but I am not playing!:-)

 

Howard

[Tony Dunkley]

One definition of the word "upstream" is "nearer to the source". If you want to get into a pointless pedantic discussion I'm sorry but I am not playing!:-)

 

Howard

 

If you don't want to 'play', then why the petulant and silly response ?

 

Where is the source of the incoming tidal stream at Barmby ?

[Tony Dunkley]

. . . . . . . . you can moor in the disused lock . . . . .

 

I'm sorry to hear that Elvington lock has fallen back into disuse. Do you know what's happened, and why ?

[howardang]

I didn't find Barmby at all difficult to get into, just difficult to see! It is (was?) hidden by trees until you get to it. The lock and the barrage are side by side - make sure you head for the correct one.

You may also find this YouTube clip useful which clearly identifies the location of the lock.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdSOwGVUIaA

 

Howard

[Mac of Cygnet]

If you don't want to 'play', then why the petulant and silly response ?

 

Where is the source of the incoming tidal stream at Barmby ?

I'll play. Unless the water at Barmby is salt or brackish at incoming tide (and I don't think it is) then its source is the Swale and Ure and various other streams combining to form the Ouse. No?

[Tony Dunkley]

I'll play. Unless the water at Barmby is salt or brackish at incoming tide (and I don't think it is) then its source is the Swale and Ure and various other streams combining to form the Ouse. No?

 

No, . . . the question you responded to was ~ " Where is the source of the incoming tidal stream at Barmby ? ".

 

I'm not sure why you think the salinity levels in the Ouse at Barmby are at all relevant, but the direction and origin, or source, of the incoming Flood tide certainly is, . . . . . it's origins are in the North Sea, and it runs upriver as a tidal stream.

 

For the avoidance of ambiguity or confusion in nominating the direction of the stream in a tidal river, it is preferable to use the terms 'upriver' for the Flood and 'downriver' for the Ebb, leaving the terms 'upstream' and 'downstream' confined to the non-tidal reaches.

[Guest]

The lock is on the left, the barrage is on the right.

 

What else is there to think about?

[Mac of Cygnet]

The lock is on the left, the barrage is on the right.

 

What else is there to think about?

 

Whether you're coming from the Derwent or the Ouse?

[Guest]

Whether you're coming from the Derwent or the Ouse?

Ouse.

[Mac of Cygnet]

Ouse.

 

Yes, in this case, but I was responding to your question. Oh, never mind......

[Mac of Cygnet]

 

No, . . . the question you responded to was ~ " Where is the source of the incoming tidal stream at Barmby ? ".

 

I'm not sure why you think the salinity levels in the Ouse at Barmby are at all relevant, but the direction and origin, or source, of the incoming Flood tide certainly is, . . . . . it's origins are in the North Sea, and it runs upriver as a tidal stream.

 

For the avoidance of ambiguity or confusion in nominating the direction of the stream in a tidal river, it is preferable to use the terms 'upriver' for the Flood and 'downriver' for the Ebb, leaving the terms 'upstream' and 'downstream' confined to the non-tidal reaches.

 

'Cause' and 'source' are not the same. Of course the stream direction on the flood is caused by the tide in the North Sea, but all the water in that stream comes from the hills of Yorkshire and they are its source.

 

I entirely agree that 'upriver' and 'downriver' removes ambiguity, though.

[Tony Dunkley]

The lock is on the left, the barrage is on the right.

 

What else is there to think about?

 

You could think about the fact that making sense out of using the terms left and right depends on specifying the direction you're travelling or looking in.

[Guest]

 

You could think about the fact that making sense out of using the terms left and right depends on specifying the direction you're travelling or looking in.

 

How so?

 

If you are on the Ouse and looking at the structures side by side the lock is on the left and the barrage is on the right, how does this change with the direction of travel?

[Tony Dunkley]

 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Of course the stream direction on the flood is caused by the tide in the North Sea, but all the water in that stream comes from the hills of Yorkshire and they are its source.

.

 

You wouldn't say that if you had ever been on the Ouse on a really big Spring tide, . . . . such as those that come at the times of the Spring and Autumn Equinox.

 

The in-coming [Flood] tide can attain around 6 knots to above Selby, with an accompanying rise in river levels of as much as 15 feet, or more, in just about 3 hours at Barmby.

 

There is no way that such an amount of river/run-off water could arrive in the Ouse around Barmby and Drax in the space of three hours, without most of North Yorkshire being under several feet of water already.