85-553: Stanley Ferry Aqueduct was built between 1836 and 1839 to take the Aire and Calder Navigation over the River Calder in West Yorkshire , England . It is one of the earliest through arch bridges in the world and is considered to be the longest span aqueduct executed in cast iron . Designed by George Leather Sr. and built by H. McIntosh, the aqueduct has a span of 165 feet (50 m),
170-497: A 'Lund Tunnel' which serves to carry a drain under the canal. The East Coast Main Line crosses next, after which comes Burton Hall Bridge, an accommodation bridge designed by William Jessop, and constructed when the canal was built. It is made of millstone grit, and retains an iron roller on the north-west corner of the arch, to protect the structure from towing ropes. The A19 road crosses at Burn Bridge, and another drain passes under
255-484: A draught of 8.2 feet (2.5 m). Locks on the Wakefield section can accommodate vessels which are 195 by 17.6 feet (59.4 by 5.4 m) with a draught of 7.5 feet (2.3 m), though rigid vessels are constrained to 141 ft to enable turning at Wakefield while the locks below Castleford have three sets of gates, so that a 200-foot (61 m) section can be used, rather than the full 457 feet (139 m) required by
340-470: A hydraulic hoist at Goole, which would lift them from the water and tip them over. Warde-Aldam thought that such a system could carry 45,000 tons of coal per year, and £13,382 was allocated for three train boats, a hoist, and hydraulic machinery to control the hoist and the lock into the docks. By late 1864, the prototypes were operational, with the stern section replaced by a pusher tug . Soon afterwards, extra compartments were ordered, as experience showed that
425-459: A lock drops the level by 7 feet (2.1 m) into the River Aire, which flows in a big loop at this point. The river follows a meandering course to Beal, where a bridge carries Intake Lane over it, and a large weir drops the level by another 8 feet (2.4 m). Beal Lock is to the right of the weir, and is 2.8 miles (4.5 km) from the start of this section. After a further 3.7 miles (6.0 km),
510-512: A narrow boat. Much of the ex-industrial (western) part of the Navigation now has the appearance of a tree-lined, gently-twisting river. The eastern part of the Navigation, sometimes known as the Knottingley and Goole Canal, is rather different: it has long straight stretches, but mainly through flat land that has always been agricultural. Between Wakefield and Leeds, via Castleford, the Navigation
595-522: A new cut at Castleford and on the line to Leeds, but legal action over the Selby Canal meant that it had to be made deeper and wider in 1832 and 1833. The Leeds line was completed in April 1835, somewhat later than anticipated, as the banks were made more substantial, to cope with steam tugs, which would be introduced in due course. The seven locks above Castelford were all 18 feet (5.5 m) wide. Improvements to
680-510: A similar system in September 1974. Called BACAT , for Barges Aboard Catamaran, the system consisted of trains of barges, which were pushed by a tug, and which would be loaded between the twin hulls of a custom-built delivery ship. The ship would then transport them across the North Sea to continental waterways, without their contents having to be transshipped . The concept failed after 18 months, as
765-519: A single lock at Lemonroyd. Opencast mining finally resumed ten years later, after the site had been pumped out, but the coal reserves are now exhausted, and the site forms a nature reserve, with wet grasslands, reedbeds and open water covering 740 acres (300 ha). A 20th-century modification of the compartment boat system was used to feed the coal-fired Ferrybridge "C" power station. Starting in 1967, Cawoods Hargreaves used trains of three tubs or coal pans, which were rigidly connected, and pushed by
850-404: A six-day operation, after which the navigation was diverted over it, although the old aqueduct was left in place and can still be used. Although coal mining was one of the main reasons for the success of the navigation, it has also brought problems, caused by subsidence. In March 1988, the bank near Lemonroyd lock collapsed into St Aidan's opencast mine , which then flooded. A significant factor
935-638: A ten-arched aqueduct over the River Aire at Hunslet , and a 400-yard (370 m) tunnel at Fairburn. The estimated cost of £59,468 was raised in two months, and a bill was presented to Parliament in December 1772, as was another by the Aire and Calder Navigation for improvements to the Aire below Haddlesey. The parliamentary committee found a number of issues with the Leeds and Selby scheme, and generally favoured improvements to
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#17328478347721020-519: A tug and seven compartments could fit into the larger locks. In 1874, Warde-Aldam noted that "...the people now call them ' Tom Puddings ' from their wobbling gait." The length of the trains increased to ten or eleven tubs, but such a train was difficult to steer from the rear, and so the tugs moved to the front and pulled the assembly. In 1880 they carried 151,860 tons, and by 1913 there were 18 tugs, 1,010 compartments, and 1,560,006 tons were carried, 33 times Warde-Aldam's original estimate. Around 1864,
1105-536: A tug when loaded. The trains were filled with coal using canalside chutes at the colliery and pushed to the power station, where a hoist lifted each pan from the canal and upturned it to drop its contents onto a conveyor belt. Nine tugs and 35 pans were employed, with each pan holding around 170 tonnes. By the time the final load left Astley colliery in December 2002, 43 million tonnes had been delivered to Ferrybridge in this way. Experiments were made with trains of four pans, which allowed copper pipes to be carried on top of
1190-462: A width of 24 feet (7.3 m) and a depth of 8.5 feet (2.6 m). It is still in use today, though an additional wider concrete aqueduct was constructed alongside in 1981 and the bridge was then renovated. Stanley Ferry is also the place where the Tom Pudding tub boats were loaded with coal from local collieries between 1863 and 1985 and transported down to Goole in long trains by canal. The site
1275-574: A winding course to join the River Ouse at Airmyn . The section below Haddlesey is no longer part of the navigation, as a derelict lock blocks access to the lower river. Instead, the Selby Canal flows northwards from Haddlesey to the Ouse at Selby . Below Dole Bank Junction, the Knottingley and Goole Canal flows eastwards to join the Ouse at Goole . From just before Newbridge, where the modern A614 road crosses
1360-503: Is a 6-mile (9.7 km) canal with two locks, which bypasses the lower reaches of the River Aire in Yorkshire , England , from the village of West Haddlesey to the town of Selby where it joins the River Ouse . It opened in 1778, and provided the main outlet for the Aire and Calder Navigation until 1826, when it was bypassed by a new cut from Ferrybridge to Goole . Selby steadily declined after that, although traffic to York still used
1445-415: Is a humpbacked bridge, built of sandstone ashlar, and is topped by a cast iron balustrade. Just before Paper House Bridge, a drain enters the canal on the west bank. The bridge is a late-eighteenth century single arched humpback bridge, made of millstone grit, and is again grade II listed . There are two semi-circular ponds, one on either side of the channel to the north of the bridge, a feature known as
1530-709: Is achieved have changed significantly. More recent canals now also make the Navigation a vital link in the English and Welsh connected inland waterway network. Beyond Leeds, the Leeds and Liverpool Canal carries boats over the Pennines. The Calder and Hebble Navigation , which connects to the Navigation at Wakefield, allows boats to reach the Huddersfield Broad and Narrow Canals, and the Rochdale Canal . The Selby Canal connects to
1615-485: Is one of three historic fords crossing the River Calder near Wakefield . Because the water was deepened for navigation a ferry became necessary, but was replaced by the first bridge in 1879. Like many through arch bridges, the design of the bridge is often confused with the tied-arch bridge ; many bridges have both characteristics. However in this case the bridge is of cast iron, which would be weak in tension. Although
1700-637: Is part of a circular cruising route or "ring", formed by the Leeds & Liverpool and the Huddersfield or Rochdale canals. The Outer Pennine Ring utilises the Huddersfield Canal, while the North Pennine Ring uses the Rochdale Canal for the southern crossing of the Pennines. Beyond Castleford, boaters can travel on to Selby, York, Goole, Sheffield, and Keadby. With the possible restoration of
1785-511: Is the canalised section of the Rivers Aire and Calder in West Yorkshire , England. The first improvements to the rivers above Knottingley were completed in 1704 when the Aire was made navigable to Leeds and the Calder to Wakefield, by the construction of 16 locks. Lock sizes were increased several times, as was the depth of water, to enable larger boats to use the system. The Aire below Haddlesey
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#17328478347721870-404: The Aire and Calder Navigation , and there were several schemes to bypass part or all of it. John Longbotham was employed by some of the backers for the Leeds and Liverpool Canal to survey a route from Leeds to Selby, although the Leeds and Selby Canal was not officially supported by the Leeds and Liverpool undertaking. The canal would have been just over 23 miles (37 km) long, with ten locks,
1955-736: The Barnsley Canal and the Dearne and Dove Canal , the section between Wakefield and the New Junction Canal might become part of a new " Yorkshire Ring ". On 10 May 2021, an articulated lorry crashed off a bridge from the M62 and into the navigation. The tractor unit landed on the bank and the driver suffered minor injuries, while the trailer floated away. Download coordinates as: [REDACTED] Media related to Aire and Calder Navigation at Wikimedia Commons Selby Canal The Selby Canal
2040-570: The 1840s, by making traffic agreements, but still suffered a significant drop in trade. Receipts dropped by one-third between 1851 and 1856. Thomas Hammond Bartholomew, the chief engineer, had been experimenting with steam power since 1813, and steam paddle tugs had been operating on the system since 1831. When he died in late 1852, two-thirds of the traffic was pulled by steam tugs. His son, William Hammond Bartholomew, replaced him and introduced tugs with propellers soon afterwards. These could tow ten keels , carrying 700 tons, but were held up at locks, as
2125-555: The Aire and Calder dabbled in owning its own railways, purchasing the Silkstone Waggonway from the Barnsley Canal . But this proved a poor investment; in 1866 the waggonway carried just 3,246 tons of coal down from a peak of over 32,000 in 1851, and in 1870 no coal was carried at all. In August 1872, it was reported that "the rails have been pulled up and sold". After the First World War , another programme of improvements to
2210-578: The Aire and Calder were repaired. Before the building of the canal, Selby had been the furthest point upstream on the Ouse which could be reached by seagoing ships. Although some of the barges which used the canal travelled up the Ouse to York or down to the Humber Ports and the River Trent , this traffic was mainly restricted to coal, and other cargoes were transhipped at Selby. The larger Humber keels , sloops, schooners and brigs, some of 200 tons, carried
2295-501: The Aire and the Selby canal was maintained by the lock at Bank Dole. Goole became an official port in 1827, when it gained its own Customs facilities. The scheme had cost £361,484, of which £221,350 had been borrowed, while the rest came from company resources. Faced with yet another outside scheme which would bypass the navigation from Wakefield to Ferrybridge, the company looked at improvements which would give 7 feet (2.1 m) of water all
2380-419: The Aire continues straight ahead, and there is a sharp left turn into Haddlesey Flood Lock and the start of the Selby Canal. The river section is marked by high flood banks. Haddlesey Lock is normally open unless there are high volumes of water passing down the Aire. Shortly after the lock, the canal is crossed by Tankard's Stone Bridge, which dates from the construction of the canal and is grade II listed . It
2465-435: The Aire route to Leeds. The changes would allow 100-ton boats to reach both destinations, and became part of the Aire and Calder Navigation Act 1828 ( 9 Geo. 4 . c. xcviii) which was obtained on 19 June 1828. This act included a provision to increase the navigable depth of the Selby Canal to 5 feet (1.5 m), which the company hoped to achieve by raising the dam boards on the weirs at Haddlesey and Beal. They knew that this
2550-456: The Aire, but no decision was made on either proposal. Following the impasse, the Aire and Calder decided that a route to Selby might be a better solution than improvements to the lower Aire, and William Jessop , working for John Smeaton , surveyed a route that ran from Haddlesey to Selby, which would require a lock at Selby, where the canal joined the River Ouse, and floodgates at Haddlesey. By
2635-508: The Barnsley Canal at Cold Hiendley to the River Don above Newbridge. To head off the competition, the Aire and Calder proposed a new cut from Knottingley to Goole, which included the provision of a cut at Bank Dole to maintain the connection to the Selby Canal. A petition was presented to Parliament in late 1819, and as a result of opposition, clauses were inserted to maintain the lower Aire and
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2720-422: The Calder to Wakefield took longer, as there were problems with floods filling the workings, difficulty with constructing foundations for an aqueduct which would carry the navigation over the River Calder at Stanley Ferry , and then in transporting the castings for the aqueduct to the site. The cost of the improvements ran to around £510,000. The Aire and Calder tried to work with the railways when they arrived in
2805-691: The City of York, who feared that the River Ouse would be damaged by the scheme. The parliamentary bill was hotly contested, and the House of Lords asked Trinity House to produce a report on the three rivers. This favoured the scheme, and in May 1699 the Aire and Calder Navigation Act 1698 ( 10 Will. 3 . c. 25) was granted. It named 18 undertakers, nine from the Corporation of Leeds, and nine "gentlemen of Wakefield", who would oversee
2890-537: The Dutch River at Newbridge, with a branch to Doncaster , and another for a Went and Wakefield Canal, to connect Cold Hiendley on the Barnsley Canal to Newbridge on the Don. With revenue from tolls reaching £82,092 in 1818, which enabled a dividend of £54,000 to be paid, the company was in a healthy state, and proposed their own route from Haddlesey to the Dutch River. The destination was then changed to Goole , and John Rennie
2975-424: The Leeds to Selby bill was rejected by Parliament, but the Aire and Calder bill was passed as the Aire and Calder Navigation Act 1774 ( 14 Geo. 3 . c. 96) with a few amendments. Construction of the Selby Canal began in 1775, and it was opened on 29 April 1778. The new cut at Castleford opened in spring 1775, while those at Knostrop and Hunslet were finished in 1779. Methley cut was completed, but Woodlesford
3060-532: The Ouse, from where boats can travel upstream to reach York, Boroughbridge and Ripon , or downstream to the River Derwent . Beyond Goole are the Humber and hence Hull , Immingham , and the North Sea . The Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation , which can be reached via the New Junction Canal , forms a link with Doncaster , Rotherham and Sheffield to the south west, and the tidal River Trent at Keadby to
3145-422: The River Ouse between Goole and above York was managed by the Ouse and Foss Navigation Trust, but was later transferred to British Waterways. The Selby Canal was then promoted as part of a through route to York, and by 2006, over 2,000 boats were using Selby Lock each year, more than double the number recorded in 1988. Today the canal is used almost entirely by leisure boats. Part of the towpath has been included in
3230-404: The Selby Canal had promoted. Of the trade above Haddlesey, around four-fifths travelled via Selby, with the rest using the lower Aire. The engineer George Leather, writing in 1822, noted that the route to Goole via Selby was much better than the lower Aire, but that it still suffered from problems. These included the size and depth of the canal, the provision of only one lock between the canal and
3315-486: The Selby Canal, and to ensure parity of tolls on the new cut and the old routes. An act of Parliament to authorise the new route and other works, the Aire and Calder Navigation Act 1820 ( 1 Geo. 4 . c. xxxix) was obtained on 30 June 1820. The plans developed, with a basin and locks at Goole being added in 1821, and an increase in the navigable depth from 6 feet (1.8 m) to 7 feet (2.1 m) soon afterwards. John Rennie ,
3400-502: The Selby Horseshoe Walk. The canal takes boats with a maximum length of 78.5 feet (23.9 m), a beam of 16.5 feet (5.0 m), a draught of 4 feet (1.2 m) and an air draught of 9.7 feet (3.0 m). Although not historically part of the Selby Canal, the former section of the River Aire from Bank Dole Junction through Bank Dole Lock and Beal Lock to the flood lock at West Haddlesey is now normally considered to be part of
3485-480: The aqueduct channel is in the right position to act in tying the arch, it would have no strength in this direction. At Stanley Ferry, the outward sideways thrust of the arch is retained by its abutments , as for the simple arch bridge . This article about a bridge in the United Kingdom is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Aire and Calder Navigation The Aire and Calder Navigation
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3570-585: The canal before the site of a dismantled railway bridge. which used to cross just to the south of the A63 road bridge. Immediately afterwards, another original bridge carries Brayton Lane across the canal. Then the Doncaster to Selby railway line crosses at Brayton Railway Bridge, and the A1041 road at Bawtry Road Bridge. The only swing bridge is situated just before the final lock, and is operated by boaters. A wider section marks
3655-412: The canal to be made deeper still in 1833, but their request was turned down. The partially derelict wharf wall at Selby was replaced in 1836, allowing fully laden ships to moor alongside it. Although most traffic on the Aire and Calder now passed through Goole, trade with York continued to use the Selby Canal. The town of Selby declined, although there was a brief upturn in its fortunes in 1834, following
3740-487: The canal, giving it a total length of 11.7 miles (18.8 km) and four locks. Because the River Ouse at Selby is tidal, the lock can only be used at certain states of the tide, and a lockkeeper is in attendance when a transit into the river is possible. Operation of the lock is fully mechanised. From the main Ferrybridge to Goole cut on the Aire and Calder Canal, a short branch leaves the main channel near Knottingley, and
3825-404: The canal. Powers to increase its depth were obtained in 1828, and the residents of Selby used legal action to ensure that the company complied with its own act of Parliament . The locks were enlarged in 1885, and subsequent history was uneventful, with the canal eventually coming under the control of British Waterways in 1962. When British Waterways also took control of the River Ouse , the canal
3910-490: The coal for delivery to Goole, but this was short-lived. Coal carrying came to an abrupt halt in 2003 when the St Aidan's opencast mine was exhausted and the coal from Kellingley colliery was found to have levels of sulphur content high above the acceptable limit. During 2008, three of the trains were used on the River Don, to transport 250,000 tonnes of limestone from a quarry at Cadeby to Hexthorpe. British Waterways introduced
3995-445: The company eventually built much of the new town as well as the docks. The canal and docks opened on 20 July 1826. A barge lock, 72.5 by 22 feet (22.1 by 6.7 m) and a ship lock, 120 by 33.7 feet (36.6 by 10.3 m), capable of taking vessels up to 400 tons, connected the extensive docks to the Ouse. The new section was 18.7 miles (30.1 km) long, with locks at Ferrybridge , Whitley , Pollington and Goole. The connection to
4080-443: The compartment boats. The main problem with upgrading the Wakefield branch was the dimensions of George Leather's cast iron aqueduct over the River Calder at Stanley Ferry. Structural analysis showed that parts of the ironwork were overloaded, and so in 1981 a new concrete aqueduct was cast by John Laing Construction Ltd , on a site a little further upstream. The complete structure was then pushed into position by hydraulic jacks in
4165-400: The construction of a counting house, a warehouse, a rigging house, a tarring house, a sailmaker's shop, a crane and a repository for old ropes. Two cranes were erected in 1787, one on the canal and the other on the river, while an extra lock-keeper had to be employed in 1788 because of the volume of trade. Ten years later, John Foster built a private dry dock at Selby, where many of the boats of
4250-447: The depth of water. There was a long-running dispute with Arthur Ingram, who owned Knottingley mill, which started in 1731, and was not finally resolved until 1776, when the company bought both of Ingram's mills. Despite this, the general profitability of the navigation led the undertakers to be complacent about its development. They asked John Smeaton to suggest improvements in 1771, but the subsequent attempt to authorise such improvements
4335-441: The dock workers at Hull blacklisted the entire British Waterways fleet, because they believed that the system would threaten their jobs. Most of the commercial traffic using the navigation now consists of petroleum tankers and gravel barges. The Aire and Calder was built for commercial freight, and although the volume carried has dropped significantly, particularly since coal deliveries to Ferrybridge power station by canal stopped,
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#17328478347724420-468: The east. In the early 1600s, the River Aire was navigable to Knottingley, and boats carrying up to 30 tons traded on the river, which was tidal up to this point. The traders of Leeds were keen to have a navigable link to the town, to make easier the export of woollen cloth, but bills presented to Parliament in 1621 and 1625 had failed. William Pickering, who was mayor of Leeds, had made further attempts to obtain an act of Parliament for improvements to
4505-420: The engineer for the project, died in 1821, and the following year George Leather, who took over this role, revealed plans for a ship dock at Goole, while in 1824 the start of the new cut was moved to Ferrybridge. Although a boat carrying directors travelled from Ferrybridge to Goole on 28 July 1825, the canal was not then complete. Opening eventually took place on 20 July 1826, partly due to a drought which delayed
4590-490: The filling of the cut. Boats could still reach the Selby Canal by using the Dole Bank Lock. The Aire and Calder company began to use Goole rather than Selby as the destination for all of their craft, and gradually hauliers and boat captains moved to the new location, resulting in a steady decline at Selby. Further improvements to the Calder route to Wakefield were designed by Thomas Telford , while George Leather redesigned
4675-471: The goods further afield. By 1800, some 369,780 tons were being handled, and industries such as ropemaking, sailmaking and shipbuilding thrived. In the twenty years from 1801 to 1821, the population of Selby increased from 2,861 to 4,097. Dividends paid by the Aire and Calder Navigation showed a large increase, from £11,625 in 1777 to £32,000 in 1791, much of which was funded by the increase in miscellaneous goods, including wool, bales of cloth and groceries, which
4760-558: The gradual demise of the coal industry led to compartment traffic ceasing in 1986. The 20th century saw two major phases of improvement. In 1905, the New Junction Canal connected the Aire and Calder to the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation near Stainforth. It was funded by the Aire and Calder, with the Don Navigation eventually meeting half the cost. During the 1960s, the navigation underwent another modernisation scheme, in which
4845-408: The improvements to the River Aire (from the River Ouse at Airmyn via Castleford to Leeds ) and the River Calder (from Castleford to Wakefield ). The act gave them powers which included the creation of weirs bypassed by short "cuts" equipped with locks, the creation of a towpath , and the right to buy and demolish mills and weirs . John Hadley was engaged as the engineer immediately, and by 1704
4930-403: The keels had to be worked through one at a time. Between 1860 and 1867, the locks from Goole to Castleford were extended to 206 by 22 feet (62.8 by 6.7 m) to alleviate this. In 1861, Bartholomew met with the chairman, Warde-Aldam, to propose a system of sectional boats, each consisting of six compartments, with a bow and stern section. The compartments or tubs would be unloaded into ships by
5015-440: The larger barges. The new route provided a better route from Leeds and Wakefield to Hull, although it was a similar length to the route via the lower Aire, but considerably reduced the distance from Leeds to York. The port at Airmyn on the lower Aire closed in early 1779, and 8 acres (3.2 ha) of land were leased at Selby, on which to build port facilities and warehouses. Staithes were built in 1781 and 1782, and 1782 also saw
5100-421: The locks from Goole to Leeds were upgraded and enlarged to accommodate vessels conforming to the 600-tonne Euro-barge standard. There is some variation in lock sizes, with the smallest being at Knostrop, which is 203 by 22 feet (61.9 by 6.7 m) with a water depth of 8.4 feet (2.6 m) over the lock cill. Euro barges are 200 by 20 feet (61.0 by 6.1 m), and when fully loaded with 600 tonnes of cargo, have
5185-474: The locks was carried out, extending the locks to 457 feet (139 m), which enabled trains of 19 compartments to operate regularly. Experiments with trains as long as 38 tubs were carried out, but the difficulty of splitting the train to pass through the locks meant that 19 was the usual maximum. The compartments continued until the late 1960s to carry around half a million tons of coal, long after most British canals had ceased to be used for commercial traffic, but
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#17328478347725270-432: The lower Aire, but his assistant, William Jessop actually carried out the work. He proposed a 7 + 1 ⁄ 4 -mile (11.7 km) canal from Haddlesey lock to the Ouse at Newland. With Parliament not reaching a decision, they reworked their plan, which was now for a 5 + 1 ⁄ 4 -mile (8.4 km) canal from Haddlesey to Selby , with a new cut from Ferrybridge to Beal, and improvements above Castleford. In 1774
5355-594: The navigable depth was increased to 6 feet (1.8 m). The Aire and Calder remained highly successful, although little is heard of the Selby Canal after 1900. In January 1948, private ownership of the canal ceased, when it was taken over by the British Transport Commission, as part of the post-war nationalisation. Several changes followed, until the British Waterways Board took control in 1962, later to become British Waterways . Before 1985,
5440-460: The navigation still carried 300,000 tonnes of freight in 2007, down from 1.64 million tonnes in 2000. The Leeds to Castleford section and much of the Wakefield branch are now mainly used as leisure routes, but below Castleford, the industrial nature of the waterway is more obvious, and pleasure boats must give way to commercial vessels. 600 tonne vessels, designed to make maximum use of the locks, produce considerable wash, and are not as manoeuvrable as
5525-509: The nominal capital at £26,700. Regular dividends at 7 per cent were paid to the shareholders from 1718, and the navigation was leased to various groups, who would be responsible for collection of tolls and repairs. The lease rose from £800 in 1704 to £2,600 in 1729, when receipts from each of the previous five years had averaged £6,016. The early trade consisted mainly of woollen goods from Leeds, Wakefield, Halifax and Bradford , with wool and corn from Lincolnshire and East Anglia travelling in
5610-485: The opening of the Leeds and Selby Railway , which lasted until 1840, when the railway from Selby to Hull opened. Lengthening of the locks on the main Aire and Calder lines to take compartment boats was completed by 1873, and the locks on the Selby line were rebuilt between 1885 and 1886. This work included Dole Bank Lock and Beal Lock, on the old course of the Aire, as well as Haddlesey Flood Lock and Selby Lock. The locks were made 78.5 by 16.5 feet (23.9 by 5.0 m), and
5695-414: The opposite direction. By the 1720s there were also significant quantities of coal. Some development of the navigation occurred. In 1744, the undertakers bought some land at Airmyn, and developed warehousing and wharfage there, as a more convenient point than Rawcliffe, where the water was shallower. In the 1760s, £13,000 was spent on improvements and maintenance, with several weirs being rebuilt to improve
5780-416: The original work was completed, including 12 locks on the Aire between Haddesley and Leeds and 4 on the Calder. The locks were 58 to 60 feet (17.7 to 18.3 m) long by 14.5 to 15 feet (4.4 to 4.6 m) wide with 3.5 feet (1.1 m) depths over the sills. Capital to fund the scheme had been raised separately by the Wakefield and Leeds committees. A complicated restructuring of the finances in 1721 fixed
5865-442: The resident engineer. James and John Pinkerton were the main contractors, and construction began in early 1775. A great celebration was held at Selby on 29 April 1778, when the canal opened, having cost £20,000. The town of Selby flourished following the opening, with a custom house which enabled traffic to proceed straight to the North Sea without stopping at Hull. While the canal was fairly successful, there were some problems. There
5950-406: The river in 1679, again without success. As the 1600s drew to a close, a number of bills were passed for other rivers, and there was general support for river navigations. A bill was drawn up in 1698, with support from wool traders in Leeds and general merchants in Wakefield. John Hadley surveyed the Aire, and Samuel Shelton surveyed the Calder. Although the bill had a lot of support, it was opposed by
6035-544: The river, and that there were no docks at Selby, suitable for the brigs and other vessels that used the river. Meanwhile, the Aire and Calder were facing the prospect of rival schemes to provide canals parallel to the rivers. The Aire and Dun Canal was proposed in 1817, to run from Knottingley to Newbridge on the Dutch River, with a branch to Doncaster on the River Don Navigation , while the Went and Wakefield Canal would join
6120-419: The spring of 1774, the Leeds and Selby Canal was supported by the Leeds and Liverpool company, and rival bills were presented to Parliament. The Leeds and Selby proposal was defeated, but the Aire and Calder bill became an act of Parliament , the Aire and Calder Navigation Act 1774 ( 14 Geo. 3 . c. 96) on 14 June 1774. The company employed Jessop as engineer on a part-time basis, with John Gott acting as
6205-404: The time, and became a major transhipment port for the smaller boats using the canal. Canal boats were limited to about 60 tons, whereas ships of up to 200 tons could reach Selby. By 1800, it was handling some 369,780 tons of goods, and the support industries of ropemaking, sailmaking and shipbuilding were expanding. In 1817, there was a proposal for an Aire and Don Canal, to connect Knottingley to
6290-422: The traffic is now petroleum and gravel, rather than the coal which kept the navigation profitable for 150 years. The Aire and Calder is a canalisation of the River Calder from Wakefield to Castleford , where it joins the branch from Leeds , which follows the River Aire . The Aire continues to flow eastwards to Bank Dole Junction, then continues in a north-easterly direction to Haddlesey, from where it follows
6375-569: The waterway, this branch of the navigation runs parallel to the Dutch River, an artificial channel built in 1635 to alleviate flooding caused by Cornelius Vermuyden 's original diversion of the River Don northwards to the River Aire in 1628. The Aire and Calder still fulfils its original purpose of linking Leeds and Wakefield with York and the Humber (and thence the Trent ), although the routes by which this
6460-454: The way to both Leeds and Wakefield. Thomas Telford surveyed both routes, and it became the basis for an act of Parliament, the Aire and Calder Navigation Act 1828 ( 9 Geo. 4 . c. xcviii), which was passed in June 1828. It included a clause to ensure that the Selby Canal was maintained with a depth of water of 5 feet (1.5 m), and made provision for extensions to Goole docks. Work started on
6545-403: Was a 2-mile (3.2 km) section where the banks consisted of loose sand, which had to be regularly dredged to prevent the sand blocking it, and Elias Wright, who was the engineer in 1797, complained that the depth of only 3.5 feet (1.1 m) was too shallow, and that extra boards had to be kept on Haddlesey weir to maintain the water levels. As cargoes increased the canal became too shallow for
6630-461: Was asked to survey the route. Those opposing the scheme were placated by a clause which ensured the Aire to Airmyn and the Selby Canal would be maintained. In July 1821, Rennie proposed the construction of docks at Goole, rather than a lock into the river, and the company proposed that 7 feet (2.1 m) of water should be available. Rennie died in late 1821, and George Leather took over as engineer. Construction at Goole started on 28 September 1822, and
6715-481: Was bypassed by the opening of the Selby Canal in 1778. A canal from Knottingley to the new docks and new town at Goole provided a much shorter route to the River Ouse from 1826. The New Junction Canal was constructed in 1905, to link the system to the River Don Navigation , by then part of the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation . Steam tugs were introduced in 1831. In the 1860s, compartment boats were introduced, later called Tom Puddings , from which coal
6800-458: Was disputed in Parliament on the basis that the present navigation was totally inadequate. The recently finished Calder and Hebble Navigation proposed to build a canal from Wakefield to the Dutch River, which would bypass the Calder completely, and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal supported a Leeds to Selby canal, which would bypass the Aire. During 1772, they asked Smeaton to survey a route to avoid
6885-402: Was marketed as part of a through route to York , and the number of boats using it have steadily increased. Although not originally part of the canal, the section of the Aire from Dole Bank Lock to Haddlesey Flood Lock is usually considered to be part of the modern Selby Canal, making it 11.7 miles (18.8 km) long with four locks. In the late 1760s, there was dissatisfaction with the state of
6970-517: Was not actually legal, and a case brought before the Quarter Sessions upheld this position, so they started to make the channel wider and deeper. However, the residents of Selby were not satisfied, and further legal action by them resulted in the company having to carry out additional work in 1832 and 1833. The work included the provision of a new lock into the Ouse, as the old one was in a poor state of repair. Traders at Malton and York petitioned for
7055-426: Was not, as the company bought the mill there instead. All locks were replaced, and the total cost was over £60,000, of which around £20,000 was for the Selby Canal. The navigation remained profitable, paying £9,000 in dividends in 1775, which had risen to £32,000 by 1791. Most traffic now used the Selby route, and the transhipment facilities at Airmyn were closed in 1779. Selby was the upper limit for seagoing ships at
7140-541: Was the presence of excavations below the opencast workings where lower coal seams had previously been mined. The failure resulted in some 780,000 cubic yards (600,000 m ) of material, including the banks of the river and the canal, slipping into the workings, which then flooded to a depth of 230 feet (70 m), creating a lake which covered 250 acres (100 ha). An act of Parliament was obtained to allow 1.9 miles (3.1 km) of new waterway to be constructed. The original locks at Kippax and Lemonroyd were replaced by
7225-466: Was unloaded into ships by large hydraulic hoists. This system enabled the canal to carry at its peak more than 1.5 million tons of coal per year, and was not abandoned until 1986. To handle trains of compartments, many of the locks were lengthened to 450 feet (140 m). Although much of the upper reaches are now designated as leisure routes, there is still significant commercial traffic on the navigation. 300,000 tons were carried in 2007, although most of
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