Back down the Ure and the Ouse to Selby

It is quite a while since I updated this blog but here is the story of our return from Ripon and our tidal passage back from Naburn to Selby:

Last Saturday (20th July) we had a day with our friend Richard who lives in Ripon.  He came to the boat for coffee and then we walked with him following the River Skell out to Studley Royal which is the east end of the Fountains Abbey estate owned by the National Trust.  Here we are by the River Skell, but what are we pointing at?  The answer is that this grating is the source of the water for the Ripon Canal.  So although the Ripon Canal is part of the Ure Navigation its water comes from a different river - the Skell.  To be fair, the Skell flows into the Ure near Ripon.

We've seen a few of these lovely flowers lately.  It is a great bellflower or Campanula latifolia.  It often grows near water.

Further up the River Skell we entered the Studley Royal Estate and followed the Seven Bridges Valley.  Helen is standing on one of the bridges: we only counted five.  You might also notice that the river bed is dry.  It disappears underground for this section reappearing lower downstream.

After lunch in the National Trust cafe we walked up the hill to have a look at St Mary's Church.  It is Victorian and designed by the architect, William Burges.  We have admired this church from outside before but it has always been closed. We were lucky that our visit allowed us to see the wonderful decorated interior.

The ceiling is lavishly painted.

Being on a boat called Leo, we are always on the lookout for lions.  This one holds up a column in front of the window.  It also has wings.  Perhaps that is what Leo needed when navigating the tide out of Goole!

After a cup of tea in the Spa Gardens back in Ripon, Richard gave us a guided tour of the Workhouse which now belongs to the Museums Trust.  This is the Master's Garden which has been laid out with plants of the period and guided by old photos.

On Sunday we started our return journey.  The first lock is Rhodesfield Lock and it has very leaky top gates.  The trouble is that because these locks are barely 57 feet long, so we had to reverse Leo into this waterfall in order to open the bottom gates at the other end of the lock.  Even with the back doors held closed and standing inside them, Ian got wet feet.

We cruised down to Boroughbridge and cycled to Aldborough and finally got to see the Roman remains which are only open at weekends.  This is a section of the wall round the Roman Town.

And there are two mosaics. This is one of them.

While we were out more boats had arrived and by evening there were 12 narrowboats, a broadbeam and a cruiser.  We are here double breasted with Escapology and nearer the bridge there was some triple mooring.  It was surprising that we all finished up in Boroughbridge as generally these are not busy waters.  The boat behind us (with the stripy roof) belongs to Charlie and Sue who live in a house in Crooke near Wigan where Ian's great grandparents lived in the 1890s.  How about that for another coincidence?

On Monday we carried on downriver to Linton where we moored above the lock and were the only visitor there overnight.  This is a view from the lock of the shallows on the bend below - ideal for cows.  The church with the spire is at Newton-on-Ouse where we stayed on the way up river.

On Tuesday we came back to York.  Behind Helen is Lendal Bridge.  In the afternoon Ian nipped home to collect the post and Helen visited the Castle Museum.  In the evening we had a second visit to the Rose Theatre to see a very entertaining performance of The Tempest.

On Wednesday we only had a few miles to cruise to Naburn so we spent the morning in York.  This is the clock of St Martin's Church.  The admiral with the sextant on top of the clock rotates to follow the sun.

We had a look round the Yorkshire Museum which includes bits of St Mary's Abbey in the basement.  The museum was built over part of the Abbey ruins.  These four beautifully carved statues were preserved and were found face down in the foundations of a later building.  They are 12th century.

This is the Middleham Jewel made of gold with a sapphire.  Like several other finds in the museum it was found by a metal detectorist.  It is late 15th century and wonderfully intricate.

On our way back to Leo we stopped to watch this street entertainer.  Riding a 9 foot unicycle and juggling flaming torches.  Later he did it briefly while blindfolded.  Quite impressive.

A good name for a street this one.  Opinions differ as to the origin of this strange name but it probably means "neither one thing nor the other".  It is the shortest street in York.  "Gate" is a common street name in the north being the Viking word for street.

We spent Thursday morning doing a few jobs on the boat and trying to keep out of the sun. We entered Naburn lock for our journey down the tidal Ouse to Selby at 2 o'clock in 34 degree heat and with a stiff hot breeze blowing. The lock was full with three narrowboats (shown in the picture), one broadbeam and a cruiser.

We set off with the flow gently downstream and soon met a couple of narrowboats coming up river.

By the time we reached Cawood Bridge shown here we were pushing against the incoming tide.  The boat in front of us is 'Midnight' whose owner Frank told us of a novel technique for coming into the lock at Selby.  But more of that in a minute.

Most of this passage is fairly straightforward but the helmsman needs to wake up when you get to Selby.  First there is a sharp left bend by this flour mill to negotiate, taking care to avoid the sandbank on the inside of the bend.  By this point in our trip we were on the ebb with a marked current pushing us down the river.

Once round the bend we needed to line up to go through the road swing bridge.

Followed by the swing rail bridge.  Selby Lock is on the right just after the brick coloured block of flats beyond the bridges.

Here we are idling to go slowly and watch Midnight practising his technique.  The idea is to turn broadside across the river before reaching the lock and then drift down slowly until the bow is opposite the lock.  The entry to the lock is just past the high wharf to the left of the flats.  Because the river flow is stronger at the stern of the boat than at the bow, the bow drifts down more slowly than the stern and the boat tends to swing round to about 45 degrees. 

This is Helen's photo from the bow of us doing the same.  We are now broadside across the river and drifting rightwards.

When we could see clearly into the lock a bit of throttle brought the nose round neatly and into the lock without hitting the wall on either side.  It worked a treat and I will certainly try this again. Thanks Frank!

And here we are moored in Selby basin with the tidal lock behind us.  The basin looked like a well mown lawn being deeply covered with duckweed.

So that brings us back off tidal waters and ready to cruise into Leeds, our next objective.  But more about that in our next posting.  We've done quite a lot of tidal cruising this year but Naburn to Selby is probably our last.  Once we get off the River Aire we will be back on 'proper' canals enjoying a different sort of boating where you can stop where you like rather than aiming for a particular mooring.