Tidal Ouse from Barmby to Naburn and on to York

Last Thursday afternoon we left Barmby Barrage where the River Derwent joins the tidal River Ouse and travelled up to Naburn.  This time we had sensibly chosen a neap tide and the journey was much more comfortable.  It is about 6 miles to Selby and then another 14 miles up to Naburn and it took us about 3 hours in total on the tide.

The forecast was for heavy showers but we were lucky and they missed us.  There are three lights on the lock pontoon which are normally red. When they turn green it means the lock is ready and it is time to set out round the corner into the lock which is what Leo is doing here.

 We have now been through this lock in both directions and have gone down both times!  Tides are fun.  Here the radial gates are opening onto the Ouse, so it is out of the lock and then turn right with the flood tide behind us.

The tall spire of Hemingbrough Church is clearly seen from the river.  We had meant to walk into this village but somehow did not get round to it.  Maybe next time.

It took us less than an hour to reach Selby.  The first of three bridges is the swing bridge for the by-pass.  No need to swing this for us and it is an easy bridge to navigate with only one large arch for boats.

A lttle further on we came into the town and passed Selby Lock shown here.  On the way back we will be coming off the tidal river here onto the Selby Canal.

We could just about see Selby Abbey from the water.

Even on a neap tide going through Selby is quite a challenge.  The river through the town is narrow and therefore faster, there are two swing bridges to negotiate and then a tight bend follows.  This is the Railway Swing Bridge and just round a slight right hand bend is the Road Swing Bridge.  Fortunately we missed them both.

Here we are passing under the Rail Bridge.  You can see the current tearing past the bridge supports.  

And here is the Road Swing Bridge.  The idea is to go through the middle arch which we did.  The tall building behind is a flour mill.

The Ouse always seems to have lots of debris going up and down with the tide.  You do need to keep a sharp eye open for tree trunks as following the channel up the river entails crossing the stream of debris.  The green is only duck weed and no impediment to the propellor.  We caught some sticks round the prop but fortunately a quick dose of reverse shook them off.

After going through Selby the river seems to calm down and there are no great difficulties.  This is Cawood Bridge a few miles upstream from Selby.  We waved to the bridge operator.

Approaching both Naburn and high tide the river looks placid and there are no longer mud banks alongside.  It did not really look like a tidal river at all.

At about a couple of miles from Naburn we passed several boats going downstream.  These will be pushing against the last of the flood tide and will then have the benefit of the ebb for most of their journey to Selby or wherever they are going.  Narrowboat to Holland anyone?

After a mostly calm and peaceful ride up the river we came to Naburn which is the tidal limit of the Ouse.  You can see the weir to the left of the picture and a pontoon with a couple of cruisers moored on it.  There are two locks at Naburn.  The right hand one is not now used but the later and bigger one in the middle is the one we needed.  However a group of cruisers and a narrowboat were already in the lock having come up from Goole and Selby.  Because the other cruisers were on the pontoon below the lock we messed around below the lock for 20 minutes while they sorted themselves out and allowed us to use the lock.  We were glad it was not windy!

Here is Leo in the evening safely through the lock and no longer on tidal water.  It seemed quite odd arriving at Naburn by boat because we come here by car every fortnight in the winter to help with a group of CRT volunteers.

With the volunteers we've done quite a bit of work on the lock island including making this grass sofa out of turves we took from elsewhere.  The building behind is an old workshop and forge.

The rockery we've worked on during the winter was looking lovely.

We stayed at Naburn for a few days as we didn't really want to go into York at the weekend.  On Friday this huge barge, Tony, came through the lock with a tug pushing it.  Tug and barge together completely filled the lock which is134 feet long.  The bags of building sand on the bow were there to weight the barge down to fit under Heck bridge between Knottingley and Goole.

Seeing Tony as it passed Leo showed just how large it was.  Tony was being taken up to York where it is being fitted out as an art gallery and studio.  We saw it later moored just above Skeldergate Bridge.

We delayed our trip into York until Sunday.  This is King's Staithe in the city.  We cruised right through the city hoping to find a mooring by Museum Gardens.

Here we are approaching Lendal Bridge.  The moorings are just on the right beyond the bridge but this chap in the little inflatable came up and told us that we would have to wait because Dragon Boat Racing was occupying the river.  So we paused.  Then a trip boat beside us asked for room to turn.  Since it was fairly clear that the moorings were all full and it was very noisy with the racing, we decided to turn round and moor elsewhere.  We had already spoken to some narrowboaters moored below Skeldergate Bridge so we went back there.

We've not moored below Skeldergate Bridge before.  We were told that some 'gypsy' boats used to be here.  It proved to be a very pleasant and relatively quiet mooring.  We did however follow others advice and example and made sure Leo was chained and padlocked to the bank.  Apparently boats have been cast adrift in York in the middle of the night.

In the afternoon we climbed Clifford's Tower and enjoyed the view of the city including of the Minster seen here behind another church spire.  The rather fine building in the foreground is Fairfax House which you can also visit.  Just below Clifford's Tower a reconstruction of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre has been built temporarily out of scaffolding.  It is called the Rose Theatre which of course was another Shakespearian Theatre.  We booked to go and see 'Henry V' which was on that evening.  Next to this Rose Theatre a 'Shakespeare Village' has been built and we enjoyed sitting eating Yorkshire Pudding Pies while watching an excerpt from Twelfth Night performed by the cast.

This is the view from the Scarborough Rail Bridge (there is also a pedestrian and cycle path across it) looking towards Lendal Bridge.  It was the stretch between these two bridges that was being used for the Dragon Boat Racing.  As we had suspected all the boat moorings on the left in the photo were full.  There just aren't enough moorings for boats in York.

We managed to see the grand final of the Dragon Boat Racing as we walked around.

We are quite close to home at York so on Monday we arranged for a couple of our neighbours, Heather and Cis, to join us for a boat trip for the day.  Cis is in the picture steering a narrowboat for the first time in her life.  And doing it very well too!  We went back downstream with them having lunch at York Marina and then visiting Naburn before cruising right through York to finally moor at Museum Gardens where the packed moorings had a few vacant spaces.  We managed to squeeze in between a big cruiser and a rather nice wooden motor boat with just a few inches to spare.  And this mooring was a lot closer to the station for our visitors to go home too.  It was good to see them both and to catch up on news from home.

The trip boats go faster than Leo so this one has just overtaken us.

From York we intend to go further up the River Ouse which then magically turns into the River Ure and then up the Ripon Canal to its terminus at ...... wait for it ....... Ripon.  As well as scoring another silver propellor point we will enjoy visiting this lovely city before we turn round to head back to Naburn.  Longer term the plan is to cruise the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.  It is our favourite way over the Pennines.