Dangers of Selby Lock stoppage

WHILST it's true that the closure of Selby Lock merely prevents access to a short length of canal joining the Aire at Haddlesey, there's a far more serious consequence in that it prevents boaters coming downriver from York using the safest route back onto the canals, writes Tony Dunkley.

If Selby Lock is out of use, then there remain two alternative routes back to the canals, and both are by no means ideal for narrowboats. In certain conditions both routes can be very hazardous or even positively dangerous for anyone other than those with considerable experience of the lower reaches of the tidal Ouse, downriver to beyond Goole and it's confluence with the Trent and the Humber, and a boat capable of operating at full power continuously for several hours.

Enter Goole Docks

The first alternative route is to continue downriver to Goole, enter Goole Docks and then onto the Aire and Calder, giving access to the rest of the canals.

The second alternative is to continue past Goole to the confluence with the Humber and Trent, and then up the Trent to either Keadby or Nottingham and thence back to the canals.

Resulted in call-outs

The use of both these routes by inexperienced crews with unsuitable boats has, in the recent past, resulted in call-outs for the Inshore Lifeboat operated by Humber Rescue from Hessle, near Hull.

As to the reason for the Selby closure being given as paddle failure, it has to be said that for the failure of one paddle to prevent the use of a lock can only mean that the lock was already being operated with one paddle already out of action when the second one failed.

CaRT's neglect of repairs and maintenance

We therefore have a situation where boaters returning to the canals from the York area, and possibly under time constraints to return from their holidays, may be tempted to venture onto some very dangerous waters as a direct result of CaRT's ever increasing neglect of repairs and maintenance.

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Tony tells us that CaRT have done a temporary quick-fix to make the lock useable and it is now open again, but it's working on only one dodgy sluice which is scheduled for major repair in the near future, so continued operation is very much in the lap of the Gods rather than our wonderful navigation authority.