Thursday, April 10, 2008

Up The (New) Junction.

After a chilly night we woke up to a lovely sunny morning. We were away from the mooring at 10:30, and arrived at Thorne Lock a short while later.

Thorne Lock
After the lock and Staniland Marina, there is a pleasant rural section, meandering through open country with only the M18 bridge to spoil the peace and quiet. The sun was warm enough to dispense with a jacket, but heavy clouds started to build as we approached Stainforth and we had just a touch of rain. Jackets back on, unfortunately.

Through Stainforth and Bramwith Swing Bridge, Carol stopped for water while we carried on round the corner to the lock. There a few boats here on the long term BW moorings.

Bramwith Lock with Thorpe Marsh Power Station in the Background
This lock is still manually operated, the only one un-mechanised on this section.

After the lock we turned hard right onto the New Junction Canal, a dead straight waterway connecting the Aire and Calder to Sheffield and running for just over 5 miles to Bramwith Junction. This navigation was finished in 1905, and built for 700 ton barges to make a more direct route to Goole.



Over the Don aqueduct with it’s menacing guillotine gates and through 3 swing or lift bridges and we had a pleasant surprise on arrival at Sykehouse Lock. We expected to have to operate this ourselves but there was a maintenance crew at work, and they kindly locked us down.

River Don Aqueduct
Low Lane Swing Bridge
We moored just below the lock at 15:00 and had a couple of hours sanding paint on Corbiere before knocking off for the evening.

Locks 3, miles 7½

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