The Pocklington Canal by Peter Keen

In his book "British Canals: An Illustrated History" Charles Hadfield includes a map of England and Wales between 1774 and 1777 showing how much  was within 15 miles of a navigable waterway. The majority of those waterways were river navigations, only a comparatively few canals having been built at that time. Following the "Canal Mania", during which many new canals were built, the area beyond the 15 mile mark was reduced further so that only the most mountainous areas were without their watery link to the outside world.

Such is the incidence of waterways that today's traveller will often come across one, without really trying. So it was when making a visit to York where a friend, knowing my interest in canals, took me on a whistle stop tour of the Pocklington Canal, a broad canal.

Like the Sankey, the Pocklington Canal is a dead end, planned to link the Yorkshire village of Pocklington to the River Derwent at East Cottingwith and carry agricultural produce to the towns of West Yorkshire. Its terminal basin lies beside the York to Hull turnpike road (now the A1079) where cargoes would have been unloaded for carriage onwards by horse and cart. The road formed the limit of navigation and the final section northwards into the village was never built. A substantial warehouse was built at "Canal Head" which still stands, now converted into a dwelling. (Last photo on page)

From Pocklington to the Derwent the canal follows the course of Bielby Beck although the two waterways never meet, again a similarity to the Sankey. Was this deliberate policy to build a new waterway rather than make the brook navigable? Maybe lessons had been learned from previous canal projects since the Pocklington came fairly late, not being opened until 1818.

Despite carrying a great deal of farm produce and many tons of coal, the canal was never a financial success. Transhipment at the turnpike increased costs and improvements in road and rail eventually resulted in the canal's decline. It followed the usual pattern of falling under Railway ownership, in this case the York and North Midland Railway, and eventually the North Eastern Railway.  Under their stewardship maintenance was reduced and finally ceased and the last commercial user wound up operations in 1932, the railway company providing a lorry for the owner of the keel "Ebenezer" to continue in business.

Never having been formally abandoned, the canal passed to the British Transport Commission in 1948 and to the British Waterways Board in 1963. It was proposed in 1959 to infill the canal with "inoffensive sludge" from local water treatment plants but this sparked off objections and kick-started restoration plans. In 1969 the Pocklington Canal Amenity Society was formed. Its members began work to clear the tow path for the whole length of the canal then moved on to further restoration projects.

The canal remains complete as built, with nine locks, seven swing bridges for local use and four humped backed road bridges. The latter are scheduled as ancient monuments and the locks are Grade II listed structures. The road bridges are of unique design with round brick piers supporting the bridge arches and wing walls. (right) There is no indication that any kind of protective material was fixed to the bridge arches to prevent rope damage so it is assumed that vessels progressed under their own power. However Yorkshire Keels were sail powered and could have lowered their masts to pass beneath the road bridges so perhaps they were poled through the narrows until their masts could be raised again.

From Cottingwith Lock to Melbourne Village, roughly the half way mark, the canal is navigable and boats can reach the marina on the short Melbourne Arm. The PCAS moors its trip boat here and there are facilities for boaters. Across the canal at the entrance to the arm is a new swing bridge, again a bit different, with its protective railings braced outwards at an angle instead of being vertical. (left)

Lock chambers have either survived or have been restored although those on the upper section are unused because the canal is silted up. Top Lock, near the terminus, displays paddle gear different to that of other canals with substantial operating wheels built into the gate, no windlass needed here. (right) Plaques have been mounted on the beams to commemorate past members of the PCAS.

At the other end, Cottingwith Lock is a deep lock connecting with the Derwent. Its balance beams are quite primitive, being formed of crudely bent girders. The mooring platform (left) provided below the lock has the same kind of variable attachment to the bank as those of the tidal section of the Ribble Link, so it is clearly the level of water in the Derwent can fluctuate in a similar fashion. Further south it connects up with the River Ouse which is tidal so variable water levels must reach this far despite the considerable distance from the open sea.

As mentioned above, the Pocklington and the Sankey have some similarities, both broad canals, both dead ends, both are roughly the same length with similar numbers of locks, both taken over and neglected by the railway companies, both through mainly rural areas. However there the similarities end. Despite its comparative rural isolation the restoration of the Pocklington has progressed much further than the Sankey. There is local interest, there is support from the local authority and funding has been made available. The Canal Amenity Society has twice the membership of SCARS and a greater proportion of them are active members.  Clearly the PCAS has found the right route towards restoration and perhaps at the next meeting of the Northern Canals Association we should be tapping into their knowledge and expertise to discover the secrets of their success.

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