Water Sports Photos

TomCollins posted a photo:

Sunny days and blue skies, a rarity for us Pacific Northwesters in February.

Pamelasboatworks posted a photo:

woodytyke posted a photo:

1623 was a 41.5 foot Seaplane Tender built by British Power Boats in 1941-4 designed by George Selman
67 were built. Number ranges 357-366, 441-445, 1500-1519, 1592-1609, 1612-1625
Length 41foot 6 inches, beam 11foot 9 inches, Max speed 23 knot.
Engines 2 x Perkins S6M 130hp diesel engines.
(Source of info The RAF Air Sea Rescue Servive 1918-1986 by Jon Sutherland and Diane Canwell from the WW2talk forum www.ww2talk.com/forum/general/18079-raf-rescue-launch.html )

"E. Austen Johnson" belongs to Safe Anchor Trust, based at Shepley Bridge Marina, Mirfield. She was fully refurbished 2010/11, returning to service only a month or so before this picture was taken. She's awaiting signwriting. Fitted with a wheelchair lift, she's equipped to carry passengers who would otherwise be denied access to the waterways. On this day she was taking a group of patients referred by Wakefield Primary Care Trust.

The Aire and Calder Navigation Company made the River Aire navigable as far as Leeds in 1704 with the construction of locks and lock cuts between Knottingley and Leeds. Two years later, the company made the River Calder navigable from Castleford to Wakefield.

It was soon found that the navigation was inadequate for the potential demand. Shoals, shallow lock cills and low water levels in the easterly section of the Aire meant that passage was restricted to smaller, shallow-draughted boats

New locks and longer sections of cut were added between Castleford and Leeds. In 1821 a new 17 mile cut was constructed from Knottingley to the River Ouse at Goole, where docks were built.

By 1835 all the locks had been rebuilt to have depth of 7 feet over the cills. In 1839, a twisting length of the Calder was bypassed by a straighter 4 mile section between Fairies Hill and Broadreach, also with a depth of 7 feet. This included building an aqueduct across the river at Stanley Ferry.

William Bartholomew, the chief engineer between 1853 and 1895, developed the "Tom Puddings" - compartment boats that were put together in trains to be pushed by a tug. They transported coal from the Yorkshire collieries to Goole and later to power stations.

The navigation never went out of use and is still used for commercial traffic with such cargoes as oil and sand being carried.

Information from Pennine Waters website.
www.penninewaterways.co.uk/aire/index.htm

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Memorial to Scott of the Antarctic

scenewales.co.uk posted a photo:

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