The Aire is clear - now!

The calm after the storm: Castleford flood lock

Just a week ago towns in this part of Yorkshire were devastated by massive floods after a  month's rainfall fell in just 24 hours. Castleford is where the rivers that had been overwhelmed by this deluge meet - the Calder and Hebble joining the River Aire to flow through the town.
Take a look at these photos of Allinson's Mill and the pedestrian bridge over the river weir (scroll down the page to Saturday 23rd to find them) and compare them to the ones I posted yesterday. And compare the flood lock then with the flood lock today.

A swept away ladder five feet up a post

All the way upstream we saw evidence of the flooding - the river had been five or six feet higher. We could only gasp at the sheer volume and ferocity of water that must have been flowing down there. And all this water heading straight out to sea - what a pity we can't capture more of it in low-level reservoirs to avoid our annual hosepipe ban panic.
We've travelled just a few miles toward Leeds today. There's a river festival in the city centre so no chance of mooring there. Instead we've pulled in at some pleasant moorings in the village of Woodlesford.

Of all the moorings in all the world....

We pulled in to a gap in the line of moored boats, tied up and then discovered that the boat in front was a tug we knew: Ebenezeer belonging to Tony whose Tollhouse Boat Sales is based back at our own Streethay Wharf. Small world.