The two mile length of canal was reopened in July 2018 to commemorate the bicentenary of the opening of the canal in 1818.
This brings two locks and a swing bridge into use.
APPEAL TARGET OF £250,000 REACHED
Press release – 11 April 2017
POCKLINGTON CANAL TO RECEIVE IWA FUNDING |
NOTES FOR EDITORS |
PRESS RELEASE – 24 February 2015 The Pocklington Canal Amenity Society today launched its appeal fund to raise £250,000 to restore a two mile section of the Pocklington Canal. Since the Canal Society has been able to prime the fund with £80,000 from its accumulated funds, the amount remaining to be raised is £170,000. The money will be spent on installing new wooden lock gates for Thornton and Walbut Locks, and ensuring an adequate depth of water in the length, much of which is presently overgrown with vegetation. Other items will include measures to bring the locks up to modern safety standards, including the provision of lock landings to allow boaters to disembark before entering the locks. The Society has chosen this year to launch its appeal as it is the bicentenary of the passing of the Act of Parliament enabling the building of the Pocklington Canal. It is proposed that the works will be completed by 2018, in time to mark the bicentenary of opening of the canal. The project is being promoted with the support and encouragement of both The Canal and River Trust (the owners of the Pocklington Canal) and Natural England, which has a regulatory role, since the works are to be carried out within a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Work will be designed and scheduled to minimise interference with wildlife. Appeal leaflets will be widely distributed in Pocklington and the villages close to the Pocklington Canal. Support will also be sought from the Society’s own members and from waterways enthusiasts nationwide, as well as from charitable trusts. More information and about the scheme and details of how to subscribe to the appeal can be found on the society’s website: For further information please contact: Graham Ball, Secretary, 07881528298 grahamball160739@hotmail.co.uk Pocklington Canal Amenity Society, Registered Charity 500637 www.pocklingtoncanalsociety.org |
NOTES FOR EDITORS The Pocklington Canal, in the East Riding of Yorkshire is 9.5 miles long and has nine locks. It stretches from the River Derwent at East Cottingwith to Canal Head, which is a mile short of the town of Pocklington. Opened in 1818, its last commercial use was in 1932. The Pocklington Canal Amenity Society was formed in 1969, and started restoration works in 1970. Boats were again able to reach the present head of navigation at the village of Melbourne in 1987, where moorings were established. The Pocklington Canal is entirely rural and, of all the canals in Britain, is probably the one that has undergone the fewest changes. Its nine locks are Grade II listed buildings, as are the four road bridges that cross the canal. The Pocklington Canal is of considerable importance for wildlife. It is included in three Sites of Special Scientific Interest and is noted for uncommon aquatic plants, damselflies and dragonflies. The canal is part of the internationally important Lower Derwent Valley, which includes ings land that floods in winter and is important for wintering wildfowl and many other birds. |
Our appeal was widely circulated and we are very grateful to everyone who featured the appeal.