# Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals, and Railways, of Great Britain/Aire and Calder Navigation

​ ​Settle, in that district of the county of York which is called Craven. After running underground for near a mile from its source, it issues from the base of a perpendicular rock 286 feet high, at the centre of a romantic amphitheatre of limestone called Malham Cove. The stream is at first inconsiderable, and from the magnificent scenery of the cove, whence it emerges, would be little noticed, particularly in dry seasons; but in winter, or when the tarn above is swollen by rains, the aperture at the base of the rocks is insufficient for the stream, and the water pours over the top of the cove in a vast sheet, little if at all inferior to many of the falls of America. From MaLham Cove, the Aire runs directly south, by the village of Aire Town, to Cold Coniston, thence turns easterly till it reaches Gargrave; from which place, having been considerably augmented by several lesser streams, now united with it, it pursues an easterly direction passing near to Skipton, by Kildwick, within a short distance of the town of Keighley, through Bingley and Shipley, which latter place is within three miles of Bradford; whence it proceeds, by the picturesque remains of Kirkstall Abbey, to Leeds, having given the name of Aire-dale to the beautiful valley through which it passes. Under the provisions of the act of William III. the date of which is given above, this river was made navigable to the tideway. The act is entitled, 'An Act for the 'making and keeping navigable the Rivers Aire and Calder, in the 'county of York.'
From Leeds the Aire continues in an easterly direction by Temple Newsam, the seat of the Marchioness of Hertford, and Swillington Hall, the seat of Sir John Lowther, Bart. to Castleford, where it unites with the Calder. The two rivers, after their junction, continue to bear the name of Aire, and passing by Fryston Hall, Ferrybridge, Knottingley, Beal, Haddlesey, Weeland, Snaith and Rawcliffe, join the Ouse a little below the village of Armin, at a short distance from the town of Howden. The authority of the first act extending only to Weeland, the subsequent continuation of the navigation to the Ouse River was under a second act, the title of which will be recited in its proper place. The Aire is not navigable above Leeds; the length of the navigation, from Leeds to the junction with the Calder, is about eleven miles and a quarter, in which distance there is a fall of 43¾ feet by ​six locks. From the junction of the two rivers to Weeland, the distance is eighteen miles and a quarter, with a fall of 34½ feet by four locks, making the total length of navigation from Leeds to Weeland near thirty miles. On this part of the line of navigation are several short canals, railroads, &c. the property of individuals, who have made them for the easier conveyance of the produce of their estates to the banks of the river; as for instance, at Fairburn, a canal, the property of Lord Palmerston, a quarter of a mile long, level with the river, for the use of his lordship's extensive lime and gypsum quarries. Mr. Watson and Mr. Haxby, at Brotherton, have each one, about one furlong and one chain in length; from Mr. Haxby's canal a short railway is carried to the lime-quarries, north of Brotherton; near to the west end of Crier Cut, close to the Leeds Race Course, there is a railway and staith for conveying and shipping the coal from Lord Stourton's collieries on Rothwell Haigh; near Knowstrop there is a railway from the Marchioness of Hertford's collieries, at Waterloo, for the supply of Leeds: there are also railroads at Crier Cut and opposite the Leeds Race Course, for the delivery of coals from this colliery going eastward; near to Methley, a staith and railway from Sir John Lowther's collieries, at Astley; and in the township of Methley, there is a railway for conveying to the river the coals from the Earl of Mexbro's works; considerable quantities of building-lime are also shipped at Weldon and Fryston. At a short distance above Leeds Bridge is the basin of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, which locks down at this place into the River Aire, thereby connecting the two navigations.
The source of the Calder is above Todmorden, amongst the hills which constitute the grand ridge, or, as it is popularly termed, the back bone of England, in the same field where the West Calder takes its rise, which in its course westwards, joins the Ribble and enters the Irish Sea. Leaving the hills in which it rises, the Calder pursues an easterly course through the romantic valley of Todmorden, passing the populous hamlets of Hebden Bridge and Sowerby Bridge, to within two miles of Halifax; thence by Elland, Brighouse, Kirklees Park, the seat of Sir George Armytage, Bart. in the vicinity of which a considerable stream, the Colne, falls into it; proceeding thence by Mirfield, ​the market-town of Dewsbury, and Horbury to Wakefield; at which place this branch of the Aire and Calder Navigation commences. From the navigation warehouse, at Wakefield Bridge, the course of the Calder is by Heath, Newland Park, formerly a preceptory of Knights Templars, but now the seat of Sir Edward Dodsworth, Bart. and Methley, where the Earl of Mexborough has a seat, to its junction with the Aire near Castleford; meandering for the distance of twelve miles and a half through a fertile and delightful valley. The fall from Wakefield Bridge to the union of the two rivers is 28½ feet by four locks, viz, at the Old Mills, Kirkthorpe, Lakes and Penbank. The total length of the navigation from Wakefield to Weeland is thirty-one miles and a half, and the total fall is 62¾ feet. A little above Wakefield Bridge are the Calder and Hebble Navigation Warehouses, and, on the opposite side of the river, the Earl of Cardigan's railway, which conveys the coal from his collieries at New Park, two miles from Wakefield. Half a mile below Wakefield the Barnsley Canal locks down into the River Calder. At Bottom Boat, about five miles and a half from Wakefield by the course of the navigation, the Lake Lock Railroad communicates with the river. This road, which was constructed about thirty years ago, by a company, without application to parliament, extends to the East Ardsley Coal-field, a distance of four miles from its junction with the navigation. When it was at first constructed, as its name imports, it joined the river at Lake Lock; it was, however, in 1804, removed to Bottom Boat, a mile lower down the river, to which place from seventy to one hundred thousand tons of coal are now annually brought down by this railroad: and another belonging to the Duke of Leeds, communicating with his collieries on Wakefield Outwood, terminates within a short distance of the former, from which forty or fifty thousand tons of coal are shipped annually.
Though the first act for making this navigation was passed in the year 1699, an attempt for the same purpose had been made long before, for on the 15th of March, 1625, the first year of Charles the First's reign, a bill was brought into the House of Commons, entitled, 'An Act for the making and maintaining the rivers of Ayre and Cawldes, in the West Riding of the countye of Yorke, navigable and passable for Boats, Barges, and other Vessels, &c.' ​
This bill was rejected, after a long debate on the question of committing and engrossing; nor does it appear that any further attempt was made for more than seventy years, when Lord Fairfax introduced a similar bill into the House of Commons, on the 18th of January, 1698. Petitions in favour of this bill were presented from the mayor, aldermen, and inhabitants of Leeds, the borough of Retford, King's Lynn, Lincoln, Manchester, the magistrates at the Quarter Sessions at Doncaster, Boroughbridge, the magistrates assembled at Wakefield Quarter Sessions, the clothiers of the town of Rochdale, Rotherham, Halifax, Kendal, clothiers of Wakefield, Bradford and Gainsbro'; and against the bill, from the lord mayor and commonalty of York, also one from Francis Nevill, of Chevet, Esq. the owner of the Soke Mills, at Wakefield.
It was not till the 3rd of April, 1699, that an act passed the House of Lords, and which received the royal assent on the 4th of May following. As some interesting particulars are contained in the petitions presented to the house in respect to the bill of 1698, they are briefly noticed below.
In the Leeds petition it is stated "that Leeds and Wakefeild are the principal trading towns in the north for cloth; that they are situated on the Rivers Ayre and Calder, which have been viewed, and are found capable to be made navigable, which, if effected, will very much redound to the preservation of the highways, and a great improvement of trade; the petitioners having no conveniency of water carriage within sixteen miles of them, which not only occasions a great expense, but many times great damage to their goods, and sometimes the roads are unpassable, &c. &c."
The clothiers of Ratchdale state that they are "forty miles from any water carriage." The clothiers of Hallifax, in their petition, state "that they have no water carriage within thirty miles, and much damage happens through the badness of the roads by the overturning of carriages."
The clothiers of Wakefield state "that the towns of Leeds and Wakefeild are the principal markets in the north for woollen cloth, &c. &c.; that it will be a great improvement of trade to all the trading towns of the north by reason of the conveniency of water carriage, for want of which the petitioners send their ​goods twenty-two miles by land carriage, (to Rawcliffe), the expense whereof is not only very chargeable, but they are forced to stay two months sometimes while the roads are passable to market, and many times the goods receive considerable damage, through the badness of the roads by overturning."
The petition of the lord mayor and commonalty of the ancient city of York, in opposition to the bill, sets forth, "that the said city has chiefly its support and advantage by the River Ouze and water of Humber, which is a passage for ships and boats from York to Hull, and divers parts of this realm; and that by letters patent, 10th Edward IV. (1471) the said petitioners were appointed conservators of the River Ayre from the River Ouze to Knottingley Mill Dam; and have all along exercised their power accordingly; that if the bill pending in the house, for making the Rivers Ayre and Calder navigable, should pass, the River Ouze will be so drained by such navigation, that no boat or vessels will be able to pass thereon, whereby the trade of the city of York, carried on by the said River Ouze, will be quite carried into other remote parts, and the petitioners' said power of conservatorship destroyed, to the impoverishing the said city and countries adjacent, and praying that the said bill may not pass; the petitioners being ready to offer other reasons against the same." The petition of Francis Nevill, of Chevet, Esq. against the bill, states, that "the petitioner is proprietor of several corn, fulling, and rape mills, and dams, upon the River Calder, and that by back water his mills will be inevitably stopped from going at all, to his great prejudice."
The tolls granted by this act were, from the 1st of May to the 1st of October, any sum not exceeding ten shillings per ton; and from the 1st of October to the 1st of May, any sum not exceeding sixteen shillings per ton, for the entire distance between Leeds or Wakefield, and Weeland, or vice versa, and proportionably for any greater or less weight, or for any less distance than the whole.
In order to carry into execution the powers granted by this act for making the rivers of Aire and Calder navigable, the undertakers immediately advanced about £12,000, to which, in the course of a few years, other sums, to the amount of about £16,000 were lent and advanced; these sums, with all the money ​which the tolls produced for the first twenty-four years, were laid out in completing the works of navigation. So small was the trade of the country, that in the year 1730, the whole navigation, together with all the property attached thereto, was rented at £2,000 per annum, upon condition that the Undertakers themselves should be at the risk of keeping all dams, on the said rivers, good against any accidents.
As the trade of the country increased, it was found expedient to avoid many impediments that took place on several parts of the navigation, some by improperly drawing off the water at the mills; but the most serious inconvenience arose on that part of the river between Weeland and Haddlesey Lock; the course of the navigation to the Ouse, at Armin, was also found very inconvenient for the trade of York, Malton, Boroughbridge, Ripon, and other places in the same direction: a project was therefore commenced in the year 1771, for making an entire new canal from Leeds to Selby, which was surveyed by Mr. Whitworth, at the request of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal Company, and a few gentlemen in Leeds; and an application was made to parliament, to carry the same into execution, by a new set of subscribers; it was, however, successfully opposed by the undertakers of the Aire and Calder Navigation.
In consequence of this application, and "of several memorials signed by the principal merchants and traders of Leeds, Wakefield, Halifax, Rochdale, York, Boroughbridge, Lincoln, Gainsborough, and other places in Yorkshire, Lancashire, Lincoinshire, and Nottinghamshire, and by many owners and masters of vessels navigating the Rivers Aire and Calder, complaining of the frequent and long stoppages in those rivers, addressed to Sir William Milner and the rest of the undertakers," the undertakers of the Aire and Calder Navigation applied for and obtained a second act, to enable them to make a canal from Haddlesey to Selby, bearing date the 14th of June, 1774, entitled, 'An Act to amend an Act passed in the Tenth and Eleventh Years of the Reign of William III. entitled, An Act for the making and keeping navigable the rivers of Aire and Calder, in the county of York; and for improving the Navigation of the said River Aire, from Weeland, to the River Ouze; and for making a ​ 'navigable Canal from the said River Aire, at or near Haddlesey, to the River Ouze at the old Brick Garth at Ouzegate End, within the township of Selby, in the said county, and for other Purposes.' The canal from Haddlesey to Selby, which was shortly afterwards executed, has been highly advantageous, from the great additional facilities afforded to the general trade of the country, as well as by the shortening of the distance to York, Malton, Boroughbridge, Ripon, and other places. In a short time after the passing, and by authority of the above-mentioned act, the following improvements took place upon the Aire, viz, a cut near Castleford, to avoid the shoals there, near the mills; a cut, called the Methley Cut; another cut, near Thwaite Mill; a cut, called Knostrop Cut; and a cut, called Leeds Cut. The canal from Haddlesey to Selby was opened for vessels to pass, on the 29th of April, 1778; and all the cuts mentioned above, together with a new set of locks throughout the navigation, (except Haddlesey Old Lock), were completed by the year 1785. This work, and other improvements, entailed a debt upon the concern of above £70,000.
Since the year 1800, very considerable sums of money have been expended in building additional locks, of larger dimensions than the former ones, so as to admit vessels carrying eighty tons to navigate these rivers; and within the last ten years, a serious expenditure has been incurred by the undertakers, in the purchase of premises at Leeds, in forming a new dock, extending the wharfage room, and in erecting most spacious warehouses, highly advantageous to the trade of Leeds. On the Calder, in the same time, Kirkthorpe-Dam has been rebuilt in the most complete and substantial manner.
The tolls on this navigation were very materially reduced by the second act, viz, from ten shillings per ton in summer, and sixteen shillings per ton in winter, on all articles, for the whole line, to the following rates:— ​
Scale of Tolls authorized to be taken under the Act of 1774. :
| DESCRIPTION of GOODS. | DESCRIPTION of GOODS. | RATE | RATE | HOW CHARGED. |
| DESCRIPTION of GOODS. | DESCRIPTION of GOODS. | s. | d. | HOW CHARGED. |
| Dung or Stable Manure, Coals, Cinders, Slack, Culm, and Charcoal, any sum not exceeding. | Dung or Stable Manure, Coals, Cinders, Slack, Culm, and Charcoal, any sum not exceeding. | 0 | ½ | per Ton, per Mile. |
| Pigeon Dung and Rape Dust | Pigeon Dung and Rape Dust | 0 | 1 | ditto. . . ditto. |
| Lime, if carried up the Rivers or Cuts | Lime, if carried up the Rivers or Cuts | 0 | ¾ | ditto. . . ditto. |
| Ditto if carried down the same | Ditto if carried down the same | 0 | ½ | ditto. . . ditto. |
| Pack, Sheet, or Bag of Wool, Pelts or Spetches, not exceeding 3121bs. including Sheet | Pack, Sheet, or Bag of Wool, Pelts or Spetches, not exceeding 3121bs. including Sheet | 0 | 10½ | From Leeds or Wakefield to Selby or Weeland, or vice versa - and so in proportion for any greater or less quantity than a pack, Quarter, Thirty-two Pecks,or a Ton, or for any less Distance than the whole. |
| For every Quarter of Wheat, Rye, Beans, Oats, Barley and other Grain | {Of Eight Bushels Winchester Measure.} | 0 | 6 | From Leeds or Wakefield to Selby or Weeland, or vice versa - and so in proportion for any greater or less quantity than a pack, Quarter, Thirty-two Pecks,or a Ton, or for any less Distance than the whole. |
| Malt, Rape, Mustard and Linseed. | {Of Eight Bushels Winchester Measure.} | 0 | 6 | From Leeds or Wakefield to Selby or Weeland, or vice versa - and so in proportion for any greater or less quantity than a pack, Quarter, Thirty-two Pecks,or a Ton, or for any less Distance than the whole. |
| Apples, Pears, Onions and Potatoes, for every Thirty two Pecks | Apples, Pears, Onions and Potatoes, for every Thirty two Pecks | 0 | 9 | From Leeds or Wakefield to Selby or Weeland, or vice versa - and so in proportion for any greater or less quantity than a pack, Quarter, Thirty-two Pecks,or a Ton, or for any less Distance than the whole. |
| Chalk, Fuller's-Earth, Pig-iron, Kelp, Flints, Pipe-Clay, Calais-Sand, and other Sands, (except got in the River) Stone, Bricks, Whiting, Rags and Old Ropes, Lead, Plaister, Alum, Slate, Old Iron, Tiles, Straw, Hay, and British Timber, per Ton. | Chalk, Fuller's-Earth, Pig-iron, Kelp, Flints, Pipe-Clay, Calais-Sand, and other Sands, (except got in the River) Stone, Bricks, Whiting, Rags and Old Ropes, Lead, Plaister, Alum, Slate, Old Iron, Tiles, Straw, Hay, and British Timber, per Ton. | 3 | 0 | From Leeds or Wakefield to Selby or Weeland, or vice versa - and so in proportion for any greater or less quantity than a pack, Quarter, Thirty-two Pecks,or a Ton, or for any less Distance than the whole. |
| Fir, Timber, Deals, Battens, Pipe Staves, Foreign Oak, Mahogany and Beech Logs, per Ton | Fir, Timber, Deals, Battens, Pipe Staves, Foreign Oak, Mahogany and Beech Logs, per Ton | 3 | 6 | From Leeds or Wakefield to Selby or Weeland, or vice versa - and so in proportion for any greater or less quantity than a pack, Quarter, Thirty-two Pecks,or a Ton, or for any less Distance than the whole. |
| Flour, Copperas, Wood, Tallow and Ashes, per Ton. | Flour, Copperas, Wood, Tallow and Ashes, per Ton. | 4 | 0 | From Leeds or Wakefield to Selby or Weeland, or vice versa - and so in proportion for any greater or less quantity than a pack, Quarter, Thirty-two Pecks,or a Ton, or for any less Distance than the whole. |
| Bad Butter or Grease, per Ton. | Bad Butter or Grease, per Ton. | 4 | 3 | From Leeds or Wakefield to Selby or Weeland, or vice versa - and so in proportion for any greater or less quantity than a pack, Quarter, Thirty-two Pecks,or a Ton, or for any less Distance than the whole. |
| Soap, per Ton | Soap, per Ton | 5 | 4 | From Leeds or Wakefield to Selby or Weeland, or vice versa - and so in proportion for any greater or less quantity than a pack, Quarter, Thirty-two Pecks,or a Ton, or for any less Distance than the whole. |
| Bar Iron, per Ton | Bar Iron, per Ton | 5 | 6 | From Leeds or Wakefield to Selby or Weeland, or vice versa - and so in proportion for any greater or less quantity than a pack, Quarter, Thirty-two Pecks,or a Ton, or for any less Distance than the whole. |
| Cheese, per Ton | Cheese, per Ton | 6 | 0 | From Leeds or Wakefield to Selby or Weeland, or vice versa - and so in proportion for any greater or less quantity than a pack, Quarter, Thirty-two Pecks,or a Ton, or for any less Distance than the whole. |
| Powder Sugar, Currants, Prunes, Brass and Copper, Argol or Tartar, per Ton | Powder Sugar, Currants, Prunes, Brass and Copper, Argol or Tartar, per Ton | 4 | 8 | From Leeds or Wakefield to Selby or Weeland, or vice versa - and so in proportion for any greater or less quantity than a pack, Quarter, Thirty-two Pecks,or a Ton, or for any less Distance than the whole. |
| Treacle, per Ton | Treacle, per Ton | 5 | 9 | From Leeds or Wakefield to Selby or Weeland, or vice versa - and so in proportion for any greater or less quantity than a pack, Quarter, Thirty-two Pecks,or a Ton, or for any less Distance than the whole. |
| Madder, per Ton | Madder, per Ton | 6 | 0 | From Leeds or Wakefield to Selby or Weeland, or vice versa - and so in proportion for any greater or less quantity than a pack, Quarter, Thirty-two Pecks,or a Ton, or for any less Distance than the whole. |
| Cloth Bales, and all other Goods, Wares and Merchandize, per Ton | Cloth Bales, and all other Goods, Wares and Merchandize, per Ton | 7 | 0 | From Leeds or Wakefield to Selby or Weeland, or vice versa - and so in proportion for any greater or less quantity than a pack, Quarter, Thirty-two Pecks,or a Ton, or for any less Distance than the whole. |
The length of the canal, from Haddlesey to Selby, is about five miles, and is level, there being one lock only, at the extremity, into the tideway of the River Ouse, at Selby. The distance from Leeds, by this line of canal, to the Ouse, at Selby, is about thirty miles and a half, on which there are ten locks, and from Wakefield to SÃ©lby, the distance is thirty-one miles and a half, on which there are eight locks. The length of an old lock is from 58 to 60 feet, and the width from 14 feet 6 inches to 15 feet, but adjoining to these, are new locks 18 feet wide. The depth of water admits of vessels drawing 5 feet 6 inches: and the improvements, now in execution, will enable vessels of one hundred tons burthen to navigate these rivers.
In the year 1817, and again in 1818, a project was brought forward by a few landholders in that district, for making a canal from Knottingley, down the valley of the Went, to fall into the ​River Don, a little above New Bridge; and for extending a branch from the same at Norton, to Doncaster, which threatened serious injury to the trade upon the lower part of the Aire and Calder Navigation: but the hopes of the projectors were totally annihilated, by the undertakers of the Aire and Calder Navigation applying, in the year 1819, to parliament, for an act, to enable them to cut a canal from Knottingley to Goole, (now called the Goole Canal), but in consequence of the king's death, it was not obtained till the middle of June, 1820, as appears from its title, 'An Act to enable the Undertakers of the Navigation of the Rivers Aire and Calder in the West Riding of the county of York, to make a navigable Cut or Canal from and out of the said Navigation at Knottingley, to communicate with the River Ouze, near Goole, with two collateral Branches, all in the said Riding, and to amend the Acts relating to the said Navigation.' This canal, projected by that eminent engineer, the late Mr. Rennie, and surveyed, laid down, and executed, by Mr. G. Leather, was opened in July, 1826. At first it commenced at the Knottingley Cut, but was subsequently extended to Ferrybridge, from which town it passes through Knottingley, crossing the high road to Snaith, no less than three times in the short distance of three quarters of a mile. It is carried across the road in a very oblique direction, and some of the bridges exhibit that novel style of architecture (designed by Mr. G. Leather, the undertakers' engineer), popularly termed a skew-bridge. From the canal, at the end of the village of Knottingley, there is a short branch-cut to Bank Dole, with a lock of 6½ feet fall into the river. The canal here takes a south easterly direction, passing Egborough and Heck, (at which place, the Heck and Wentbridge Railway communicates with it), and runs to the south of Snaith, near a place called New Bridge; thence running parallel to the River Dun, or Dutch River, until it reaches its termination at Goole, where it falls into the tideway of the River Ouse.
All the works of this canal (the principal part of which have been executed by Jolliffe and Banks, under the direction of the company's engineer, Mr. G. Leather), are admirably executed; equalled by few and excelled by none in the kingdom.
The original estimate made by Mr. Rennie, for this line of ​navigation, amounted to £137,000, but a far greater sum has already been expended; yet the works are not fully completed. The length of the canal from Ferrybridge to Goole is about eighteen miles and a half; the fall to low-water-mark at Goole is 28¾ feet; its width is 60 feet at top, and 40 feet at bottom; the depth is 7 feet, and the locks 70 feet long by 19 feet wide. Goole was, when this work commenced, an obscure hamlet, containing only a few houses; but in the short period of four years, by the erection of extensive buildings, and the nature of the works, connected with the circumstance of its being admitted to all the privileges of a port of the united kingdom, it has grown into a town: it possesses a ship dock 600 feet by 200, and a barge dock of 900 feet by 150. There is also a harbour 250 feet by 200, communicating with the above-mentioned docks, and by two locks with the tideway. These docks are constructed for ships drawing 15 feet water.
The rates of tonnage on the Goole Canal are the same per ton per mile as on the old river navigation; and the accommodations of the port being so little known, from the rapidity with which it has arisen, will be best explained by the following letter: -
CUSTOM HOUSE, LONDON, August 22nd, 1828.
Whereas by an act of parliament made and passed in the sixth year of the reign of his present Majesty King George the Fourth, entitled, "An Act for the Warehousing of Goods," it is, amongst other things, enacted, that it shall be lawful for the Commissioners of his Majesty's Customs, subject to the authority and directions of the Commissioners of his Majesty's Treasury, by their order, from time to time, to appoint in what warehouses or places of special security, or of ordinary security, as the case may require, in certain ports in the United Kingdom, and in what different parts or divisions of such warehouses or places, and in what manner any goods, and what sort of goods, may be warehoused and kept and secured without payment of any duty upon the first entry thereof, or for exportation only, in cases wherein the same may be prohibited to be imported for home use; and it is by the same act further enacted, that every order made by the said Commissioners of the Customs, in respect of warehouses of special security, as well those of original appointment, as those of revocation, alteration or addition, shall be published in the London Gazette, for such as shall be appointed in Great Britain; We, the undersigned Commissioners of his Majesty's Customs, in pursuance of the powers so vested in us, have appointed at the PORT OF GOOLE, a warehouse and vaults, on the east side of the Ship Dock belonging to the AIRE AND CALDER NAVIGATION COMPANY, situate in a yard, inclosed on the north, south, and east sides, by a wall of fifteen feet high, and on the west side (being that next to the lock at the said port) by a fence, consisting of a similar wall, for about fifty-seven feet from each side towards the centre, as warehouses of special security, for the deposit of all articles except tobacco and snuff, under the provisions of the said act.
          By order of the Commissioners,
                T WHITMORE, secretary.
PORT OF GOOLE, 1st September, 1828.
"The undertakers of the Aire and Calder Navigation avail themselves of the promulgation of the above notice, in the London Gazette, to apprize the public, that the port of Goole is thereby placed on a footing of equality with those of London, Dublin, and Liverpool, and of superiority to all others in the United Kingdom, warehouses of special security being to be found in none other: the advantages derivable from bonding merchandize in warehouses of special security, will be best understood by reference to the 6th of George IV. cap. 112, entitled, 'An Act for the Warehousing of Goods,' the 37th section of which is hereto subjoined."
Act 6. George IV. Sec. 37, Cap. 112.—"And whereas some sorts of Goods are liable in Time to decrease—and some to increase—and some to fluctuation of Quantity—by the effect of the Atmosphere or other natural Causes, and it may be necessary in some cases, that the Duties should not be charged upon the Deficiency arising from such Causes; be it therefore enacted,
"That it shall be lawful for the said Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury to make Regulations for ascertaining the Amount of such Decrease or Increase of the Quantity of any particular sort of Goods—and to direct in what Proportion any Abatement of Duty payable under this Act for Deficiencies shall, upon the Exportation of any such Goods, be made, on account of any such Decrease,—Provided always, that if such Goods be lodged in WAREHOUSES declared in the Order of Appointment to be of SPECIAL SECURITY, no Duty shall be charged for any Amount whatever of Deficiency of any such Goods, on the Exportation thereof—Except in Cases where Suspicion shall arise that part of such Goods has been clandestinely conveyed away, nor shall any such Goods (unless they be Wine or Spirits) be measured, counted, weighed or gauged for Exportation, except in such Cases of Suspicion."
"The undertakers have the satisfaction to announce, that their establishments at Goole are now completed: they consist of the warehouse above alluded to, which comprises upwards of seven thousand superficial yards of vaults and floors, for the bonding of every description of goods and merchandize; of another warehouse for the bonding of foreign grain, which comprises upwards of five thousand superficial yards of flooring; of a pond for the reception of timber under bond, capable of receiving upwards of three thousand loads; of a range of deal yards, fourteen in number; together with spacious sheds, and every other accommodation that modern ingenuity could devise, to promote, as has been officially reported by the highest authorities in the kingdom, 'the despatch of business, combined with the most ample security to the revenue and the merchant also.'" ​
"For the warehouses and timber pond, general bonds have been given, whereby a considerable saving of expense, as well as trouble, will accrue to the merchant."
"The undertakers will not now give themselves, or the public, the trouble of entering upon a formal answer to the numerous misstatements that have been made by interested parties."
"It is sufficient to state, that two years have now elapsed since the opening of Goole, and five months since it was declared a port for foreign trade, and during that time no accident has happened to any of the numerous ships or vessels which have been there: every shipowner has manifested the most perfect readiness to repeat his engagement with Goole, and the trade there is daily increasing."
"The approbation of the public is the best test of the security and advantages of the port."
"A steam towing boat, called the "Britannia," of fifty horse power, is provided to facilitate the navigation of the Rivers Humber and Ouse: her usual station is off the port of Hull, where vessels bound for the port of Goole are boarded by the boats belonging to the officers of the revenue. The master of the "Britannia" is at all times ready to take charge of any vessel bound to Goole."
In consequence of an application to parliament, by the projectors of another line of communication from Wakefield to Ferrybridge, the undertakers of the Aire and Calder called in Mr. Telford, who surveyed the country and made an estimate for shortening and improving the navigation between those two places, and also between Leeds and Castleford; and on the 19th of June, 1828, their projected improvements were sanctioned by an act, entitled, 'An Act to enable the Undertakers of the Navigation of 'the Rivers Aire and Calder, in the West Riding of the county of York, to make certain Cuts and Canals, and to improve the said Navigation' The estimate for this work, including £135,350, for extending the docks at the port of Goole, exclusive of land there, amounted to £462,420, and parliament granted a power to the undertakers to borrow at interest the sum of £750,000. This work is already in execution, and when completed, the navigation will be some miles shorter, and the depth of water will be sufficient ​to admit vessels of one hundred tons burthen up to the towns of Leeds and Wakefield; and will enable vessels from Leeds and Wakefield to reach Goole in eight hours, and from Manchester within forty-five hours; these vessels are expedited by a steam tug. An elegant steam packet runs daily from Castleford to Goole for the conveyance of passengers.