Yorkshire Almanac “190 boats stranded in the Selby Canal by the Aire and Calder Company’s denial of water”, favouring the new Knottingley-Goole cut

6 July 1831: “190 boats stranded in the Selby Canal by the Aire and Calder Company’s denial of water”, favouring the new Knottingley-Goole cut

Treasurer and Committee appointed for the purpose of protecting the interests of the watermen navigating the rivers and cuts from Knottingley to Selby. 1831/07/16. Selby Canal. York Herald. York. Get it:

Unedited excerpt

If an excerpt is used in the book, it will be shorter, edited and, where applicable, translated.

Selby, July 6, 1831
We, the undersigned, being the Treasurer and Committee appointed for the purpose of “protecting the interests of the watermen navigating the rivers and cuts from Knottingley to Selby,” beg to call public attention to the following statement:-

It appears there are now upwards of ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY VESSELS stopped in the SELBY CANAL and HADDLESEY CUT for want of Water – many of which have been detained upwards of TEN DAYS, with valuable Cargoes on Board, and some of them of a very perishable nature.

Our attention has been directed to the best means to be employed to obtain relief, and we are sorry to inform you that though we have made the most urgent appeals to the Managers of the Aire and Calder Company for an ADDITIONAL SUPPLY OF WATER, they do not think fit to afford us any Redress, though it appears they have ample means within their power; as it can be clearly proved that there is at present FIVE INCHES of WATER flowing over the Haddlesey Dam, which might easily be diverted into the Selby Canal, and thus set all the Vessels now detained at liberty. It therefore only remains for us to resort to the legal means afforded us by the ACT 9th GEO. 4, CAP. 98, SECT. 118, to compel the Proprietors to carry into effect the following Clause, viz.:-

That the said Undertakers shall be bound and obliged to maintain the Navigation of the Cut or Branch from the Knottingley and Goole Canal, into the River Aire, at or near a certain place called Bank-Dole, and of the said River Aire from thence to Haddlesey Old Lock, and of the said Canal from Haddlesey to the River Ouse, at Selby, at all times of the depth of Five Feet and no more, above the Sill or Threshold of the highest Lock on the said last-mentioned Line of Navigation, from the Goole Canal to Selby.

Had the intention of the Legislature in this respect been carried into effect, the detention now complained of, could not have taken place, for none of the Vessels before-mentioned draw more than Five Feet Water, and many of them, though drawing no more than Three Feet Six Inches, are unable to navigate the said Canal. An action has been commenced against the Undertakers for damage arising from the present detention; and as the Law Expenses attending the proceedings will be considerable, we confidently hope that the Public will come forward and contribute towards a Fund which it will be necessary to raise, in order to defray the expenses. We consider it highly necessary, that on the present occasion the Merchants, Ship-Owners, and Others interested in the internal Navigation of this County, should cooperate for the purpose of procuring redress; and any Sum contributed by them for this purpose, will be thankfully received by the Treasurer.

I.B. PITT, Treasurer.
COMMITTEE
John Adams
John Richardson, Jun.
John Dobson, Jun.
Joseph Parr
Thomas Fisher
John Foster

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To facilitate reading, the spelling and punctuation of elderly excerpts have generally been modernised, and distracting excision scars concealed. My selections, translations, and editions are copyright.

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25 September 1066: The Stamford Bridge massacre by Harold Godwinson’s army of Harald Hardrada and Tostig Godwinson’s force – symbol of the end of the Viking Age

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Orderic Vitalis:

In the month of August, Harold, king of Norway, and Tostig, with a powerful fleet set sail over the wide sea, and, steering for England with a favourable aparctic, or north wind, landed in Yorkshire, which was the first object of their invasion. Meanwhile, Harold of England, having intelligence of the descent of the Norwegians, withdrew his ships and troops from Hastings and Pevensey, and the other seaports on the coast lying opposite to Neustria, which he had carefully guarded with a powerful armament during the whole of the year, and threw himself unexpectedly, with a strong force by hasty marches on his enemies from the north. A hard-fought battle ensued, in which there was great effusion of blood on both sides, vast numbers being slain with brutal rage. At last the furious attacks of the English secured them the victory, and the king of Norway as well as Tostig, with their whole army, were slain. The field of battle may be easily discovered by travellers, as great heaps of the bones of the slain lie there to this day, memorials of the prodigious numbers which fell on both sides.

While however the attention of the English was diverted by the invasion of Yorkshire, and by God’s permission they neglected, as I have already mentioned, to guard the coast, the Norman fleet, which for a whole month had been waiting for a south wind in the mouth of the river Dive and the neighbouring harbours, took advantage of a favourable breeze from the west to gain the roads of St. Valeri. While it lay there innumerable vows and prayers were offered for the safety of themselves and their friends, and floods of tears were shed. For the intimate friends and relations of those who were to remain at home, witnessing the embarkation of fifty thousand knights and men-at-arms, with a large body of infantry, who had to brave the dangers of the sea, and to attack an unknown people on their own soil, were moved to tears and sighs, and full of anxiety both for themselves and their countrymen, their minds fluctuating between fear and hope. Duke William and the whole army committed themselves to God’s protection, with prayers, and offerings, and vows, and accompanied a procession from the church, carrying the relics of St. Valeri, confessor of Christ, to obtain a favourable wind. At last when by God’s grace it suddenly came round to the quarter which was the object of so many prayers, the duke, full of ardour, lost no time in embarking the troops, and giving the signal for hastening the departure of the fleet. The Norman expedition, therefore, crossed the sea on the night of the third of the calends of October [29th September], which the Catholic church observes as the feast of St. Michael the archangel, and, meeting with no resistance, and landing safely on the coast of England, took possession of Pevensey and Hastings, the defence of which was entrusted to a chosen body of soldiers, to cover a retreat and guard the fleet.

Meanwhile the English usurper, after having put to the sword his brother Tostig, and his royal enemy, and slaughtered their immense army, returned in triumph to London. As however worldly prosperity soon vanishes like smoke before the wind, Harold’s rejoicings for his bloody victory were soon darkened by the threatening clouds of a still heavier storm. Nor was he suffered long to enjoy the security procured by his brother’s death; for a hasty messenger brought him the intelligence that the Normans had embarked (Ordericus Vitalis 1853).

I rather like Eleanor Parker’s summing up of the end of the C text of the Chronicle:

The last entry in this version of the Chronicle is for 1066, and it contains a memorable cluster of significant events dated to points in the festival year. From Edward the Confessor, spending Christmas in Westminster at ‘Midwinter’ but dead and buried by ‘Twelfth Day’, the year runs through moments of political crisis dated to Easter, harvest and the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, as Harold Godwineson first gained, then fought to keep, the English crown. The last events recorded are a battle in Yorkshire between an English army and the forces of the Norwegian invader, Harald Hardrada, on ‘the Vigil of St Matthew the Apostle’ (20 September), then a few days later Harold Godwineson’s triumphant defeat of the Norwegian king at Stamford Bridge. Here the entry breaks off, and the Chronicle stops before reaching Hastings. For whatever reason, the chronicler was unable to write about that last autumn day.

When Christmas came that year, England had a new king, and would never be the same again. But Midwinter itself would have looked no different, and the cycle began another round. That last tumultuous year – in one sense, the last year of Anglo-Saxon history – was full of surprises and upheavals, yet the yearly cycle was stable and unchanging. And so it continued for many centuries.
(Parker 2022)

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