Driffield Navigation
Driffield Navigation
The Driffield Navigation is a part-river, part-canal waterway which used to link the town of Driffield to the River Hull, and thence to the Humber Estuary in Hull. It fell into disrepair between the 1940s and 1960s although never officiallyabandoned. But the initial problems for the Driffield Navigation Amenities Association, formed to reopen the waterways, were not physical but political: the body of commissioners responsible for operating it had declined to the point where only one was still alive – and without a quorate meeting it was impossible to appoint any new ones. It took several years and some sizeable legal bills to find a way out if this Catch-22 situation and get the Charity Commission to appoint new commissioners.Evetually with the legalities settled, DNAA could start restoring locks – and has now rebuilt four of the five on the canal plus a couple of swingbridges. Unfortunately one major headache remains – a road bridge crosses the waterway at low level near Wansford. A �1m Heritage Lottery Fund grant is on offer towards completing restoration of the waterway, but it has been a struggle to raise the ‘match funding’ for the rest of the costs, with the local authorities being short of cash. The possibility that restoration would make flooding less likely might help to persuade somebody to stump up the cash.www.driffieldnavigation.co.uk
www.cotswoldcanals.com
