The source of the river Aire is near Malham, Settle it travels south to Cold Coniston thence to Skipton, Bingley and Shipley. The Aire then passes the remains of Kirkstall Abbey to Leeds. From Leeds the Aire runs east to Temple Newsam where it joins the Calder near Castleford and passes through Fryston Hall, Ferrybridge, Knottingley, Beal, Haddlesey, Weeland, Snaith, Rawcliffe until it joins the Ouse near the village of Airmyn.
On the River Aire both Rawcliffe and Airmyn were to become ports around the same time and because they are only two miles apart there must have been fierce competition between them for trade. Airmyn nearest to the Ouse would have had greater river depth to take the larger vessels.
In 1744 the Aire and Calder Navigation with the landowners of the time started to build wharves, cranes and warehouses and so commercial prosperity flourished. Soon a regular coastal service to London was established as well as boat building of craft suitable for the onward transportation of goods arriving at the port.
(The picture shows the River Aire at Airmyn)
In 1774 the House of Commons Committee on the Aire and Calder Navigation reported "since the Navigation was begun in 1699, and testified to great benefit which had resulted to trade as a result of being able to transport heavy goods such as coal, stones, lime and manure more conveniently than before. However, highlighted problems caused mills along the course of the river drawing down water from dams above them, and thereby causing boats to run aground. Witnesses produced 6 plans illustrating improvements which they recommended be made to the navigations of the Aire and Calder from Leeds and Wakefield to Armine, and to the Ouse from Aimine to Selby. These included the making of new cuts between Leeds and Haddlesey, and of a canal between Haddlesey to Selby. Estimated that if these plans were pursued the jouney from Leeds or Wakefield to Selby (approximately 30 miles) could be accomplished in 12 hours."
Further down the river Aire are the villages of Snaith and West Haddlesey, which although the river levels were low still provided adequate means of shipping goods and services. As early as 1223 Snaith had a weekly market and three Fairs. Flax and butter were major produce in the area with flax coming from Swinefleet and Reedness possible shipped down the river. River trade from further a field is shown by the fact in 1771 household goods were shipped from London to Snaith presumably changing vessels at Airmyn. In 1775 coal was been shipped to Snaith for the surrounding area.
In 1778 a canal was built between Selby and West Haddlesey because of the difficulty of navigating this far down the Aire and thus traffic down the river Aire via Airmyn, Rawcliffe and Snaith reduced.
By the 1800's the building of the Leeds - Selby canal and later the Goole - Knottingley saw the trade gradually diminished. Although a bridge where the ferry use to run between Little and Great Airmyn was suggested the cost was too prohibitive so they settled for a clock instead.
In 1826 the Knottingley to Goole canal was completed which caused further decline of the river Aire traffic although as late as the 1830 coal and other goods were been shipped daily from Snaith to Leeds.
January 1889. 'The Aire and Calder Navigation, one of the most succesful navigations in the Kingdom was origainally constituted in 1698. This Navigation commences at Goole and proceeds to Leeds, on the one hand and to Wakefield on the other. The distance between Goole and Leeds is 36 miles, from Goole to Wakefield it is 37 miles. At Heath near Wakefield, there is a branch to Barnsley 12 miles long, At Bank-dole 18 miles from Goole there is connection with Selby. 11 miles long. The Aire and Calder Navigation have powers to navigate the River Aire to Rawcliffe. The total length of the whole undertaking is about 80 miles. The present width of the canal is from 60 to 70 feet, it is 10 feet deep in the centre and slopes are 1 1/2 to 1. There is an excellent telephone system throughout the canal. In 1826 the capital laid out was £449,000. At present about £2,305,00 has been expended. In 1818 a dividend of about 40 per cent was paid and in 1826 a dividend of 25 per cent. Since that date so many works have been carried out and the cost defrayed out of revenue. The Navigation was originally constructed with a depth of 3 feet 6 inches, with locks 60 feet long and 14 feet 6 inches wide. Under an Act of 1776 The Navigation were inproved and the locks were made 66 feet long, 15 feet wide and had five feet of water on the sills. Under the powers of an Act of 1828 the navigation throughout was made the same guage of lock and the same depth of water, that is to say, locks 72 feet long, 18 feet wide and 7 feet depth of water. An Act of 1860 locks were 215 feet long by 22 feet wide with 9 feet of water on the sills. The Aire and Calder Navigation are a carrying company as well as toll takers. The principal traffic down in addition to coal is machinery sent from Leeds and manure. The up traffic is timber, grain, dye-woods and general merchandise destined for Leeds, Dewsbury, Huddersfield etc. eighty percent of the total traffic is down traffic and 20 per cent is up traffic. The principal down traffic on the the navigation is of course the mineral traffic, which is conveyed mostly by a system of barges worked like a train of coals. The barges or compartment boats as they are called, are towed by a tug in lots of 15 to 22, sometimes as many as 30 forming a train, the average number though being 11 or 12, 700 tons being considered a very convenient train load. each compartment carries from 35 to 40 tons, draws 18 inches when light or six feet two inches when loaded. They are 21 feet long by 15 feet 8 inches wide by seven feet deep, weigh eight tons each and are constructed of wrought iron. This system of conveyance has been employed on the Aire and Calder for about 14 years. When these compartments reach Goole they are placed into a cage in a large hydraulic hoist to the necessary height in the shoot it is turned over and the coal discharged through a spout into a ship. The average speed of steam towing on the Aire and Calder is from four and a half to five miles an hour, and the average speed by horse towing is about three miles per hour. There is a regular service of traffic on the Aire and Calder system both day and night. Between Goole and Ferry Bridge, a distance of about 20 miles, the average time occupied in transit is about nine hours by horse towage and between Goole and Leeds a distance of 36 miles, traffic is conveyed by steam in an average time of from seven and a half to nine hours. A large traffic is carried on by sailing vessels.'.
'April 1896 from Goole to Sheffield a new canal service. Progress is being steadily made in the canal communications between Goole and Sheffield. It was mentioned some time ago that Messrs. William France & Co. Ltd. proprietors of the London and Goole line of steamers, intended to establish a regular service of steam communication between Goole and Sheffield. Their first barge pulled by a steam tug arrived at the London and Continetal Wharf, Sheffield on Friday. The time taken was some fifteen or sixteen hours. It is the intention of Messrs. Frances and Co. to put steam keels on this service'..
'August 1896. Canal Traffic between Sheffield and Hull. A company bearing the name of Navigation Steam Keel Company has been formed in Rotherham and Hull for the purpose of running steamers, built specially for the requirements of the canal between Hull and Sheffield and coastwise. A trial trip of their first boat, the 'Atlanta', has taken place. A number of well-known gentlemen from Sheffield, Rotherham, Mexborough, Conisborough, Goole and Hull assembled at Corporation Pier at Hull about 10.30 a.m. where they found the boat waiting for them and a journey to Grimsby was undertaken, being accomplished without the slightest nitch. The boat is built entirely of Siemens Martin steel and is fitted with compound surface condensing engines, capable of propelling her at the rate of about eight or ten miles an hour, and she is also fitted with a steam winch for loading and unloading, and is together a very superior craft.'.
Cross-river ferries.
These can be anything from a simple rowing boat to a flat bottomed type of punt capable of transporting carriages or in more recent times cars.
Airmyn to Little Airmyn - in existance in 1379, according to the Poll Tax, and run by John Hayll and John Muram who were taxed at 6d instead of the usual 4d.
April 1944 – ‘About 200 people of the village of Airmyn, near Goole, evacuated from their homes and farms at 4 a.m. yesterday after an Allied bomber had crashed, returning in the afternoon. A bomb disposal squad dealt with an unexploded bomb, and a police loud speaker car announced that there was no longer any danger. The bomber crashed on an old racecourse. The pilot landed in Bridge Street, Goole, and the crew also escaped by parachute unhurt. No one was hurt and no buildings were damaged. The machine was burnt out.’
1851 Census Robert Garrot and John Mountain Ferrymen
Newland
October 1902 – ‘Newland Wreck. A sunken barge lies in the river nearly opposite the school, almost in mid-stream, where it has been for some time. It was sent up the river full of manure, consigned to one of the local farmers and moored to the shore. The rising tide swayed the boat from side to side, and in one of its erratic movements it caught the ground and turned turtle. There were two men on board at the time – about midnight – and they just managed to escape by swimming ashore.’
Rawcliffe
Betwwen 1786 - 1815 Three vessels were built with an average of 104 tons and registered Whitby.
December 1881 – ‘Goole County Court, Ralph Creyke M.P. W. Newton, Plaintiff, the owner of the Rawcliffe Ferry over the Aire, claimed £4 for damage done to his ferry boats by the defendant’s keel, which comes from Stockwith, near Gainsborough. The case was proved by Mr. Wright, Mr. Creyk’s steward, and an order was made for payment of the amount claimed.
March 1892 - John Taylor,aged 76, ferryman in charge of Rawcliffe Ferry supposed drowned whilst trying to secure his boat as the tide was rising.
Carlton to Snaith Although today the river crossing does not look difficult, at the time it was dangerous and many people were drowned and coffins lost - it was used for transporting coffins to be buried in Snaith. This was the way of crossing the Aire until 1777 when a toll bridge was built. The remnants of this still remain when the new bridge was built in 1928.
The original bridge followed by the new bridge
Templehirst/Hirst Courtney
Haddlesey
Beal/Birkin
Knottingley
Methley to Allerton Bywater Ferry.
October 1953 - 'Miners’ ferry boat sails again. After being suspended since early last year, the ferry boat service across the river Aire between Methley and Allerton Bywater was reopened yesterday. The ferry will be used chiefly by miners who live at Methley and work at Allerton Bywater Colliery.'
See 'River Ouse' for 'Aire and Calder', and Leeds.
Leeds
1813 - "Messrs. Fenton, Murray and Wood of Leeds, on the 18th June exhibited a new steam boat in the river Aire, when the novelty of the exhibition attracted an immense crowd of spectators." (The Annals)
1818 - Pigot's Directory "Boat Builders. John Scott, Leeds Lock. Henry Teal, Dock Lodge. William Watson, Bowman Lane. Conveyance by water.(on the Aire, Calder, and Rivers.) The Union Company have two or three vessels a week, and oftener if necessary, to Manchester, by Wakefield, Sowerby, Rochdale from their warehouse in Simpson's Fold. Agents, E. and I. Thompson, Picadilly Wharf, Manchester. Also a number of contract vessels which convey goods regularly to Hull and London, to Lynn, Wisbach, Boston, Yarmouth, Newcastle, and other places on the coast. Vessels inland to York, Malton, Gainsborough, Lincoln. From the Wheat Sheaf Wharf, Simpson's Fold, contract vessels convey goods direct in one bottom regularly every week to London. Agent, Benjamin Reed. Contract vessels from Simpson's Fold, twice a week to Hull. G. Mells. Agent. J. Scott and Co. vessels from Leeds Lock, to Hull, London, Bradford, and all parts of the kingdom. From the Bridge Wharf, bottom of Briggate, vessels regularly to all parts of the coast. Agent. Richard Clark. Joseph Hall and Co. vessels from Simpson's Fold, to Gainsborough and Nottingham, weekly. Drury's vessels, from Simpson's Fold, weekly to Gainsborough, Nottingham. James Boyne's vessels, regularly from the Coals Wharf to London. On The Leeds and Liverpool Canal. The Union Company employ about 40 vessels, from the Canal Warehouse in Water Lane, daily to Apperley, Keighley, Skipton, Settle, Colne, Burnley, Blackburn, Preston, Chorley, Wigan, Liverpool and their neighbourhoods, every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Agent, T. Mawson, Water Lane. Brook, Marsh, Welsh and Co. from Canal Warehouse, Water Lane, daily to Skipton, Burnley, Colne, Enfield, Blackburn, Wigan, and Liverpool, also vessels to Hull, every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Thomas Hill's vessels from Albion Wharf, Water Lane, to Blackburn, Liverpool every Wednesday and Saturday. Rhodes and Co. vessels to Bradford, weekly from Canal Warehouse. Agent, William Bateman, Simpson's Fold. Henry Teal's Packet to York, from the Bridge Wharf, three days a week.
Boat Builders.
Pigot's Directory 1818.
John Scott, Leeds Lock.
Henry Teall, Dock Lodge.
William Watson, Bowman Lane.
Pigot's Directory of 1829.
Boat Builders.
Henry Teall, Dock Lodge.
Benjamin Wilson, School Close.
Sloop & Boat Buiders
Henry Teall, Dock Lodge, Monk-Pits.
William Watson, Bowman Lane.
Benjamin Wilson, School Close.
William Rider & Co. between the Dry Dock and the river they had a boatyard .
William Wild, Ship Builder, 1868 .
Henry Teal, Dock Lodge, Monk-Pits.
September 1806 - To be sold by auction. Two capital staunch built sloops ('Nile' & 'Acorn') also one half share of the sloop 'Venus' built about a year ago. particulars from the Auctioneer or Mr. Henry Teall, of Leeds or Mr. Joseph Teall, near Wakefield.
December 1831 - On Sale, one new sloop, six feet high, fit for river or coasting trade, two keels, one six years old and the other aged, and two open boats, on moderate terms. Dock Lodge Leeds, December 29, 1831.
April 1835 - Contractors are putting the finishing touches to a new portion of the Aire & Calder Navigation at Woodlesford, which when complete will allow vessels of 120 tons burthen to travel between Goole and Leeds. Mr. Henry Teall, of Leeds, ship's carpenter, has already upon the stocks the hull of a vessel of 120 tons burthen, which he intends to launch on Easter Monday next.
April 1835 - Ship Launch on Monday last, a fine ship of 120 tons burthen, the 'British Oak' and is intended for foreign trade. She went off the stocks in gallant style with a large number of persons on board.
8th October 1840 - To be sold, one open boat, three months old, suitable for goods, coal or stone. Apply to Henry Teall, Boat Builder, Leeds.
22nd January 1841 - At Ford, Northumberland, by the Rev. T. Knight, rector, Mr. H. Teall, Shipbuilder, Dublin, son of Mr. Henry Teall, of Leeds, to Jane, eldest daughter of Mr. Robert Fluker, Berwick-on-Tweed.
July 1841 - On Thursday, the 22nd inst. two fine new ships, built by Mr. Henry Teall (son of Mr. H. Teall, Leeds) were launched from the Brunswick Dock-yard, Dublin, in the presence of a large concourse of spectators.
May 1841 - On Monday last, at twelve o'clock precisely, the fine schooner 'Brilliant', was launched from the ship-yard of Mr. Henry Teall, of this town. She is a beautiful vessel, of 100 tons burthen, and is intended for either the foreign or coasting trade.
20th October 1841 - Ship Carpenters wanted immediately. Inquire of Mr. Henry Teall, Shipbuilder, Leeds, or Mr. Henry Teall jnr. Brunswick Ship Yard, Dublin.
September 1842 - Death of Elizabeth aged 59, wife of Mr. Henry Teall, timber merchant, Dock Lodge, Leeds.
May 1870 - Notice of intention to proceed with Patents William Denton and Henry Teall, Leeds 'Steam Engines'.
1871 - Henry Teall aged 54 was staying at Ferry Boat Inn, Stanley Ferry.
1881 - Henry Teall aged 64 was lodging at 20 Portland Street, Leeds.
December 1886 - For sale, good canal boat, just had thorough repair, suited for Leeds coal trade. Apply Henry Teall, Boatbuilder, Apperley Bridge.
1901 - Henry Teall aged 74, Annuitant with son Edward, Ship builder employing 16 men.
Benjamin Wilson, School Close.
March 1824 - Notice is hereby given that the Partnership subsisting between Benjamin Wilson and John Wilson of Leeds, in the County of York, Timber Merchants and carried on under the firm of 'Benjamin Wilson and Son' was this day dissolved by mutual consent.
followed by the new bridge 