Aike Beck or the Lockington Navigation was a stream in the

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to t ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, which was constructed as a navigation in the late 18th century, and ceased to function as such in the 1850s. The water supply came from Bryan Mills Beck and Scorborough Beck, but in 1988, these were diverted to feed into Arram Beck, and most of the channel was filled in with material from the flood banks.

History

Aike Beck joined the

River Hull The River Hull is a navigable river in the East Riding of Yorkshire in Northern England. It rises from a series of springs to the west of Driffield, and enters the Humber Estuary at Kingston upon Hull. Following a period when the Archbishops of ...

above its junction with the

Leven Canal The Leven Canal runs for from the River Hull to the village of Leven, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was built for Mrs Charlotta Bethell in 1805, and remained in use until 1935. It is now a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Locatio ...

. Navigable for no more than from the river, its main function was to carry coal, and it had two

canal locks A lock is a device used for raising and lowering boats, ships and other watercraft between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water lev ...

taking craft of 40 feet by 8 feet 10 inches (12 m x 2.7 m). One was an entrance lock where the Beck joined the River Hull, and the other was about halfway along the navigation.Ordnance Survey, 1:10,560 map, 1855 Below the middle lock, Aike Beck was enlarged, while above it, the course of the navigation was made much straighter than the original course of the beck. Coal and agricultural fertiliser was transferred from keel boats to the smaller, shallow draughted boats used on the navigation, and hauled by horse or manpower to Lockington wharf. The navigation was constructed in the late 18th century by the Hotham family who owned large amounts of land in the area. Aike Beck crossed over the

Beverley and Barmston Drain The Beverley and Barmston Drain is the main feature of a land drainage scheme authorised in 1798 to the west of the River Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The area consisted of salt marshes to the south and carrs to the north, fed ...

with the drain culverted underneath; one of eleven similar structures required to allow the drain to cross existing waterways. In 1809 engineer William Chapman reported to the drainage commissioners that the locks on the navigation had raised water levels and caused flooding. As part of an agreement with Lord Hotham to not oppose the construction of the

Hull and Selby Railway (Bridlington branch) The Hull and Selby Railway is a railway line between Kingston upon Hull and Selby in the United Kingdom which was authorised by an act of 1836 and opened in 1840. As built the line connected with the Leeds and Selby Railway (opened 1834) at Selb ...

in the 1840s, the proprietors of the line agreed not to provide coal handling facilities in the vicinity of his canal. It is thought to have ceased to be used for navigation in the 1850s, as it appears to be derelict on the 1855 Ordnance Survey map, where both the second lock and the coal basin at Lockington are marked "old". By the time the 1891 map was published, the final section from the beck to the coal wharf had disappeared altogether, and the lock gates must have been removed, as the beck is marked as tidal to beyond the coal wharf junction. The Beck was supplied with water by Bryan Mills Beck and Scorborough Beck. The latter was also used for navigation in the early 19th century. In 1988, Aike and

Arram Beck Arram Beck is a small stream in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, running through high embankments and flowing eastwards from the village of Arram to join the River Hull. Depths are variable due to the tidal nature of the Hull. It provides ...

were altered, removing Aike Beck's connection to the River Hull completely. The waters of Scorborough Beck and Bryan Mills Beck were routed southwards along a catchwater drain, which runs beside the railway line to join Arram Beck. The original course of the navigation was largely filled in, using material from the embankments on either side of the channel. All that remains is a small section containing water near Beck Lane in Aike, and a slight indentation in the bank of the Hull where Aike Beck used to enter. The former junction of Aike Beck with the river marks the point at which the

Driffield Navigation The Driffield Navigation is an waterway, through the heart of the Holderness Plain to the market town of Driffield, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The northern section of it is a canal, and the southern section is part of the River Hull. C ...

, upstream from the junction, becomes the

, below it.

Location

;Situated on the Driffield Navigation *Next place upstream =

Wilfholme Landing Wilfholme Landing is located on the Driffield Navigation in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The navigation is still tidal at this point, and is often considered to still be the River Hull,Ordnance Survey, 1:50,000 and 1:25,000 map althoug ...

*Next place downstream =

Points of interest

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * *

References