Moorings on the New Junction Canal

The New Junction Canal is one of the youngest waterways on the inland network — a wide, modern canal opened in 1905 to provide a direct broad-beam link between the Sheffield & South Yorkshire Navigation at Sykehouse Junction and the Aire & Calder Navigation at Bramwith Junction near Goole. At just 9 kilometres long and almost arrow-straight across the flat South Yorkshire plain, it is essentially a connector route — but a strategically vital one for commercial barge traffic and wide-beam leisure cruisers. For boat owners, the New Junction is mostly a transit waterway rather than a long-stay destination, but the lock-free run is a pleasure to cruise: long sight lines, big-sky landscapes and just two swing bridges (Don Aqueduct, Top Lane) breaking the route. The locks at either end are full broad-beam dimensions (around 60 metres long), so the canal can comfortably handle wide-beam liveaboards, motor cruisers and small commercial barges. Long-stay moorings are limited along the canal itself, but Stainforth & Keadby Canal moorings nearby, Thorne Marina and the Goole Boathouse on the Aire & Calder are practical bases. The route serves liveaboards who want broad-beam access to Yorkshire's commercial waterway network, with rail connections at Doncaster (East Coast Main Line) close by. A useful, characterful cruising connector.