Driffield Navigation - Decline

Decline

With less traffic, lower profits, and little prospect of a growth in trade, maintenance standards fell. By 1937 the Locks and Bridges were in a poor state of repair. A report in 1939 records that the canal was weedy throughout its entire length. Water began to leak through the Banks between Whinhill and Snakeholme Lock and a real danger to the surrounding land drainage was evident. Some dredging was carried out during the early 1940s but this did little to improve the condition of the Canal. The last commercial craft to reach Driffield was the Keel Caroline loaded with 50 tons of wheat on 16 March 1945. The last commercial craft on the Navigation was the vessel Ousefleet, delivering coal to Frodingham Wharf during the period to December 1951.

With the demise of commercial navigation, the interest of the Commissioners waned. They failed to appoint their own successors, and by 1949, there were too few remaining to take legal decisions. In 1955, the swing bridge across the navigation at Whinhill was fixed, although the Inland Waterways Association received the assurance that, if at any future date the navigation was reopened to Driffield, the bridge would be removed. Another major obstruction to the renewal of the navigation to Driffield occurred in 1967, when the County Council replaced the bridge which carries the public right of way over the Navigation at Wansford with a fixed bridge. Since the Commissioners could not agree to this, as they were inquorate, the legality of this action is unknown.