Editing Aire and Calder Navigation (section)

==Route==
[[File:Aire and Calder Navigation blue plaque 2.jpg|thumb|Aire and Calder Navigation blue plaque]]

The Aire and Calder is a canalisation of the [[River Calder, West Yorkshire|River Calder]] from [[Wakefield]] to [[Castleford]], where it joins the branch from [[Leeds]], which follows the [[River Aire]]. The Aire continues to flow eastwards to Bank Dole Junction, then continues in a north-easterly direction to Haddlesey, from where it follows a winding course to join the [[River Ouse, Yorkshire|River Ouse]] at [[Airmyn]]. The section below Haddlesey is no longer part of the navigation, as a derelict lock blocks access to the lower river. Instead, the [[Selby Canal]] flows northwards from Haddlesey to the Ouse at [[Selby]]. Below Dole Bank Junction, the Knottingley and Goole Canal flows eastwards to join the Ouse at [[Goole]].<ref name=map>{{harvnb |Nicholson map |2006}}</ref> From just before Newbridge, where the modern A614 road crosses the waterway, this branch of the navigation runs parallel to the Dutch River, an artificial channel built in 1635 to alleviate flooding caused by [[Cornelius Vermuyden]]'s original diversion of the [[River Don, South Yorkshire#History|River Don]] northwards to the River Aire in 1628.<ref>{{harvnb |Skempton |2002 |pp=740–742}}</ref>
 
The Aire and Calder still fulfils its original purpose of linking Leeds and Wakefield with [[York]] and the [[Humber]] (and thence the [[River Trent|Trent]]), although the routes by which this is achieved have changed significantly. More recent canals now also make the Navigation a vital link in the English and Welsh connected inland waterway network. Beyond Leeds, the [[Leeds and Liverpool Canal]] carries boats over the Pennines. The [[Calder and Hebble Navigation]], which connects to the Navigation at Wakefield, allows boats to reach the Huddersfield [[Huddersfield Broad Canal|Broad]] and [[Huddersfield Narrow Canal|Narrow]] Canals, and the [[Rochdale Canal]]. The Selby Canal connects to the Ouse, from where boats can travel upstream to reach York, [[Boroughbridge]] and [[Ripon]], or downstream to the [[River Derwent, Yorkshire|River Derwent]]. Beyond Goole are the Humber and hence [[Kingston upon Hull|Hull]], [[Immingham]], and [[the North Sea]]. The [[Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation]], which can be reached via the [[New Junction Canal]], forms a link with [[Doncaster]], [[Rotherham]] and [[Sheffield]] to the south west, and the tidal [[River Trent]] at [[Keadby]] to the east.<ref name=map/>