Goole tourist information

Britain's premier inland port, Goole stands on the River Ouse, 45 miles from the sea, to the far south-west of the East Riding of Yorkshire.

The port developed after 1627, when Cornelius Vermuyden, a Dutch civil engineer, diverted the River Don northwards to the River Ouse to drain the surrounding marshland. Coal from the south Yorkshire coalfield was transported along the navigable lower Don to Goole and transferred on to sea-going vessels.

In 1826 the port was further improved when the Aire and Calder Navigation (a broad canal running from Knottingley) was opened.

Goole is still a busy working port, handling many sea-going vessels. There are regular freight services to all the major North Sea ports on the European mainland and even further afield. Although the public is prohibited from most of the port, a right of way passes through the dock area and over one of the locks on the River Ouse.

Bridge Street, the main route throught the docks, also provides good views.

The Yorkshire Waterways Museum, located in Dutch River Side, Goole, has lots of information on the history of the port. The museum also offers a Goole Docks History Boat Tour.

Not far from Goole lies the RSPB Blacktoft Sands Nature Reserve. Set on the banks of the Humber Estuary, between the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire Wolds, this is one of best reserves in north east England.