Barbie and Airmyn - the end

This is an update of progress on the project

Aire Miles

Written by:

Wendy Robinson

May 11, 2026

This post takes us to the end of our 91 mile journey from the source of the River Aire above Malham, down to the confluence with the Ouse at Airmyn. We have gone from open unspoilt countryside, through urban derlection and river modifications to where the river continues its journey towards the North Sea.

A lock on the navigable section of the river Aire

Aire Mile 61 Castleford locks

The river is now navigable

So back to the subject of weirs on a navigable river. Boats and weirs don’t mix that well and the solution is to build a canal to by-pass the drop. Pop a lock in to raise and lower the boats and Bob’s yer uncle. These pacified stretches of water also provide safe moorings and are busy, fascinating places.

Flood plains and pylons

Next up was Fairburn Ings and Yorkshire Water’s Nick Stead walked with me. We were both finding the mission compelling and we agreed to add a fourth Mile to our walk even though it meant extending the walk back. It had rained the night before and even though we were walking the top of the (very safe) flood wall, the water flowed only a few feet away, brown and fast. On New Years Eve I drove out to Knottingley and walked to Beal alone. I rejoined the flood wall which seems to go on for ever (32 miles actually) and the river meanders so much that even if you’ve walked several miles, you are never all that far from where you started. Apart from the flood wall, the land is utterly flat and giant electricity pylons stride across the plain. I accepted being a tiny speck in these vast flatlands. Eerie, it was.

Industrial river with factory buildings and smokestacks in the background.

Aire Mile 73 Ferrybridge

A Barbie doll admiring the river Aire at Mile 70

Mile 70 - Aire Miles Barbie

The river godess appears

The previous month’s high waters had receded but left the Aire’s banks littered with dumped flotsam. Thousands of plastic bottles, hundreds of tennis balls, some brand new scaffolding planks, a cornucopia of plant plant pots. And a helicopter pilot’s helmet. Then bang on Aire Mile 70, I picked out this plastic doll. She is now named Aire Mile Barbie. She’s clearly a survivor, rivers being dangerous things to swim in … and I wonder what happened to Ken ...

...and so we draw to a close

Five miles further along at Chapel Haddlesey, there is another huge weir that marks the tidal limit of the Aire’s estuary up from the Ouse. On my day here, it had rained again and high water met a high tide and you would never guess that there was a 20 foot vertical drop here.

The flood wall continued. From here on, it protects low lying arable land from salt water flooding and provides the very few people who walk it with elevated views across the plains. The main feature is Drax Power Station and it began to dominate the landscape and the photographs.

Drax Power Station cooling towers seen from across the river Aire — Drax Power Station

The eastern reaches of the River Aire are worth experiencing. I’m certain that there is much more to say about technical river stuff, about ecology and morphology, pollution and hogweed. Except that I don’t want to. I am overwhelmed by the journey and these huge horizons and the flood wall’s monotony and the rhythm of walking.

Wind turbine in a rural landscape with blue sky and clouds.

Wind turbines on the floodplain

I write this on my birthday. I started out near Malham on the same day a year ago. This day I drive to Airmyn to find the last Aire Mile where the River Aire joins the Ouse and the waters flow into the Humber and out to sea.

Riverside art at Castleford, Aire Mile 61 - Bugs Bunny painted on a wall saying "That's all folks" — Riverside art at Castleford, Mile 61

If you would like to help, you can find upcoming dates and more detail by visiting our volunteering page below:

Read about our volunteering opportunities

Thanks to various friends and to the Yorkshire Water Healthy Rivers Team for walking, talking about rivers and sharing the adventure. The Aire Rivers Trust staff and trustees have been a great help with encouragement, route information and guiding.

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