One problem was that there was no longer a legal body responsible for the assets, and so the Driffield Navigation Trust was formed, which took over the role of the original commissioners.
The Driffield Navigation is formed from parts of the River Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, and a section of canal.
The Corpslanding branch follows the original course of the river, while the main navigation channel follows Frodingham Beck to Fisholme junction.
The Beck forms a branch to North Frodingham, while the main line continues as a canal through the Holderness Plain to the small market town of Driffield.
In 1765, the merchants of the town, with those from Kilham, 4 mi (6 km) beyond it, approached the canal engineer John Smeaton for advice on how keels could reach Driffield.
[2] The long title of the act read: An Act for improving the Navigation of the River Hull and Frodingham Beck, from Aike Beck Mouth to the Clough, on the East Corner of Fisholme, and for extending the said Navigation, from the said Clough, into or near the Town of Great Driffield, in the East Riding of the County of York.
A local man called Richard Porter was appointed as engineer, but was replaced six weeks later by Samuel Allam, on the recommendation of Grundy.
[5] The original plans for the canal section of the navigation included four locks, each of which was timber floored,[5] and built to accommodate "Driffield-sized" Humber keels of 61 by 14+1⁄2 ft (18.6 by 4.4 m).
Instead they opted to convert Snakeholme lock into a two-lock staircase, which allowed vessels to use it over a greater range in water levels.
In 1796 George Knowsley, a banker who was one of the mortgagees, proposed further improvements, but although William Chapman produced plans, they were considered too expensive.
Two years later, the commissioners were working with William Wilberforce, their local Member of Parliament, to ensure that the proposals for the Beverley and Barmston Drainage Bill would not adversely affect them.
The old navigation was able to pay dividends of 5 per cent from 1797, and established a sinking fund in 1834, which enabled it to repay all arrears on interest by 1844.
[10] The commissioners took legal advice in 1824, and once satisfied that they were empowered to do so, built public wharves at Corps Landing and Frodingham Bridge, which were completed in 1825 and 1826.
A new warehouse was completed at Driffield in 1826, and traffic increased, helped by reductions in the tolls as the navigation companies paid off their debts.
Despite this, the commissioners bought a steam dredger in 1898, which kept the channel in good order, and earned some revenue, as it was hired out to Beverley Corporation and Joseph Rank.
Water began to leak through the Banks between Whinhill and Snakeholme Lock and a real danger to the surrounding land drainage was evident.
The last commercial craft on the Navigation was the vessel Ousefleet, delivering coal to Frodingham Wharf during the period to December 1951.
[13] By 1956, the top three locks on the canal were no longer usable,[14] but Hull Corporation announced a plan to use the channel for the supply of water in mid-1959.
This action prompted the Inland Waterways Association to calculate the cost of restoring it for navigation, which was estimated at £17,000, and a local campaign to press for this began.
In the same year, the engineering consultants W. S. Atkins recommended that the navigation should be restored to its original terminus in Driffield, and estimated that this would cost some £6.4 million.
The first priority was the creation of a flood relief channel (bywash) around the south side of the lock to carry the excess flow during periods of heavy rain.