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Goole

Goole, municipal borough (1991 pop. 17,157), East Riding of Yorkshire, N England, at the confluence of the Ouse and Don rivers. A significant inland port, it has extensive dockyards. Coal and textiles are exported; ship repair, iron casting, sugar refining, flour milling, and the manufacture of fertilizers and clothing are leading industries. There is passenger service from Goole to Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and other continental ports. Goole is also a market town.

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Licensed from Columbia University Press

Goole

Goole is a town, civil parish and port located approximately inland on the River Ouse in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The port is "highly versatile", and is capable of handling nearly 3 million tonnes of cargo per annum, making it one of the most important ports on the east coast of England.

Goole is twinned with Złotów, Poland (and was twinned with Rostock, northern Germany in 1969 although this seems to have lapsed). Goole was informally twinned with Gibraltar in the 1960s, at that time Gibraltar Court was named in Goole and Goole Court was named in Gibraltar.

History

The civil engineer Cornelius Vermuyden from the Netherlands diverted the River Don northwards to the River Ouse in 1627 to drain the marshland of Hatfield Chase at the behest of King Charles I. This also made the lower Don navigable for small barges so that coal from South Yorkshire coalfields was transported to "Goole" at the new mouth of the Don (or "Dutch River") for transfer to seagoing vessels.

The Aire and Calder Navigation Company opened their broad canal from Knottingley in the northern sector of the coalfield in 1826 together with two transshipment docks at Goole and a company-built town. This gave rise to several innovations in materials handling by the chief engineer, William Bartholomew. In 1863 he introduced the Tom Pudding system of compartment boats which could each carry around of coal. In the docks Bartholomew introduced large boat hoists which could lift the Puddings and discharge directly into sea going ships which exported the coal to all parts of the world. These managed to compete with rail and were used until 1985.

The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway built a line from Pontefract and Wakefield in 1848 and the North Eastern Railway connected with Doncaster and Hull in 1870. The prosperity from the coal and general cargo trade with the West Riding industrial area continued for 150 years after the opening of the canal. After a period of decline, these commodities were more than replaced by containers, the export of steel and the import of timber from north-eastern Europe. The two original 1826 docks, along with all six others built later, are still in full operation. Goole railway station is on the Sheffield to Hull Line and is the terminus of the Pontefract Line.

Glass and clothing are produced in Goole and it is the focus of an agricultural district.

Governance

Prior to the reform of local government in 1974, brought about by the Local Government Act 1972, Goole was in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It was then placed in the Boothferry district of the newly formed county of Humberside until that was abolished in 1996. Since 1996, Goole has been in the East Riding of Yorkshire. It is represented by six councillors on the East Riding of Yorkshire Council.

Goole is currently in the parliamentary constituency of Brigg and Goole. The constituency is represented by one Member of Parliament in the House of Commons.

Plans

Permission was granted by the East Riding of Yorkshire Council for the development of a new, large industrial park on land adjacent to the M62 on the outskirts of the town.

Since work began, the industrial park, now known as Capitol Park, has attracted two large employers in the form of Guardian Industries, who have built a glass manufacturing plant and Tesco, who have built a distribution centre. The arrival of these employers has resulted in hundreds of new jobs being created.

Sport

Goole's main football team is Goole AFC. It is the town's only semi-professional football team and currently they play in the UniBond League 1st Division South.