River Idle
The maximum dimensions for a boat to be able to travel on the waterway are 59 feet and 8 inches long and 18 feet wide. The maximum headroom is not known. The maximum draught is 2 feet and 6 inches.
Access to the river is through the sluice gates, and so the Environment Agency, who are responsible for the waterway, require 48 hours notice of intent to enter the river. There is also a high toll for doing so, with the result that most boaters that enter the river do so as part of a group, so that the cost can be shared.
Relevant publications — Waterway Maps:
| Bawtry Bridge Limit of Navigation |
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| Austerfield Drain Pumping Station | 3 miles and 2½ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Misson | 3 miles and 4½ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Dales Lane Bridge | 5 miles and 4¾ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Idle Stop | 6 miles and 2¼ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Haxey Gate Footbridge Crossing to the golf course |
9 miles | 0 locks | |
| Haxey Gate Bridge | 9 miles and ¼ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Doncaster to Lincoln Railway Bridge | 9 miles and 6¼ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Soss Lane Footbridge Misterton Soss |
10 miles | 0 locks | |
| West Stockwith Navigable Sluice A pumping station is by the side of the sluice. |
10 miles and 5 furlongs | 0 locks | |
| River Idle Entrance Sluice EA require 48 hours notice of intent to enter the river, and there is a high toll. |
10 miles and 6¾ furlongs | 1 lock | |
| River Idle Junction Bridge | 10 miles and 7 furlongs | 2 locks | |
| Trent - Idle Junction Junction of the River Trent and the River Idle |
10 miles and 7¼ furlongs | 3 locks |
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Wikipedia has a page about River Idle
The River Idle is a river in Nottinghamshire, England. Its source is the confluence of the River Maun and River Meden, near Markham Moor. From there, it flows north through Retford and Bawtry before entering the River Trent at Stockwith near Misterton. The county boundary with South Yorkshire follows the river for a short distance near Bawtry, and the border with Lincolnshire does the same at Idle Stop. Originally, it flowed northwards from Idle Stop to meet the River Don on Hatfield Chase, but was diverted eastwards by drainage engineers in 1628.
Most of the land surrounding the river is a broad flood plain. Between Retford and Bawtry, the floodplain is partly occupied by a number of sand and gravel pits, where exhausted forming public lakes for fishing, while beyond Bawtry, the river is constrained by high flood banks, to allow the low-lying areas to be drained for agriculture. Its main tributaries are the River Poulter and the River Ryton.
The river is navigable to Bawtry, and there is a statutory right of navigation as far upstream as East Retford, although access to the river through the entrance sluices is very expensive. Its drainage functions are managed by the Environment Agency, but there is no navigation authority. The river is important for conservation, with the Idle Washlands and some of the sand and gravel pits of the Idle Valley being designated Sites of Special Scientific Interest.