Paddling tips, tricks, news and gear reviews from an Unsponsored point of view
After work this AM I called in at the Tees Barrage as I knew that a number of the River Militia boys would be on the water. Unfortunately the battery in my Lumix GX1
was dead, so I turned to my iPhone. The still image and video quality from the 4s turned out to be pretty good.
The Washburn is a dam controlled river just north of Leeds near the Thurscross reservoir on the A59 from Harrogate to Skipton. The river itself is both narrow and shallow but does provide ample scope for freestyle paddling. The Washburn has received a massive amount of changes and now provides one of the best freestyle sites in the UK as well a being a really good (but short) river run.
Stanley embankment is a wave feature formed in a tunnel through an embankment joining The Isle of Anglesey and Holy Island, a great surfing wave appears at the exit of the Stanley Embankment Tunnel the Inland Sea Side (south side), as seen on the PeakUK “id10tic” series of videos. Most moves can be performed here in either direction.
Shepperton Weir is another one of the famous Thames Weirs. The weir forms a large wave/hole. The weir is at its best when the Thames is in spate. A good indication of this is the level at Hurley further upstream. When Hurley is on a large 3 gates or 4 gates then Shepperton will be in play.
Depending on which and how many gates are open Shepperton provides a range of wave types from large stoppers to green waves. The water is very fast and bouncy so aerial moves are more than just possible. Shepperton for a weir is pretty safe but watch the conditions carefully and avoid the tell tail signs of stoppers that won’t let go!
The area around the weir can be accessed by the public, so gaining access to the water is very easy. In addition the footpath over the weir bridge can also be accessed and used as a photograph platform.
Newark is a weir on the River Trent and lies just North of Nottingham in the small town of Newark (Click here for map). The wave is at its best at high water levels. A good indiaction for this is whether or not Holme Pierrepont is flooded out (Holme Pierrepont is flooded out at 2.70m). Newark Weir works at between 2.18m and 2.82m. This weir is extremely steep and as such riding the wave is quite strange as a bank of water 10-12ft hide cascades down the weir towards you.
To get to the weir head for Newark and the town centre. From there follow the B6166 towards Farndon (SW) and the A46. Look out for the marina on your right and turn right towards the river on to Mill Gate. Keep a look out for a small hump backed bridge on your left hand side. Turn left over the bridge and you’ll find a small area to park the car. This area is used alot by fishermen, local residents, and dog walkers so it could be quite and will only really take a couple of cars anyway.
A couple of minutes walk and you’re at the weir.
The Allen is a classic ww run in the NE of England and is a tributary of the River South Tyne. It lies just west of the market town of Hexham. The Allen is a short run from Cupola Bridge on the A686 to Alston. However it also provides a number of interesting park and play spots when in medium to high water levels. Continue reading
The prices to use the WW course have now dropped from £15 to £6 🙂 Opening times have been reduced 🙁
Tees Barrage International White Water Centre offers some of the best facilities in Europe. Our paddling prices are the cheapest in the UK priced at just £6.00 per session. The £6.00 fee covers you for as long as you wish to paddle on that given day and gives great value for money on each visit.
“Normal Operating Times” are as follows:
Wednesdays 4pm – 8pm
Saturdays 10am – 5pm
Sundays 10am – 5pm
Please note: Always check our course timetable for water releases as these will vary and more will be added to the core times on a week by week basis.
Great afternoon at the Tees Barrage today. The adjustments to the course are starting to deliver some very promising features.
Had a great day on the Tees with the boys trying out some tubes on dog leg. Waters levels were pretty good at 0.59 on the gauge. The day before the water had been very high.
Last night a merry band of paddlers spent a few hours at the Tees Barrage International White Water Course moving some blocks on the long course. After a few sessions making adjustments to the Rapid Blocks on the short course it was great to get the OK to take a look at the main part of the course.
We based ourselves at Happy Eater with the aim of creating a good all round play feature. We started by removing all of the blocks that had been in place pretty much since the course was back in action. Putting the water on full flow showed some interesting results. Continue reading
So Friday afternoon came and it was time for my latest adventure to Scotland. I met up with Phil at Newcastle and we then piled into the back of Francis’ van along with Lee and Rory. This was the weekend of the Morriston river race and it would prove to be a good one!
Having never even seen the Morriston before apart from in some dubious looking wet west videos I was slightly unsure as to what to expect. Was this going to be some big scary river ready to dish out punishments to anyone who wasn’t ready or were we all in for an easy ride. As it turns out it was a great river for this race although unknown to me as we sat in the back of the van discussing various lines and tactics this river was also ready to hand out some punishments only 2 days from now.
I woke up Saturday morning after a very cold sleep, I didn’t realise it could get so cold in May! This was Scotland though I guess and in true fashion the sky was cloudy, the ground was damp and the rivers were empty. This left us with a few unexciting options but in the end I found myself sat in my kayak at the top of the end of the world rapid on the Leven. At these low levels it was more of a butlins water park than a gnarly grade 5 but the sun had come out and we were keen to do some boating so we scraped onwards and in the end it turned out to be an enjoyable paddle.
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